Google’s announcement that it will decommission Google Reader on July 1 hit the crafting community hard. Crafters love to read blogs. Dedicated blog readers love Google Reader. Crafters love Google Reader.
Now that you’ve moved through the denial, anger, bargaining, and depression stages of your grief, we thought we would take a minute to help you make those first steps into the acceptance stage.
First off, you’ll need to find a replacement RSS reader. Lifehacker provides a list of their five favorite RSS readers. Take a look at their list, try out one or two, and make your pick.
Then it’s time to migrate your subscriptions over. Mashable comes to the rescue here with text and video instructions for how to export your subscriptions from Google Reader. Follow these steps to download a file to your computer. Then, following the instructions for your new reader, import your feed list. Voilà! You’re back in action.
Make sure to download your subscriptions from Google Reader before July 1. Decided not to download your subscriptions because you want to use this as an opportunity to start over and clean up your feed list in a new reader? Don’t forget to add the Oliver + S blog! Here’s a link to our blog’s RSS feed.
What are you planning to use?
Thank you for this post! I have been trying some new reader services, but still unhappy at the change. I have been using pulse, for something wildly different and it works, but I am still less than totally satisfied. I appreciate the other new ideas, and will keep Oliver + S on my list no matter what!
So bummed about this whole thing. I’m sort of waiting to hear if the web developer community comes up with something really fantastic by July before committing to one thing or the other, but I’ll find something because I love RSS! Couldn’t follow all the blogs I want to any other way without going nuts.
I use Feedly and love it. I also moved my blog from Blogger because I think it’s only a matter of time until that goes too.
I’m shedding a tear as well over Google Reader. I started up with Netvibes this weekend and I like the functionality on my desktop computer but it’s not easy to read entries through the browser with photos on my iPhone; the formatting gets all screwy and the text appears over the photo. Sad really. I may try another to see if I like it better.
I opted to give Newsblur $24 for the next year to give it a try. They’re suffering a few growing pains but the interface is great — from my macbook, my ipad and iphone.
Thanks for the suggestions i moved mine over and I’m happy I can still access!
I use Bloglovin and LOVE IT!
I switched over to feedly two days ago and am really happy with it already, although the mobile version could be better.
Thank you, Todd! It feels like I just moved all my subscriptions from the iGoogle homepage to the reader. Sheesh.
I am very disappointed over the news. I love my google reader. I can read gge 171 blogs I subscribe to on my computer, iphone, and kindle fire. I have decided to try freely for now.
I want to cry if I even think about. Not ready for a new reader yet.