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I’ve talked about using feedburner to manage subscriptions before, like in this blog on how to use wordpress for podcasting, but I’ve never laid out how to set it up.  This is a step-by-step guide to using feedburner for blog subscriptions.

You can use feedburner in a number of different ways.  The main reason to use it is because it gives you a master feed that you can send other places, like iTunes.  If your original feed changes (when you move from blogger to wordpress for example), you only need to update your original feed.  iTunes won’t know the different and you won’t lose any subscribers.  If you’ve ever tried to change a feed in iTunes, you know this tip will save countless hours.

You also need to give your readers an easy way to subscribe to your content.  The majority of people still subscribe to content via email and feedburner gives you an easy and free way to do that.

How to Setup Feedburner

Create a feedburner account and find your blog’s RSS  feed.  In Wordpress it’s usually http://yourblogaddress.com/feed or http://yourblogaddress.com/?feed=rss2.  You can test it by pasting the link into an internet browser.  If you don’t get an error you’ve probably found the right one.

You’ll be presented with a box on the main feedburner page that says “Burn a feed right this instant.”  Enter your feed there and click the box if you’re a podcaster.  You can also add it later if you like.

Now, head back to the main screen and select your feed. At the top click on Edit Feed Details.

You’ll get a screen that looks like this:

The original feed is what you put in when you started. The feed address is what you need to copy and use for RSS sources (like iTunes and subscription settings). That will never change.  Be sure to update the RSS subscription feed on your site to use this new feed.

Feedburner offers many options that you may want to play with, but here’s how to install an email subscription form.

Install an Email Subscription Form On Your Blog

Chose the Publicize tab and then Email Subscriptions from the menu on the left. Click the activate button to continue.

From the next page you’ll need to copy the HTML code from this box and paste it wherever you want your form to display.  Many times in Wordpress, you’ll chose widgets from the Appearance menu and post it to a text box in your sidebar.

You’ll also want to customize your text, font size, delivery options, etc. from the sidebar drop menu in feedburner.

That’s it.  Whenever you change your original RSS feed, be sure to update it from that Edit Feed page in feedburner, and your subscribers won’t know the difference.

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