In the jungle, I mean! 
I’m curious and here’s an example.
A few weeks ago, Janelle posted about the Flu Shot. Today I had a flu shot story I thought about going in and reposting in comments. But I wondered if anyone would know that I did that or if no one would notice. Now, the 4 Plotmonkeys get emails of all new/incoming messages. We know when there’s a new message. There’s also a box on every “Comment” page that says ‘notify me of follow up comments via email’ and you can check it off and receive emails letting you know there’s a posting.
~ Does anyone use this follow-up?
~ Does anyone use RSS Feed which is on the upper right hand side of the message board (actually under Julie Leto’s name) – it says
Blog Subscription
Subscribe in a Reader – with a link to subscribe to RSS feed in a reader. (I have no idea what this means, how this works), but I do want to know if anyone uses this?
In other words does anyone KNOW when we (or anyone) do follow up comments in back Blog posts? (Not the current one of the day)?
And while we’re at it, what other features of our Blog do you use? Do you subscribe to our newsletter (that we never send out, LOL!) Would you LIKE us to use our newsletter feature and if so, how? What things would you like to know in news?
Carly Phillips would like to take 100% credit for all her stories but the truth is, Carly’s strength is writing family, emotion, funky elderly people and animals. She couldn’t plot her way out of a paper bag, which is why she smartly found her plotmonkey pals early on in her writing career. Thanks to their support, Carly is now a NYT Bestselling author of 23 plus novels. Because writing doesn’t keep her busy enough, Carly is also a wife, a mother of one preteen and one teenage daughter, the primary care giver of her soft coated Wheaten terrier and an expert carpool mom.
ANOTHER WILD WEDDING NIGHT
Hard to Hold
Love Me If You Dare
Wild For Him
Subscribe to Posts 
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Well, I use the RSS thing to subscribe in google reader. Which I love, it means I can scoot through all the blogs I love to read every day, without having to visit all the various pages and load them all. It’s great. Plus, I know right away if someone posts something new.
I also keep track of any posts I comment on by either subscribing to the thread (some sites only have this) or checking the box on the bottom of this one. I don’t comment a whole lot, so I like to keep track of what happens on ones I do.
So I read every post here, but don’t always comment. But like all the others who visit sites in readers, I’m still there!
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I’m still in the dark ages. Even though I have my own blog, I still don’t do the RSS reader thing. I visit my certain blogs every morning, and I don’t always have time to check back in (sorry to those who’ve ever asked me a question!)
If it’s a topic that I’m particularly interested in howeve, I’ll click on the box to be notified of followup comments.
To be honest, I get so many newsletters now, that I don’t always read them. That’s why I come here – to find out the latest Monkey dirt :)
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I do the follow up comments box when it is a post I am particularly interested in, not all of them, or i wouldn’t have time to do anything. I am still trying to figure out what the RSS feed is- I have yet to find someone capable of explaining it clearly without using a bunch of technobable!
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I sometimes use the Notify me box if it is something I’m really interested in. I haven’t used anything else. I’m signed up for the newsletter. I usually come back to the page quite a few times through out the day to see the other posts.
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I don’t go back to read older blogs unless someone asked a question that I’m interested in seeing the answer to, or something like that. A lot of times I’ll mark the “notify” me box on Saturdays because I want to be sure and catch all of the guest-bloggers comments and I’ll forget if I don’t do it that way.
I don’t do the RSS feed because I get so overwhelmed with e-mails that I don’t want another one. And I don’t really need it. I know you guys are going to have new content every day and if I have time, I just automatically swing through.
I wouldn’t mind a newsletter from you guys. If I’m really busy I don’t have the chance to get here and I do feel like I miss important news that might be covered in a newsletter. Big announcements, releases, that type of thing.
Have a great day!!
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I have no idea what RSS feed is. I use the “Notify me of followup comments via e-mail” box on days when it is something I’m particularly interested in. Like today I have it checked because I want to know what the heck RSS feed is. I’m hoping someone will post an explanation and how to do it for those who are interested.
The only newsletters I am subscribed to at the moment are Carly’s and Cindi Myers Market news. BTW, Cindi would be a great guest author for the blog.
Thanks for the new Thanksgiving emoticons. I :jive:
Have a great day,
Cher
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I also don’t really know what RSS feed is so I’m hoping that someone can explain it too. I have never used the notify me of followup comments, but I usually check back a couple of times a day to read comments. I do subscribe to the newsletter.
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I’m with Stacy on this one – I used to visit over a hundred blogs every day… but now I visit maybe 5-6. And the plotmonkeys is obviously on that list
I don’t subscribe or anything- I comment in the mornings if I have time – or later, and sometimes check back periodically.
[And again same as Stacy on the newsletters. I’m afraid I get so many emails… well I admit/warn people they’re lucky if i respond :X I try, but with all my accounts combined I think I have more than 5K unread messages.)
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Wow. RSS feed is your new best friend people! I’ll try not to go technobabble on you.
RSS feed is like a search dog. It will hunt down all new posts to a particular website/blog for you. Instead of you having to remember to visit all of your favorite blogs/websites each and everyday you can use the RSS feed as a one-stop-shop. You can quickly navigate through posts w/o having to load another webpage.
RSS feeds are NOT emails. You use a RSS feed manager such as Google Reader.
Basically, you’ll take the link of the RSS feed, which is usually just the blog web address, for this blog it’s: http://www.plotmonkeys.com/ and add it as a subscription. Then you stay up to date on your favorite sites.
Do you see the orange square with the the antenna logo on your address bar? That means this site has an RSS feed. Any site with that box can be copied and pasted into your RSS manager.
Your manager, Google Reader (my favorite), will let you organize your sites in folders, you can share awesome posts with your friends via email or “share” feature, you can “star” your favorites for easy reference. It’s great.
So for all you noobies, check out Google Reader. You might have to have an account of some sort but it’s worth it. I have a Gmail account. If you have a Gmail account you already have Google Reader you just don’t know how to use it yet.
It’s on the top menu of your inbox.
As for comment subscription. Yes. I use it on hot topics, or if I ask a question that I hope someone will answer.
Newsletters are cool. But like previously mentioned emails are some times viewed as overwhelming.
I’ll be subscribing to this post so if anyone has any more questions on RSS I’ll be glad to help! :)
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Thanks for a clear explanation that is not all “technobabble” that I cannot decipher!! I may rethink subscribing to a reader again.
:jive:
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Awesome! I asked my husband how to do the google reader a few months back- which meant he just said move over and did it for me. Why? Who knows, but apparently explaining it to me makes my eyes glaze over- his words:) Now I can do it myself! I went and checked for the icon in the toolbar and sure enough…that little box popped up about subscribing. Cool.
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I check back either later in the day or the next day if it’s a subject I am interested in (or I said something that might be conscrued as ‘controversial’). I do subscribe to your newsletter (there hasn’t been one lately that I am missing it, has there?).
I am pretty technology stupid. I have no idea what RSS is….I just had to steal my husband’s pics on FB of our sons. Yes, I can do that, but not post pics on FB.
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Not really. I check my favorite blogs everyday and tha’s about it.
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I’m new to the Jungle – and I read every blog. However, I only use the “Notify” feature on items that I comment on or have a specific interest in. I’m still new to the whole writing process, so most of the things I flag have to do with the craft of writing.
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I have all the blogs I follow on RSS feeds in Google reader. That’s the second stop of my morning, right after email. I can’t handle any more email in my boxes so I’ll check back periodically during the day for comments on the posts that interest me. That’s my reward for word count or finishing a particularly onerous housework chore.
And don’t ever take away the the icons. I <3 the silly critters! Though I did miss the Halloween ones. Glad to see the T-giving ones back!
:turkkey:
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I’m pretty simple about the blogs I visit, mainly because this is the only one. I stop here every morning, perhaps leave a comment, and check back throughout the day if I’m interested in other responses (well I did up until the last two weeks of midterms/traveling took over my life – but i’m back). I don’t dare add more emails to my inbox, because I primarily use my school email for everything and I don’t like getting a lot of unrelated things in there. I hardly use my two other email addresses, so for me it’s just easier to come back to this website.
However, Jessica K. did a great job explaining RSS feed and I am thoroughly intrigued since I do have a gmail account.
<3 J
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any winner from blog rom junkies
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Thanksgiving Icons, thanks Plotmonkeys! I love your blog plus I love the Icons. You have the best ones!! :fallleaf: :givethanks:
I do subscribe to your newsletter and those of other authors that I like. My email box is also filled with emails from online compaines I do business with! To many of them and there is no one to blame except me!!
For awhile I used Google Reader but dropped out of it at some point! I think it was in an effort to not spend so much time on the computer. There are other things I ignore & shouldn’t. Also if I am gone things really pile up in all phases of my computer use!! 
By the way, I usually only stop by once a day but sometimes come back to check comments! 
What would I like to see in the newsletter? Whatever you would like to share. New projects, family incidents, pictures. Maybe you could do a newsletter 4 times a year just to keep us up to date on Plotmonkey’s doings.
Thanks for giving us a chance to voice what we like, what we use.
:gobbler: :jive: :rain: We are getting rain! Yea!! :rain:
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I would be lost without my Google Reader!! I use it to follow all the blogs I read, both personal and professional.
I do use the email all comments feature, if it’s a topic I particularly want to follow. I use this especially as it pertains to my work – less so for personal stuff.
I only subscribe to newsletters for those authors whom I particularly adore, and want to be sure that I don’t miss a new book. In general, if I subscribe to their blog in my GReader (and I really don’t subscribe to that many author blogs), then I don’t sign up for their newsletter. There are a few exceptions to that rule, but very few. Cause authors usually will announce everything in both places.
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Ditto.
I subscribe to 295 blogs. Yes, that’s a crazy amount of blogs.
I read a ton of Book Review blogs, which is what I do, as well as a ton of Author blogs. I also follow the blogs of publishers that publish my favorite authors or genres of books. And of course there are a few miscellaneous blogs I follow too: news, movies, technology, tattoos. :)
I’d be lost (or have a ton more time) without my Google Reader. :)
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Yow! That’s a lot of blogs.
I just do the Plotmonkeys! :thanksbig:
I try to remember to check the notify box whenever I post.
I try to read all online pots daily.
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I hate to admit that I hadn’t even noticed the check box for notifying me of followup email until it was mentioned today.
I didn’t know what RSS feed was, but thanks to Jessica K’s explanation I figure it could be useful for the blogs that I don’t follow everyday. Most of the blogs I read are in a Blogs folder in my bookmarks.
I am subscribed to newsletters in a few places but couldn’t tell you which ones they are at the moment. I find receiving author newsletters useful as when they cover new books I can leave them in my inbox to remind me to purchase the book.
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Jessica, thanks for the great info about RSS feed. I subscribed to Plotmonkeys blog but how can I see the comments on the blog?
Thanks,
Cher :turkkey:
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Cher,
To get comments you’ll need to subscribe to the Comment RSS Feed, which PlotMonkey has at the bottom of their site.
Not all blogs have this feature.
Just click the “Subscribe to Comments” below and select Google as your subscription manager. Should work just fine then. :)
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Hey Carly, this is a great blog topic…I must admit that I don’t use the RSS feed feature, but I did subscribe to the newsletter. I tried the notify for follow-up by email once, and my email was inundated with updates. So, I unclicked it…I would have to have an separate email addy to check every time any of you guys or someone responded to older posts. What I do is go back via the calendar to check out if anyone said anything after the last person.
I am not too hip on the whole google reader, rss feed things, so I stay away from it. I find out who said what when I come back on. I usually try to go back over the blogs we talked about the entire week, to recheck. If I have nothing else to do, I will check back an entire month or two. I remember when I first joined the jungle, I went back one whole year, to see what you guys talked about. That was research or catchup work, if you will.
I subscribe to a few blogs (less than 15), but I keep track of them via the eBlogger Dashboard. You guys are there. I only keep my favs on there though. I had a lot more before, but I purged.
On the newletter questions…I don’t mind if you guys don’t send it out because I come to the jungle everyday, and I feel like you give us the updates her regularly. I hope this helps. I know it is kind of late, but I find that by the time I am done grading papers, it is really late. I really miss summer.
Les, have a wonderful time at the booksigning this weekend. I am there with you in spirit okay…good vibes winging its way to you right now. Talk to you all tomorrow.
Peace and love,
Paula R.
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I usually check the box here when I post something to see what other readers say. You all get so many replies to your posts I wish there was a way to get daily updates instead of individual. Love Plotmonkeys.
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Don’t check the follow-up box, nor am I a newlsetter subscriber. I didn’t know you guys had that option. But if you’re not sending anything out, why do you have it? If you were sending it out, I’d want to know about upcoming books and contests.
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I use both the RSS and the follow up emails as I like to keep up with everything
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:jive:
I’ve just started coming to the site, but I’m glad to know I can add it to my Google reader. Jessica thanks for the explanation of how to add it. I subscribe to a few blogs and use Google to manage it. I like newsletters and generally manage to read them.
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I don’t use the RSS Feed either. Actually, I didn’t know what it was all about but Jessica Kennedy above sure was nice to explain it all to us! I think I will have to check it out!
I have about 30 or more blog sites that I have saved on my favorites list. Sounds like on the RSS feed you don’t have to open each individual blog site up. That would be cool!
As for what I would like to see in your newsletters Plotmonkeys are the winners to all contests. Carly has some contests hanging out there on some blog posts right now that no winners have been selected for. I noticed KH has commented up above about who is the winner on the Romancejunkie blog. I know of another one that no winner has been selected for and that is Fresh Fiction.
Thanks ladies! I love your blog by the way! It is at the top of my favorites list!