Google Reader
Posted: Monday, March 18, 2013 by Travis Cody inSo the reality is finally setting in for me that Google is discontinuing the reader product this summer. It will no longer be available effective 1 July.
OK. What do do?
I like Google Reader. It took me awhile to come to the product. I used to make my rounds through the links I posted on my blog sidebar. But that didn't tell me whether there was a post to read. I'd have to click over and see, and that ended up taking much longer than necessary as sometimes there would be no new post. Google Reader listed out the blogs and indicated whether there was something to read before I spent the time clicking over. Sometimes I could read posts right in the reader, then click over and comment.
Google Reader also made it possible for me to subscribe to the Cheeseburger and Hotdog sites, so I could see the pictures and videos right in the reader. I could also subscribe to news blogs and other sites. Google Reader made keeping track of my blog pals and my other interests easy and convenient.
But no more.
Fortunately, there seem to be other products stepping into the breech. I'm trying one right now called Feedly. It doesn't work with IE, but it does work with Firefox and Chrome. I like Feedly so far. It works like Google Reader, but you can change the format and look of your pages, like setting up either an index list or a magazine page.
There are a couple of things I don't like so far. One is that sometimes the links to individual posts error out. The second is that when you click on one of the post links, it marks the post as read even if the link errors out. I haven't found how to keep the post as not read when that happens, or to save a post to read again later. But I'm sure that's just a matter of exploring the settings again.
If you use Google Reader, I encourage you to start checking out alternatives now. Find something comfortable. I know a lot of people have eased away from blogging toward other types of social media. Losing Google Reader could be the impetus for many more to make the final stop to blogging.
Don't stop yet, I say. I still enjoy the storytelling part of blogging. I haven't been blogging daily like in the past, but that's a function of time at the moment. Pam and I still have lots to share, and we intend to use Trav's Thoughts, Poetry by Travis, and Cats in the Condo to share it.
Now, we'll use Feedly to see what our blog pals still have to share.
I'm using Feedly and I really love it... it's better than Google Reader and I thank them for withdrawing their product and forcing me to look at what else is out there. While Feedly does mark the post as read when you click on a link, you can still see it in the menus. I have mine categorized... Cats, Food, Friends, Facebook feeds, Business... I love it!
I won't quit writing my blog, even if nobody ever read it but me. I started blogging to keep a personal journal and that's still why I keep writing it.
Have a wonderful day, Travis!