How to start using Google Reader

POSTED BY admin on Jul 11 under Blogging Tips, Google Services, Link Popularity, Social Network, Traffic building

Google reader is a web based aggregator offered by Google which is capable of reading RSS and Atom feeds online as well as offline. I use Google Reader to manage all of my favorite bloggers and news site feeds. Google reader has lots of features like:

Attractive interface that enables you to check all new items with a click
Facility to import and export RSS feeds list in OPML file format
Expended and list view option available for each item
Easy marking of items being read in bulk and individually
Easy addition of new RSS feeds
Use Starred symbol for items that you want to use in near future
Reading all recent items whether online or offline
Using labels for managing RSS feeds in a better way

Add Subscriptions

Users can subscribe to RSS feeds by making a search with keywords of choice in ‘Add Subscription’ option available. Suppose you are looking for blog and sites for subscription that writes about ‘Making money online’, enter this keyword in search box that you get after clicking ‘Add Subscription’ link. Now you will have big list of sites and blogs with their subscriber’s count. To subscribe to any of RSS feed available in your search results, simply click on ‘Subscribe’ button. And if you already know the address of RSS feed you are willing to subscribe, simply paste its URL in ‘Add Subscription’ link.

RSS Management

By now you have entered the list of RSS feeds in your Google reader that you are aiming to monitor. Now it is the time to manage them in a better way. You can sort items by ‘oldest’, ‘newest’ or ‘Auto’ sorting under ‘View Settings’ option. With this, you can view items in ‘Expended View’ or ‘List view’

RSS Items Access

With Google reader, we can view recently added items whether we are online or offline. To set up Google Reader for offline use, we need to install ‘Google Gears’ extension. When we have activated the ‘Google Gears’ extension, we are able to view 2000 most recent items even if we are offline.

Import/Export Facility

Google reader has a great feature that enables us to Import or Export all RSS feed URLS in an OPML file format. This facility is especially helpful if you are willing to switch all of your current RSS Feeds to another account or are willing to subscribe to a big list of RSS Feeds in Bulk.

Requirements for Google reader

To start using Google Reader, you must have a Google Account and Java Script enabled with any of following browsers:

Internet Explorer 6+
Mozilla Firefox 1.0+
Netscape 7.2+
Opera 9.0+

Rojo, Bloglines, Netvibes and Newsgator are some other popular web based aggregator with Google reader.

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1 Comment so far

Praveen Rao July 18, 2008 4:01 am

HI..anil i’m a regular reader of your blog. You have explained all important information about google analytics very well and also helpful for those who are not aware of visitor tracking tools. PLz try to write on youtube if you know bout it that’s also among good google services!