© Mark Knol
I am your average high-end internet social media user- creating content, giving feedback, networking with people, connecting with friends and consuming multimedia. The one thing that falls by the wayside for me personally is reading blogs via my Google Reader. Here’s how I overcame this stumbling block to keep up to date on all the blogs I read.
If you’re like me and you let your unread blog posts pile up in your reader then you’re in luck. If you don’t use Google Reader then you aren’t in luck. If you’re interested in using the method I’ve discovered then you should move all of the blogs you follow over to Google Reader. If you have a more intuitive, efficient way of reading blogs then by all means please put your suggestions in the comments. I’m always looking for ways to make doing things simpler online.
First off, go through all your content in your Google Reader. Glance at the first post in the Filofax that you have created for the blog. If the first one doesn’t warrant your comment then ‘mark all as read’. If it does warrant comment then open the blog post in a new tab for commenting later. Right now we’re focused on cleaning up your reading closet.
Once you have gone through all of your RSS blog feeds that you follow, and your Google Reader looks clean with NO posts only then you are able to start anew.
Now, go to the top right-hand corner of the Google Reader page to Settings. Click on the Goodies tab. It is here that you will find what will turn your blog reading experience into a personal Stumbleupon. Finally, drag their ‘Next’ link to your browser toolbar and you’re good to go.
This will turn your blog reading into a full featured experience. You will return to reading websites the way they were meant to be read- in their original format.
UPDATE: Just mark everything as read. Seriously. If you have 1000+ unread entries this is the way to go. Just start fresh with a new way of reading blog posts. Then breathe.
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Excellent post Damien, I don’t know where I’d be without Google Reader – only “feature” I couldn’t find was to rename a folder within Reader.
Especially like the ability to publish you tagged favourites to their own RSS feeds.
Martin Newham’s last blog post..mjnewham: @tommsinclair "it just works" (eventually) :D
Martin,
Here is how you manage your folders with Google Reader:
Search for folder under Settings/Subscriptions in the search box on the right hand side. Select all that are categorized under that folder. Choose a folder from the drop-down list that says ‘More Actions’ that you’ll ‘add to new’. If you haven’t created a different folder name before this then do so. Now go to the ‘Folders and Tags’ tab, select the folder you want to get rid and press the ‘Delete Selected’ button.
AND, if you want to actually just remove it from the folder and not delete the folder category you must then go back to Google Reader to physically remove it. Once you remove it from the folder it will continue to be in other folders, just not that one.
Happy organizing!
Thanks, I’ll give that a try next time I need to change a folder ..
I use a lot Google Reader, it´s a lot helpful to read my favorite blogs. It simplifies all.
I’ve never actually used Google Reader before but I’ve really only heard good things about it. I think it’s time I gave it a go.
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