From MozillaZine Knowledge Base

This article explains how to use the Firefox "Live Bookmarks" feature to access web feeds.

Web feeds

Some web sites post lots of new articles or updates and provide an easy way to keep track of them through RSS or Atom web feeds. While you can always visit your bookmarked sites to see the latest articles, it's sometimes more convenient to have new stories sent to you automatically in a web feed. You can get the latest information that interests you this way, whether it's new headlines from Yahoo News's Business section, the latest entries from your favorite blog, or even news updates from mozillaZine.

If you are browsing a web site that has an available RSS or Atom feed, this icon: will appear at the right side of the Location Bar (or at the bottom-right of the browser window if you are using Firefox 1.0.x.)

Subscribing to feeds using Live Bookmarks

Firefox lets you subscribe to feeds using "Live Bookmarks". Your default Firefox bookmarks include one such web feed, the "Latest Headlines" feed, as shown in the screen capture here.

Firefox 2

In Firefox 2 you can choose different options for subscribing to web feeds, including "Live Bookmarks", based on your selections under "Tools -> Options -> Feeds":

• Show me a preview and ask me which Feed Reader to use. If this option is selected, you will be presented with a preview of the feed content and a choice of using "Live Bookmarks", some web-based readers or your own application.
• Subscribe to the feed using: Select this option and choose "Live Bookmarks" if you always want to subscribe to feeds using "Live Bookmarks".

How to add a Live Bookmark

When you are on a web page where a web feed is available:

• Click the web feed icon at the right side of the Location Bar (you may need to select a title - some sites have more than one).
• The "Add Live Bookmark" dialog will appear. Modify the name and "Create in" location, if you wish.
• Click "OK".

If a site doesn't display the icon in the Firefox Location Bar, it may still have an available feed. If you see a small orange icon with "RSS", "RDF" "XML" or "Atom" on the web page, then that icon will link to the feed. In Firefox 2, you may be able to simply click the web feed link in the webpage to subscribe to the feed; otherwise, to manually add the feed as a Live Bookmark, follow these directions:

Manually adding a Live Bookmark

• Context-click (right-click) the "RSS", "RDF", "XML" or "Atom" icon that links to the web feed and select "Copy Link Location"
• Go to "Bookmarks -> Manage Bookmarks" (or "Organize Bookmarks in Firefox 2) to open the Bookmarks Manager.
• Click "File -> New Live Bookmark".
• Type in a name and type or paste in the feed location you copied earlier.
• Click OK.

If your new Live Bookmark does not appear on your Bookmarks toolbar you can reopen the Bookmarks Manager and drag it there, if you wish.

See also

RSS basics (Thunderbird)