>> WHAT DO YOU NEED TO SUBSCRIBE TO RSS FEEDS?

The point of RSS feeds is to get people to subscribe to them, so that they can constantly receive fresh information from you.

It’s just like subscribing to e-mail newsletters, only that there’s no e-mail involved … and consequently no spam or spam filters.

But to subscribe to your RSS feeds, your visitors need a special tool, called an RSS aggregator.

RSS aggregators are special tools that can take an RSS feed and display it to end-user. They come in many different forms and flavors, but most popular are desktop applications and web readers.

In case of desktop RSS aggregators (example: http://www.awasu.com), end-users need to download them to their computers and install them there. Web-based RSS aggregators (example: http://www.bloglines.com) on other hand are websites where users can create their own accounts and then use those websites to view RSS content directly from their Web browsers.

After installing an RSS aggregator or registering at a web-based RSS aggregator web service, user needs to proactively add link to your RSS feed in to aggregator to view your content.

Every time you update your RSS feed by adding new content items to RSS file, user is notified of that through his RSS aggregator, making content immediately available to him, without it having to face any SPAM filters and other barricades on way.

And, for best part, most RSS aggregators are free to use, so there’s really no excuse to not get started today. And by way – so are quite a few RSS publishing solutions!

Yes, RSS is free way of getting your content delivered every time.

Has a nice little wizard-based set-up. If you have a lot of items in your shop, this is an option worth checking out.

This is a very valuable feature. A person who's set up CGI scripts before will get most out of this. Supports a wide range of credit-card processors and shipping services.

Bad points: It's ugly, awkward, and uses JavaScript too much.

7. WebGenie Shopping Cart Pro (commercial) - http://www.webgenie.com

A simple, wizard-based option. Uses Javascript a bit, but main work is done by CGI scripts. It saves credit card information on your server.

It's for someone who hasn't set up a CGI script before. Expensive for what you get, but it works. Option to buy it on hire-purchase.

8. Actinic Catalog (commercial) - http://www.actinic.co.uk

Most suitable if you have lots of items in your store. It's a 'wizard'-based PC program; you type in your information, and program sets up store.

You should set up default store as-is, then customise it later. Supports a wide range of credit-card processors and shipping services. A little complicated for an internet newbie; there's quite a lot in it.

9. Order Maven (commercial) - http://www.briggsoft.com

A clever little program. It's a standalone Windows executable, which customer downloads. The customer starts it up, chooses product, enters their details, and sends off their order like an email, with credit card details encrypted. It costs $29.00 at time of writing. No secure server or order page needed; it's all done on customer's PC at their leisure.

You need to customise it. Make sure you write your mail server URL into code. For customer, order module is a 160kb download.

NOTE: Try to avoid carts that use cookies and javascript only, or that tie you into only one secure server and credit-card processor. Also avoid web-based services that you lease only. They can go out of business, leaving you flat.

Having read above you should have eliminated quite a few programs from your shopping list. They either won't work properly with all browsers, or they won't encrypt your order, or they want to tie you into their manufacturers' secure order system at $40+ per month.

Another option is to get a bespoke system set up for you by a specialist company. These cost thousands of dollars. Aren't you glad you read this far?

About the author: T. O' Donnell (http://www.tigertom.com/web-designer-london.shtml) is an ecommerce and web site design consultant in London, UK.