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Tip: Full feeds vs partial feeds
Before we jump into the discussion (or debate) regarding full feeds vs partial feeds, let's review what feeds are - in case there are some "new to the technology" folks reading along.
A feed or an RSS feed is something many people use to read your blog. Rather than visiting every single site, sometimes finding no new content has been added, we use a "feed reader". The "feed reader" updates us when you have updated your blog - it will send the full blog post (a full feed) or a snipped of the post (a partial feed) depending on the settings we have in our feed reader and the settings you have for your "blog feeds". To understand feeds more fully, check out Lee LeFever's RSS in plain English video.
So, which do you provide? Full feed or partial feed? There's a lot of debate about this and both sides make sense.
Some people give a partial feed, hoping to "lure" people into their blogs so they gain a click. Or because they are "artists!!!!" and they want you to view their art in the surroundings it was created to be viewed in. (I tend to roll my eyes at this - but, I'm not an artist!)
Some people give a full feed, hoping to lure people in to leave a comment by including the full , fabulous post - or because they know that some of their readers (me!) prefer a full feed or because they themselves prefer a full feed.
I'll tell you very honestly that if you serve a partial feed, I won't click your blog and read your full post very often. As I look at my list of feeds I only see two blogs that I will click into every single time. Two. The others, I might click, if the partial feed is about a topic I am super interested in. But, if I'm really busy (which I always am) I will still skip it. So, you're missing my click AND my comment. And, when it comes time for me to weed out the blogs I "never read" it is ALWAYS the partial feed blogs that are the first to go.
Check out the "debate" at pro blogger. I agree with Gina in one respect, I prefer a partial feed on pure news feeds. But for all other feeds, I want the full feed and if you want to serve me an ad at the same time, I won't unsubscribe. Be sure to take some time and read the comments - they'll help you decide which type of feed you should serve.
What do you prefer - as a blogger or as someone who uses a feed reader?
~~Denise
BlogHer Community Manager
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Comments (15)
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Comments
Partial feed on one, full
Partial feed on one, full feed on another (because I haven't changed it yet). Doesn't offering a partial rather than a full feed prevent feed scraping? That's the only reason I don't offer a full feed.
Five Dollar Camera & Five Dollar Radio
Yep it does prevent scraping
It definitely does. Very good point.
~Denise
Fast Times @ Homeschool High & Flamingo House Happenings
Full Feeds!
I have a LOT of blogs in my feed reader. At this exact moment I have over 2000 unread feeds (sadly that's a fairly normal number for me...sigh). I really don't have time to click over to everyone's blogs and read them and I when there are partial feeds I *know* I'm missing some good stuff. There are blogs that I will still read that have partial feeds but there are not a lot of them.
Sassymonkey and Sassymonkey Reads.
Exactly
I know I miss a lot of good stuff too but such is life - until all of the good stuff is full feed, heh.
~Denise
Fast Times @ Homeschool High & Flamingo House Happenings
Full feed for me please
I'm a bit late jumping on this bandwagon. I'm definitely a full feed girl. Partial feeds give me the irrates. I too have unsubscribed from partial feeds even though I understand why some people do it. I want to have the option of reading the whole thing and clicking to the site if I want to comment.
Here's an article that shows how to offer full and partial feeds as options for subscribers.
Jen at Semantically driven and Safari suit
This "feed reader" where might I get one?
Hi Denise.
I probably sound like the blog novice that I am, but I wanted to know a a bit more about the "feed reader". If it is a full feed the entire blog is sent to the feed reader?
Here is why I am asking about it. The Blogspot and wordpress sites are blocked here in China. So I guess I am wondering if it would still be possible to get postings from those sites if I use a feed reader....
Any ideas?
Thanks!
Jen
I don't think you can but
I use Bloglines but a lot of people use google reader.
~Denise
BlogHer Community Manager
Flamingo House Happenings
Thanks!
I will give it a try.
Jen
Jen?
It didn't help did it? You're still blocked?
~Denise
BlogHer Community Manager
Flamingo House Happenings
No Luck
No luck. I can read Blogher, but I cannot get to any other blog site like wordpress, blogspot etc. I can get to Rosie's blog, but cannot view any of the videos because that server is blocked.I can get to most major newspaper blogs also. I can upload and maintain my site which is on .mac with no problem. It's frustrating but part of the game here. I am glad that this site still works, I just miss out on much of it because many people only post part of a blog or a link to their blog. I will be in Arizona next month so i can catch up then!
The weird thing though is that I can actually create and upload to a blog through www.blogger.com (which gives it a blogspot address) but I cannot access it to actually view it. It fits this place. A friend just had a discussion with some of the moms at school who were berating her for allowing her young son to swim because they say it will stunt his growth, but also saying that it was just as bad to let her daughters swim because it will cause them to grow abnormally large. Just when I think I have China figured out....
Thanks for the advice though. One more year and then I will be back to unrestricted internet!
I cannot imagine
I would be so frustrated, I'd be insane!
~Denise
BlogHer Community Manager
Flamingo House Happenings
Full Feed. Definitely.
Bonjour! Full feed for me, definitely. I don't care how creative or fascinating your story is; as I have probably 75 feeds in my reader, each of whom posts fairly regularly, I don't have time to click on every one to read the full feed. I offer full feeds myself and wouldn't consider any other option.
My policy is to make it as easy as possible for your readers to get your content. If they have to do even just one extra step, they'll probably be less inclined to take it.
Salut,
Marjorie
My Inner French Girl
Pinay Runner
Sadly switching
I've been publishing the full feed for ages, but for months now I've been having to contact multiple sites every week who were scraping my feed and republishing my content. And last week when I found a very "reputable" wellness site that has re-published every one of my posts since November 2007 I have reluctantly decided to add a "read more" link to my feed.
Kalyn Denny
Kalyn's Kitchen
Feed problems
Yeah, I can see where you'd be frustrated and give up on that. I do have occasional problems with scammers scooping up my text and passing them off as their own, but not as bad as yours. At the moment, I'm just going to ignore them. For the most part, their sites are so low-maintenance, i.e., they put no effort into design or anything that their actually kinda ugly. I suppose I should worry about theft of my content, but for now I'm just going to focus on creating the best content and layout I can (given my limitations with Blogger!) to my readers and not worry about thieves.
Good luck to you!
Salut,
Marjorie
My Inner French Girl
Pinay Runner
Now with full feeds!
I'm a convert! I'm publishing full feeds now. Forget what I said about feed scrapers. I was publishing partials for the longest time, and I still got scraped.
Available Light & Five Dollar Radio