When it comes to social bookmarking websites, Digg sets the standard whereby all other websites are compared. Digg is a dynamic website where stories are constantly changing. But, for many of us, we can't spend all our time on Digg. Unfortunately, the latter means we sometimes miss stories which we are interested in. Wouldn't it be great if we could receive alerts on stories we are interested in from Digg? Well, you can.
In order to accomplish this, you need to setup a custom search in Digg and use a service called R-Mail. Starting on Digg's website, run a search on a topic of interest to you. For example, I ran a search for "Thunderbird." Digg will display the most recent submitted stories on Thunderbird. But, more importantly, Digg also generates a RSS feed for the search. This is commonly called a "persistent search." Everytime a story, which mentions Thunderbird, is submitted, the RSS feed gets updated. Now, if you could somehow have the RSS feed sent to your e-mail inbox, you could be automatically alerted to submitted stories you are interested in. There wouldn't be a need for you to stand watch over Digg's website, waiting to see if something shows up. There are a number of services which forward RSS feeds to e-mail. I find R-Mail to be one of the more easy service to setup.
Once you have copied the link for the RSS feed, go to R-Mail's website. Under RSS, enter the link. For my search for "Thunderbird," I enter this link. Under it, enter your e-mail address.
Once you are done, click [Subscribe]. You will receive a confirmation message. Within the e-mail, there will be a link to start the subscription and another link to unsubscribe - don't get them mixed up. You are all set!
