I know Google wanted me to transfer to Google Plus, so I gave it a go. I signed up and found myself on some sort of home page, I guess. My personal page. One bloggy friend was there, and her latest post. Otherwise, I didn't understand what was going on -- it wasn't easy, intuitive, and I had no clue how to access, or perhaps load in, the blogs I loved to read. All 40 something of them.
So I scrolled down. And the first thing I found before my startled eyes was a really obscene photo - ugh! Just nasty looking. I clicked outa there in one second and haven't been back.
But ... where would I go to find a good feed reader I could use and love, all day every day? Maybe you're asking the same question. Well, I found "Feedly." Up in your browser window, type www.feedly.com. I'd do a direct link to it, but because Feedly knows my laptop, it would go straight to my personal reader page, which I don't want. Yesterday I got the little "Google Reader is Dying" box, popped up on my screen again. Dead as of July 1. I decided it was time to move on and stop pretending it wasn't happening. Boo Hoo!
Here's what I like about Feedly:
It automatically, easily imports ALL your Google Reader sites, subscriptions, blogs, whatever you call them.
It's actually prettier, cleaner-looking than Google Reader.
It gives you more options for how you view the unread posts. I think there are 4 options. I picked "Magazine" format. It actually is easier to read a series of unread posts from one site (like my Free Homeschool Deals site, which often will have 7 or 9 unread posts.) It was a pain in GR, but it's much more compact and easy to separate the distinct posts in Feedly.
It automatically bumps the unread posts to the top of the blog list. It's easy to read them there, and you don't have to scroll through your whole list of blogs, looking for the dark/highlighted ones, like on GR.
It's easy to edit your blog roll and move them into different group lists, or all together.
Now, when you first go to Feedly, you'll need to boldly explore, set some preferences, and click on various options looking for the layout you like best. I was a little frustrated when I tried it a couple of months ago, but this time, it made better sense, and I'm really liking it. I'm not very techy, but I think Feedly may well be the best option out there to the defunct Google Reader.
6 comments:
Yay! Good for you! We do get set in our ways with our blog reading. I do love to check on all my friends. Sometimes I think that the world is so cuckoo. When I see stuff on my Pinterest page that is so dark and worldly, I have to go unfollow them. I'm a Pollyanna and proud of it.
Hey you, Pollyanna, move over for the Luddite -grin-. MK, I'm so glad you wrote this post; I've not had any of those boxes saying Google Reader is going away...does that mean Google Friends Connect is going away as well? I'm not even sure I have Google Reader.
Anyway, thanks for telling me about Feedly; will check it out.
P. S. If you highlight the Feedly address, then left click, you can go directly to the site...no cut and paste.
Sandra, I don't know anything about Google Friend Connect - never heard of it. If it's part of Google Reader, I'd assume it'll go away too, but I just don't know.
I don't want to join Google+ because it looks likely that I would lose the privacy I still have. I use Blogger Dashboard for my reader, but it doesn't work well anymore. The malfunction is this: once I have chosen to follow a blog, I now can never choose to unfollow it! If I try, I am asked to sign in to Google Friend Connect or something. I wonder if Feedly would solve this problem for me...
I really like feedly better than google reader. I feel like it is more user friendly and has saved me time, too. I don't get Google+ either.
Post a Comment