Rather than shedding a single tear, weeping openly or making arrangements, I initially took the traditional American approach of denial. Maybe someone (other than me) will loudly rattle the right gates or win a governor's stay of execution. Maybe Google will hear all our inner screams and come to their senses. I love Google Reader; surely Google Reader isn't really leaving me. Google Reader just needs a few days alone... Right?
Well, not exactly.
As the calendar hurtles toward July 1, I've read reviews and looked at a number of other feed readers. Today I'm proud to announce that I migrated my sprawling feed (after making local backups) to feedly.
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| The hero of our story |
When Google Reader first announced its planned death, feedly got a lot of buzz, but everything I found showed large icon representation.
I'm a headlines kind of girl. Maybe a small icon, but turning Google Reader into Pinterest was just not for me (as evidenced by my trifling Pinterest activity).
Jim recently showed me his stylish Google Reader-like feed display on feedly. I couldn't believe it. The interface now offers magazine-style photo & headline combos, photo "card" displays (a la Pinterest), headline only, and the info geek pr0n of full article display (when you really are reading it for the articles).
Before you import:
While feedly honors Google Reader labels, your existing unread flags and starred items WILL NOT RETAIN FLAGS in the transfer. If you label your starred and unread items in Google, feedly will retain that information through the import.
Other than that, you can import your feed using the Google API (logging in with your existing Google account) or you can create a stand-alone account using your Google Reader backup file (in case you don't want your new reader talking to your ex).
And just because Google Reader is abandoning all of us, we still love you- and we want to stay in touch. Please resubscribe to us. We would miss you terribly.
How have you reacted to the giant meteor headed toward Google Reader? Have you found an alternative you love, really like, or your friends may be calling a rebound? Spill.
***Baby Toolkit is the unicorn-laced dream of some really tired geek parents in the middle Midwest. We have no fiscal interest in Google products (beyond an on-and-off relationship with GoogleAdsense) nor feedly nor giant meteors. We are absolutely invested in you continuing a relationship with us- even if it means we have to start posting to Pinterest regularly. Though not Facebook, we would do anything for love, but we won't do that. We are also Amazon affiliates.
Get your recommended allowance of funny Hoosier accents at our board game podcast GreatBigTable.com.
Get your recommended allowance of funny Hoosier accents at our board game podcast GreatBigTable.com.
*Bonus points for any Little Shop of Horrors fan who spotted FEED ME SEYMOUR in the headline. Actually bonus points for any Little Shop of Horrors fan- anytime, anyhow.
I made the switch to feedly but am not a fan just yet. It shows different unread items on a browser than in the app which makes me think if I miss one day of feedly it shuffles posts to some kind of exile I can only see in the browser. I'm probably being lazy and there's an easy fix but I am going to just complain about it for a moment. :) And you are still in my subscriptions, never fear!
ReplyDeleteI checked out a few, including feedly, and ultimately ended up using theoldreader.com. Very similar to google reader for those like me who don't like change. It's not top notch, but it gets the job done and I'm pretty used to it now.
ReplyDeleteI have been using feedly on my iPhone for a few months now and I've successfully overcome the DT shakes from cold turkey quitting Google Reader.
ReplyDeleteI just started using the web version, and it's ok. I think I'll get used to it eventually, but it's going to be hard.
And yes, y'all are very punny. Love RHPS! :)
Whooooops. Wish I'd read this a few days ago. Guess that just confirms I wasn't using my Google Reader, but I'd been THINKING about dropping by there again...
ReplyDelete