March 25, 2013 - Overcoming Reader Woes

I've come to depend on Google Reader to keep up with all the blogs I love to read, so I was upset to find they are pulling it soon.  I've checked around and tried a couple of the other offerings, and have found two that meet my needs.

(1) The Old Reader http://theoldreader.com



I tried this one first, but soon gave up on it, as it wasn't updating the posts and only showing about ten of the many to which I subscribe.  However, today (about a week after I first subscribed to it) I got an email from them saying "We are happy to inform you that we have finished importing your subscriptions.  110 feeds you imported should now be available."  Sure enough, they were all there!  Actually, they picked up about 20 blog entries from every blog to which I was subscribed, some going back a year or longer.  There is one place to click at the top to "mark all as read", so it didn't take terribly long to clear the entire page of all the old posts.

Pros: If this one updates as it should, it will be almost identical to the Google Reader we're used to.
Cons: Importing from Google Reader wasn't the easiest.

Right now I'm giving it two thumbs up.

(2)  Feedly http://www.feedly.com/


When I couldn't get The Old Reader to load the content, I tried Feedly.  It was a breeze to get the subscriptions imported, just one click on the main page and no import/export to fool with.  It has options for how you want your page to appear, but I've fiddled with them and never have got anything close to the Google Reader of which I'm so fond.  However, it does work well enough and  there have been no problems with updating.

Pros:  The ease of transferring all of your subscriptions.
Cons:  It just doesn't have the look I'm used to, I'm such a creature of habit.

If you are a Google Reader user, I'm sure you would be happy using either of these programs.


31 comments:

  1. What's up colleagues, its enormous article regarding tutoringand completely defined, keep it up all the time.

    Feel free to surf to my homepage ... White Kidney Bean

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  2. Glad to see your post!! I still have my eyes and ears out for reviews on other readers. Thanks for the informations! Googler reader, you disappoint me!! How could you??!!

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    1. LOL, Holly, The Old Reader just happened to be on your blog post, too!

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  3. I've tried those two as well and prefer The Old Reader. When it works. Haven't tried it since getting the mail that the import was done.

    And I can't stand the way Feedly displays my feeds. It's pretty but I don't want pretty. I want a list.

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    1. That's my gripe about Feedly. I set it to "all", but then I just get black text. Old Reader is definitely my preference, and it seems to be working fine now.

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  4. I've never used google reader. I have the blogs I like to read as a side bar on my blog with the option selected which shows latest posting. It's worked fine for me.

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    1. I have that too, Marcia, but Google Reader is a much faster way to read the blogs when you have 100+ like I do. I can read them all right there without having to click on every single blog link, and If I want to comment, I can then go directly to the blog.

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  5. Wow, Granny, didn't know what to do about Reader RIP. I tried feedly and like it! I'll try The Old Reader too. Thanks for the tip!

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    1. You're welcome, John. Glad I could be of help to you!

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  6. I'm with Marcia, I've honestly never used google reader, so I didn't realize what a loss it is. However, I'm willing to learn something new and will try one of the ones you recommend Granny. I'm obviously missing out on something!

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    1. 1st. Man, since you've never used it, at least you won't have to transfer over your subscriptions. You'd just start from scratch like the rest of us did when we began using G Reader. You'd just use the "Add a subscription" tab and enter the URL for the blog you want to follow.

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    2. HAH! Sorry to hear of your reader woahs, but look, its a picture of Mr. Pickles on your page! :) Weee.

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    3. It sure is, Cloud! That just proves I follow you!

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  7. I wasn't to happy to hear Reader was going away either. I made the switch to bloglovin it's not quite like reader, but it will do

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    1. Mrs. P., I hadn't tried Bloglovin. I think I'm sticking with The Old Reader, since it's the closest to GR.

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  8. When is this supposed to take place? I don't want to change!

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    1. Sorry, Langela. Google Reader dies on July 1. I just wonder when they're going to pull the plug on Blogger and gmail.

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  9. I use Google Reader too. And like you I don't want to change. Why learn a new reader when you like the old one. Ah well.

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    1. Daphne, thousand upon thousands of us are crying into deaf ears. I suggest you get The Old Reader, then give it a week to get all your subscriptions. That way you'll be ready when GR dies.

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  10. AG, Is there nothing you cant do? I am more impressed each time I read your blog (which is very often). You are a gardener, an inventor (seed Mats), a personal trainer (getting me to exersize -- well almost), now a computer / internet expert. I love you more all the time. Mr Granny better be glad he met you first. He married way over his pay grade. Ha Ha Have a great day.

    Your gardening Friend
    Frank from Virginia

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    1. Frank, you always say things that brighten my day! You'd better believe I just read that to Mr. Granny! He said to tell Frank "Life's not always a bowl of cherries". I think that was a little dig at me ;-)

      PS: Don't forget, I paint houses (in & out), cook, clean, do laundry, chauffeur....oh yes, my talents are endless LOL!

      PS#2: I've lost 24 pounds and had to buy all new clothes.

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    2. Well you are expensive then --- but well worth it. Ha Ha

      Frank from Virginia

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    3. But Frank, every item of clothing I bought was on sale big time....so I'm cheap! I love these 50-90% off end of season sales! And rather than buy more new jeans, I bought a belt to hold up the last new ones I bought just a month ago! Yes, the belt was on sale :-)

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  11. Thanks for the info on Old Reader, I had been dragging my heels with any transition, after hearing mixed reviews about feedly. Maybe I'll have decision made by July 1.

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    1. Anonymous, I think either one would probably be just fine. Feedly seems to update a bit faster the The Old Reader, so it's just a matter of getting used to something that's a bit different from GR. At least we have 3 months to get used to it!

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  12. I'm confounded by this problem, too. Thanks for the info on The Old Reader. I'll check it out. I switched to WordPress ages ago from Blogger, and just discovered tonight that WordPress has a reader feature, so I'm going to check that out, too.

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    1. You're welcome, Ali. I hope you find one that works well for you.

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  13. Thank you for posting this! I was so bummed to get that email that they are closing google reader. Helpful to see someone that used google reader trying out some new ones. I already downloaded Feedly on my phone but haven't really tried it yet. Thanks!

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    1. You're welcome Laura. I'm using both of them right now, and haven't even looked at Google Reader all week. Although The Old Reader is a bit slower to update, I do think it's the one I prefer since it's almost identical to G-Reader.

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  14. I didn't know Google was pulling Reader, I use it too. Thanks for the suggestions on transferring to another!

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    1. You're welcome, Erin. It's supposed to die on July 1.

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