Configure Your Feed
Let's start by logging into the Blogger setup and going to Settings->Site Feed. In Basic Mode there are just three options to setup each with a lengthy explanation. The Allow Blog Feeds option is the key setting for most. Full is a safe choice since it allows access to entire posts, but if you depend on your blog for revenue you'll want to include ads in the feed. Limiting site feeds to a snippet with either Jump Break or Short gives feed readers a little tease to entice them to visit your site for the entire post. Jump Break works if you include that feature in your posts and gives great control over what is visible in feeds, while short is automatic. Barring unusual circumstances the None option is not recommended.
The next two options are for more advanced use. The Post Feed Redirect URL option is used to redirect subscription feed requests to other services, such as Feedburner, used to enhance the look and content of your feed for syndication. Our final option Post Feed Footer is used to attach special code at the end of each blog post such as sharing buttons, links or a general message to click links for more. I prefer to use Feedburner for this feature, but if you choose basic and advanced customization is possible with this box.
Accessing Your Feed: Blogger Feed URLs
An easy way of locating your feed URL is to open up your blog, then right click on an empty part of the page and select View Source. Near the top you should see lines similar to these:
<link rel="alternate" type="application/atom+xml" title="J.S. Blog Stop - Atom" href="http://www.jsblogstop.com/feeds/posts/default">All three access your feed in a different format, but I recommend focusing on the first HREF value since it's the easier to remember. In any case, you can easily locate your feeds through these links on any of your Blogger blogs with feeds enabled.
<link rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml" title="J.S. Blog Stop - RSS" href="http://www.jsblogstop.com/feeds/posts/default?alt=rss">
<link rel="service.post" type="application/atom+xml" title="J.S. Blog Stop - Atom" href="http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5296352711635023039/posts/default">
Summary Feeds
Default feeds like those in the links above are formatted to the configuration setup in the Site Feed options. Blogger also provides an easy way to access abbreviated summaries with a direct link. These Summary feeds are similar to the look of a Short feed and give you some flexibility in feed access. This is especially handy when getting feeds from a Blog you do not control, but wish to link to or pull small amounts of content for your own page. Summary feeds are accessed by changing the default in the link above to summary, like this:
http://www.jsblogstop.com/feeds/posts/summary
Label Feed URLs
Standard Blogger feeds include the capability to limit results based on Label. This is a feature many bloggers are unfamiliar with, but it is a very useful tool in creating a robust website as your blog grows. Here's an example, take my own feed URL and modify it to look like this:
http://www.jsblogstop.com/feeds/posts/default/-/FeedsThat feed includes only posts with the label Feeds. Adding on /Blogger restricts things even further to posts with both labels. Label feeds are an excellent way to sharpen your focus on to specific topics and are the basis behind many blogs Featured and Related post sections.
Conclusion
Site feeds are the most basic form of Blogger feeds. Configuration is a cinch and locating links to those feeds easy. Blogger provides several formats and even includes a handy method of pulling Label based feeds. Understanding these core feed features opens up numerous blog design possibilities. In future postings I will discuss tools to leverage your feeds to build a better looking and more easily navigable blog.
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