Living in a Post Google Reader World

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As of July 1, Google Reader will no longer be in service. Bummer! Honestly, Google Reader is a pretty important tool in my arsenal of time-wasting and I'm not sure what to do without it.

Luckily, recommendations for replacements have poured in from bloggers (and my concerned fiance). So, like the good reporting blogger I am, I did some research for ya. And by research, I mean I signed up for all of the contenders and played around for a few minutes before condemning them to a harsh and swift judgement. See below:

1. Blogger: I already use it to blog, so why not to read blogs? Well, because it sucks. It doesn't show you what has new content and it makes you open the posts in a new window to view. The point is that I DON'T want a ton of conspicuous windows open showing that I'm reading blogs. Just the one will do fine, thanks. Bloglovin' ? Same issue.

Verdict: Axed

2. Pulse: Recommended by techies, I thought this might be a contender. The layout is really flashy and pretty and it recommends things you'd like to read by subject. BUT I think it was designed for smart phones, and since I'm still using the dumb version, that doesn't help me much. And I can't figure out how to import the blogs I already do read.

Verdict: Axed

3. Fever and Newsblur both COST to use. WTF?

Verdict: Axed

4. Feedly: Look out folks, we've got a winner! After some playing around, I got it to have about the same functionality as our old, dear Google Reader.

Here's a little guide they put out about getting started switching over from google reader. Getting your feeds in there is the easy part. Then you kind of have to play around to get the view you like. Obviously, I chose a format as close to google reader as possible. I like that I can see which blogs have new posts and read them without opening a new window. The key is to modify your preferences and change the Default view to "Titles Only - Google Reader." Then to see all your blogs on the left hand side, simply click the arrow under all (mine says uncategorized) and the blog titles drop down.

Hope this helps you deal with your grief over google reader!! Happy Weekend :)