To get your content out to the largest audience and to make sure that they're continually updated, you'll need to use RSS feeds.

The thing is, if you've gone to all the effort of building your site in Dreamweaver and spend a large proportion of your time updating pages and posting content, then you're only using half the power at your disposal if you're not publishing an RSS Feed. By doing so, your content will get constantly republished (when updated) on sites such as Technorati, Yahoo or Google and reach audiences that use RSS agregators.

RSS DreamFeeder allows you to do exactly this directly from Dreamweaver's interface without you having to retype your content or having any RSS/XML coding knowledge. The program is a Dreamweaver-integrated search engine that looks through your website for new and updated content to include in your RSS feed. When you process the feed, any new or updated content will be extracted from your HTML or XHTML pages in the manner of your choosing and listed as entries within an RSS file. In addition to this, it also automatically generates links within your pages to the feeds it creates, both as alternative content headers (i.e. link tags) and as feed links.

The genius of this program is that it generates an RSS feed from a static website so even the most minor update can be launched to the world as an RSS feed. The disadvantage of this of course is that literally every change you make, even spelling corrections, are classified as "updates" although you can specify parameters for what the program should consider an update. A wizard takes you through setting up your initial feed but then you have advanced tabs for those that want more control over how their feeds are distributed.

If you built your website in Dreamweaver and have no RSS knowledge, then this an essential add-on to make sure your website reaches the largest possible audience.

Download RSS Dreamfeeder 2.2.0 in Softonic

RSS Menu is a very simple application that allows you to read any RSS or Atom feeds which can be found all over the internet. In addition, you can also listen to your favorite podcasts. The application is a system wide menu, so you can check out your feeds from anywhere. You don't need to switch from a certain application to read your feeds. With the support of OPML importing and exporting and an enhanced drag & drop, you can easily transfer feeds from any source. In addition, you can let RSS Menu notify you if there are new articles or if something else happens. You can choose from the built in notification or you can use Growl.

Download RSS Menu 1.11.6 in Softonic

FireANT is an RSS video aggregator and media player that helps you keep up to date with the latest internet TV channels and programming.

With the FireANT Player, you can subscribe to any RSS 2.0 channel and automatically download fresh media content to watch and listen to. In this way, you don't need to keep checking your favorite channel - whether it be CNN or ESPN - to see whether there's anything you want to watch on as FireANT delivers it all to you in much the same way as Google Reader tracks your favorite blogs.

The other big draw of FireANT is that the media player is incredibly versatile - rivaling VLC Player in some respects - as it's able to play just about any format without the need for codecs including Quicktime, Windows Media, Flash, Real Media. FireANT can even sync downloaded files with portable media players such as iPod and Sony PSP.

In addition, FireANT player comes with an integrated Yahoo! Video Search function. When FireANT was originally released this was probably quite useful but now that Google is king, you probably won't find much use for it. You can also interact with video creators by sending comments to them based on their content although I'm sceptical as to whether this actually works properly.

A format free and fun way to keep track of your favorite programming, FireANT is maybe a bit dated now but better than having to keep checking channels for new content yourself.

Download FireANT Beta in Softonic

Headline is a small desktop RSS reader with a chat client-like interface and loads of smart features.

The application comes with a large choice of feeds, but you can easily add your own and remove the ones you don't want. Instead of previewing items in the interface, a preview window pops up, in a Quick Look fashion. Headline includes its very own video player, so you watch videos and listen to audio items in the preview window.

The search box at the top is particularly responsive and useful if you don't want to scroll down your list of items. You'll also find a button at the bottom left which lets you switch between feeds and entries. You can mark items you like as favorites and share them via email or iChat.

The compact size comes at a cost, which is no browser view. However it's worth sacrificing it for an interface that stands out from other typical desktop RSS readers.

Headline is a compact desktop RSS reader with a good video player and sharing features.

Download Headline 1.0 in Softonic

I follow all my RSS feeds online via Google Reader, simply because I liked being able to quickly open up stories in the browser. Some people prefer to use a desktop RSS reader like Newsfire though.

This one is perfectly tailored to users who want a simple design and quick access to their feeds and stories. It displays all your RSS feeds on the left side with a little notification for the number of new items in each. As like in every other desktop RSS reader, the main part of the interface is a browser window from which you can read your feed, including pictures and links. Clicking on one of these will open it up in a new browser window.

If you see that your list of feeds is extending a bit too much, you can create smart lists to keep them organized. Newsfire also lets you store feeds in folders. Make sure you use both these and smart lists, it'll make your daily news reading much easier and more productive.

While Newsfire might not offer much of advanced features, it makes for a simple, easy to use RSS reader for anyone hooked on the news.

Download NewsFire 1.5v74 in Softonic

Podcast Maker is a tool for Mac OS X that makes podcasting simple. Novices can become podcasters and professionals can podcast without having to do XML situps. Create enhanced podcasts with your images and links to take your podcast to the next level.

Features:

• Drag and drop podcasting
• RSS feed generator
• Make enhanced podcasts
• Publish to a .Mac account
• Publish to an FTP or SFTP server
• Publish to a folder on your Mac
• Preview your enhanced podcast
• Preview what your podcast looks like on the iTunes Music Store
• Automatically embeds metadata into MP3 and M4A files
• Publish VODcasts, m4v files for video iPods, and PDF files
• Import existing podcasts

Download Podcast Maker 1.3.8b in Softonic

Keeping track of your latest podcasts is a full time job especially if you're subscribed to several at once.

If you want to organise, capture and of course listen to your favourite podcasts, but are busy when they are scheduled, Juice (formerly known as iPodder) could be your solution. Juice allows users to capture and listen to Internet audio programs at anytime for listening at a time more convenient to them - it's kind of like a VCR but for podcasts.

Juice enables you to select and download shows and music and to play them whenever you are ready on your iPods, portable media players or PC. Juice is completely free to use and supports a range of external media players (although not all) and Juice can even help you discover new music with hundreds of podcast feeds you might not be aware of or have heard about (although most are American based). It's the organisation of your podcasts and highlighting of what you've listened to and transferred however that's most useful in Juice. Plus of course the fact that you'll never miss a podcast again.

Juice is an easy to use podcast organiser and scheduler that takes the stress out of keeping up and planning when to listen to your podcasts.

Download Juice (formerly iPodder) 2.2 in Softonic

The Times RSS reader lets you enjoy the news in a newspaper style interface. With this application you can read all your feeds and customize them from your desktop.

The newspaper design is pretty cool and although you can't move sections around, you can still create pages, where you can drag and drop feeds. All your pages are accessible from the top of the interface. Times comes with a large lists of feeds which you can drag into your pages, but you can also add your own urls.

Instead of starring articles you like, in Times you stack them up. Drag an article onto the wooden stack to select it. Clicking on the stack will show all your chosen articles and display their titles.

Although I enjoyed the newspaper design, I was a little disappointed by the reading experience. Every time you click on an article it will fold up the front page to reveal the article. This can obstruct the article somewhat. I also found having to click on the fold to go back to the home page a little annoying.

Despite this small reading mishap, Times is an original RSS reader, definitely off the beaten track. Give it a try if you miss reading newspapers.

Download Times 1.0.5 in Softonic

Newslife is a minimalistic RSS reader with a number of exciting features. We like how the view displays the custom icons for each of your feeds. You can create folders to store feeds around a same topic. The right side of the interface includes a handy search tool and you can quickly view all feeds for the day or all unread ones. Another way of filtering posts is by clicking the source or published date on any post.

The newsbin section is the feature that stands out the most in Newslife. This is where you'll store all notes that you find of interest. Newslife lets you use these notes in a number of ways. You can send them by mail, digg them or post them on del.icio.us. Newslife also allows you to post feed items to your own blog, but you'll need to have an external blog editor like ecto, Feeder, Marsedit or Xjournal installed. Another cool feature is how, using the Mac Text-to-Speech function, you can listen to any note that you've put into your news bin.

We were a bit put off by the small font used in the menus and some buttons, especially in the menu on the right, are for some reason, difficult to press. It's also a bit disappointing that, despite all the advanced features, Newslife does not allow you to toggle feed views that much. On the whole though, Newslife is a solid offline RSS reader with some exciting sharing and organizing tools.

Download Newslife 1.2 in Softonic

Feeder is an application for creating, editing and publishing RSS feeds on Mac OS X. With Feeder you don't need to understand RSS to create feeds and publish them to the web. Feeder can publish your feed and upload enclosure files via FTP, Secure FTP, .Mac or by exporting files to disk.

Feeder fully supports the RSS 2.0 specification and is packed with thoughtful features to enhance the experience of creating and managing feeds from start to finish, including auto-completion and templates to save repetitive typing, the automatic updating of publication dates, HTML previews, feed validation and more. Feeder also has great features for podcasters, such as enclosure uploading and support for the iTunes podcasting extensions.

Download Feeder 1.5.4 in Softonic

Regular Google Reader user know how addictive the web application can be and how important it becomes to be on top of new unread items. This little plugin give you control of the online news reader from your desktop, thanks to Growl.

Reader Notifier is accessible from your menu bar, where it will show the number of unread items you have. Open up the drop down menu and you'll be able to access your Reader, refresh unread items or add a new feed. This last option is great, since it lets you add any new RSS link you might find, without having to open up Google Reader every time.

Reader Notifier includes Growl support, which is a nice way of keeping up to date with unread items. You can also choose to block items you don't want to see. If you want to save yourself the hassle of even simply visiting Google Reader, you can also set up Reader Notifier as your default RSS reader in your browser preferences.

The application also features TorrentCasting, which may be lesser known and not as clear for many users, but can actually come to be quite useful. TorrentCasting allows you to keep up to date with media in RSS feeds such as torrents, podcasts or videocasts. It'll attach the file to the feed, making it immediately accessible to you from the menu bar.

Reader Notifier works fine most of the time, however it has been known to show some random number in the menu bar when you have too many items.

Despite this minor bug, Reader Notifier is a smart way of controlling all your Google Reader feeds from your desktop.

Download Reader Notifier 1.10 in Softonic

The Times Reader, which member of the New York Times who have a PC already know, is now available in Beta for Mac.

This application displays a paginated version of the newspaper and includes a seven day archive and integrated search. Clicking on an article brings it up in the interface and you can skip through all articles thanks to forward and back buttons at the bottom.

Font is available in three sizes and you can print articles, send them via email or save to read offline. The syncing is done automatically but you can set the interval at which it is performed, for 10 to 120 minutes. Note that syncing does take a while at first, but will be quicker as you update the program.

I found the installation process particularly long, especially as you have to make sure you have Microsoft Silverlight and that you are a registered member of the New York Times. It's also a shame that the Mac version doesn't include many features that you find in the PC version like search relevance view or news in pictures. Hopefully all the same features will be available in the full version.

Obviously, you'll get a similar experience if reading the NYT from a desktop newsreader. However if you enjoy the paginated format and like having the New York Times right on your desktop this app should be a blessing.

Download Times Reader Beta 1.0.46 in Softonic

Good looking, intuitive, customizable and light-weight, BlogBridge is as close as we’ve seen to the complete newsreader package. As the number of RSS feeds continues to escalate, there is a greater need for some way to maintain control over the reams of relevant articles without becoming consumed by the management process. BlogBridge aims to keeps you informed about the state of your subscriptions while sticking to a basic, straightforward system.

On the first run, you are given the option to register and pick from a predefined list of blog “guides” or groups. The next step is to enter custom terms that are of particular interest to the user, so that the program can highlight these terms, giving them more prominence. This is a welcome alternative to what seems to be the accepted approach, which consists of bundling of all kinds of feeds of which the majority are of no interest to the user at all.

One of our favourite features was the easy-to-use rating system where users can give feeds a score from one to five stars. The ratings can then be used as a filter to show only the top feeds, making it easy to scan through the most relevant news quickly. What’s more, there are multiple options for customizing the interface, which is by far the best that we’ve seen to date. Other great features come in the form of tags for feeds and a synchronization system for using the reader on multiple computers without the need to sort through the same information more than once.

Extra merit goes with the fact that BlogBridge is an Open Source project, and although it seems secure and stable there are a few minor usability issues that could be improved upon. The program relies on an external browser to display blog sites, letting it concentrate on being a great feed reader. Annoyingly, however it doesn’t detect the default browser. With the browser selected, it then opened everything twice whether it was an article or the programs FAQ page. Even taking these hiccups into consideration, BlogBridge remains a quality package, so if you are searching for an RSS reader, your search has just come to an end.

Download BlogBridge 6.3 in Softonic

NewsTicker is the news reading revolution. We don't think you should go out and find news, we think they should find you, and only those news that you are interested in. None of that spam stuff!

RSS feed updates to your iPod, so that you can read your headlines even when you are away from your computer! NewsTicker's display and behavior is highly customizable, you can set your own styles, colors and much more!

Under the hood, NewsTicker takes advantage of Apple's Quartz display technology to give you real time transparency, super-smooth scrolling and tons of useful eye candy! NewsTicker is both voice-activated and speech capable! You can use it from anywhere in the room to listen to or view your news!

Download NewsTicker 2.36 in Softonic

Shrook is a next-generation news reader that is not only easy to use, but offers advanced features not available to Mac users anywhere else. It supports all versions of RSS and Atom.

Features:

• Synchronization without the Sync button
• Get news without your Mac
• Smart groups without setting up rules
• New items without the wait
• Podcasts without missing the text
• Instant Notifications
• Spotlight support
• No Browser Required
• Smart Groups
• Scrapbooks
• Blogging Integration
• Real-time search
• Channel Guide
• Quick subscription

Download Shrook 2.62 in Softonic

NetNewsWire is the desktop RSS reader of choice for Mac users.

Easy to use and filled with viewing modes and feed reading features, NetNewsWire makes for a great news reader for anyone hooked on RSS. Not only can you view full screen, in tabs or combined, but NewsWire also lets you sort items by attention or create smart lists to keep your items organized.

The RSS reader previews new items in the interface, which saves you the hassle of opening up your browser. You can also sort items by headline column, depending on the date, title or more.

NetNewsWire integrates perfectly on your Mac, working with numerous programs like Spotlight, iCal or iPhoto. You can also post items to del.icio.us. We also liked being able to automatically sync with the NewsGator service, great to follow feeds from anywhere.

Most of the time, NetNewsWire works smoothly, however if you're following a large amount of feeds, it can take some time to load them up. One thing that should definitely make you fall for the RSS reader though is that it is now completely free. It'll be hard to resist.

NetNewsWire is an excellent free desktop RSS reader with multiple viewing modes, integration with many software and auto syncing to NewsGator online.

Download NetNewsWire 3.1 in Softonic

Podcaster publishes podcasts and enhanced podcasts quickly and easily. Broadcast your productions through your network, or worldwide through the internet. Podcaster will also create 'enhanced podcasts', these are audio files containing chapter markers where you can include titles, images and web links. The images in these files can be viewed on an iPod with photo capabilities. Podcaster also supports specific iTunes Music Store tags

Enhanced podcasts can be created from movies, an iMovie project and even from slideshows in iPhoto. Podcaster automatically extracts the audio content in the correct format, with a configurable bit rate to save disk space, and also resizes the images to the correct format.

Publish your podcast to:

• A location on your hard disk
• Your .Mac account iDisk
• An FTP server Podcasts can be published either locally to your hard disk, to an iDisk on a .Mac account, or to a web site through an FTP server

Publish:

• Enhanced Podcasts, Vodcasts (Video Podcasts)

Import:

• QuickTime movies (mov/mp4),

• iMovie projects, PDF documents

Configure:

• Output format, size, compression

Download Podcaster 1.2.2 in Softonic

Cyndicate is a desktop RSS reader with a clever name and a few original features. From the left side of the interface, you can choose to folder or RSS link views. The application lets you create smart folders to better store your links and you can set filters from the preferences menu to manage different topics.

Cyndicate gives you a myriad of tools to play around with your feeds. Add ratings to them, flag them or manage them with labels. The program also allows you to share them on the biggest social networking sites like del.icio.us or Digg. To post to your blog, all you have to do is select your blog editor from the preferences menu and then click the "Blog this" item from the article itself or the program menu to post it.

Cyndicate offers a clear, typical RSS reader interface, from which you can manage and read all your feeds. However the number of features it offers to organize your tags makes it certainly one of the best desktop RSS readers of the moment.

Download Cyndicate 1.0.2 in Softonic

Vienna is a freeware, open source RSS/Atom newsreader for the Mac OS X operating system. It provides features comparable to commercial newsreaders, but both it and the source code are freely available for download.

A summary of some of its features:

• Subscribe to Atom/RSS news feeds and podcasts
• Simple and intuitive user interface
• Built-in tabbed browser
• Smart folders for organising related feed articles
• Custom article display styles
• Three separate reading layouts
• Blogging integration
• Filter the displayed articles
• Manual reordering of the subscription list
• Full AppleScript support
• Localised into several languages

Download Vienna 2.2.0.2205 in Softonic

iNewsCaster looks like a mix between an RSS reader and an MP3 player. This clever combination allows you to follow listen toyour feeds on your export them to your iPod. We didn't really like the option to add feeds, because it gives you a whole list of preselected feeds instead of making it easy to add your own. You can still very easily create your own playlist, into which you can drag and drop feeds.

iNewsCaster can export feeds to iTunes, from where you'll be able to export them to your iPod. What about the sound quality, you'll ask? While sounding a bit metallic at times, the playback features works pretty well and are very easy to use. It's unfortunate that the audio editing tools are fairly limited though, and you can get tired of hearing the same voice reading off your feeds.

An original tool, although I personally prefer sticking to a simple RSS aggregator and reading my favorite feeds.

Download iNewsCaster 2.1 in Softonic