My Love Affair with Google Reader

Let’s start from the beginning, shall we?

I did not get involved in the world of blogs until last summer (Hey, that means my 1 year anniversary is coming up soon! We might need to have another party and a giveaway! But I digress…). Involved meaning I didn’t read blogs either. In fact, it was probably a couple of months before I finally got the hang of things and started exploring other blogs and following and whatnot.

I relied on my Blogger dashboard to update me on new postings of my favorite blogs. Sometimes I would get a pretty picture to go along with a few sentences about a blog post. Sometimes not. I was constantly opening new windows to read more about a blog. I was always disappointed when a blog I liked was not on Blogger because I couldn’t follow them! I lived this way for many, many months. (Sad, I know.)

Enter

I had heard talk of Google Reader, but I’m one of those people who doesn’t really like to get out of my routine. It messes me up. Takes me too long to get reaccustomed. I decided to give it a try though. Anything had to be better than my Blogger dashboard!

And I was right! Now I’m addicted to Google Reader. Like click on the bookmark every half hour kind of addicted. And I’m following plenty of blogs to have new things to read every 30 minutes!

What I love
I can follow any blog, not just the ones associated with blogger. If there is an RSS feed, I can add it to my Reader.

Have you fully explored the Google Reader sidebar? I’ve been playing around with it lately to see what all my options are. Let me tell you about some of my faves!

1. Home: Home tells me what I’ve recently read and starred as well as tips and shortcuts for using Reader. I have yet to figure out why it selects certain blog posts to display since they are neither the most recent nor unread. Anyone know the answer to that one?

2. All Items: All items is where I head when I first get to Google Reader. It tells me how many unread posts there are, and I simply start reading. I can read from oldest to newest or vice versa, or sort by “magic” which I’ve yet to try.

3. Starred Items: I love, love, LOVE this feature! I love that I can mark my favorite blog posts and go back and find them easily again later. No more bookmarking every little thing!

4. Recommended Sources: I just started playing with this, and I’m really enjoying it! Kind of. It recommends 4 new blogs every day that are similar to the ones I already follow. I’ve already found a few new ones to add to my list. Which is not necessarily something I need!!

Have you used the search feature? Its great! I like to make blog posts of gathered ideas (such as the Easter Crafts post or the Creative Ribbon Storage post) and now, instead of scouring the web for items to use, I can go to my favorite bloggers first! Its also great for jogging my memory of ideas I loved but may have forgotten to star.

There are multiple ways to search, too. You can search through all blogs, starred posts, specific blogs, etc. It makes my life so much easier!

Here’s an example of using the search feature (Sorry! I know its poor resolution and you probably can’t read it. I’m just trying to make a point is all. 🙂 ). I simply typed “fabric flowers” into the search and promptly got back over 100 blog posts! Yay!

Questions for YOU!

Do you use Google Reader?

If not, what do you use?

Why do you love it?

Do you have any tips for me that I don’t know about yet for Reader??

And, finally, I’ll tell you how many blogs I’m following if you tell me!! 😉

I’m at 142 right now, but that will change fast!

I have started truncating my posts to avoid having my content stolen. I hope you’ll click over to finish reading the post. Thank you for understanding!

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Luvin' the Hubs

Sunday 25th of July 2010

It truly is addicting, isn't it? I started my very own blog last September, made and initial post and haven't done a dang thing with it since then. I'm just tooooo intimidated by all the other incredible blogs out there...sigh.My tip for you is this:Click on a blog, after it opens look for the "Feed Setting" in the tool bar. From the drop down menu choose the option at the bottom that says "View in Reader Play".Ah, pure heaven. Each page gives your a sneak preview of what it is about and if you want to read more, you just click on "Read More". It is really handy since my computer is uber slow and I don't have to wait for the whole blog to upload. Let me know what you think Ü

PeaceLoveApplesauce

Wednesday 12th of May 2010

I love Google Reader!

Stacey

Saturday 8th of May 2010

I LOVE Google Reader! It changed the blogging world for me! :) I'm right there with you at 144 blogs followed, there's SO many good one's out there... including yours! Love your work!

Maria@BubblegumandDuctTape

Friday 7th of May 2010

I'm going to start using google reader, thanks for the tips. I'm in for anything that can organize the blogs I follow.

Anj

I heart google reader! It's a great way to start my day. breakfast + google reader=happiness!

Thank you so much for all of the sweet comments you have left on my blog. Honestly you are a dear!