11 May 2010

four steps to breaking up with bloglines

if you read blogs through a reader (and you really should), you must jump on the google reader bandwagon. many of you have inquired why i prefer google reader so much. its features seem to tickle my fancy; i love 'starring' and 'liking' the posts that are my favorites and even emailing a post to a friend who i know would dig it. i could go on and on, but really you need to try it for yourself. however you probably don't want to switch readers after all your hard work of subscribing to so many blogs' rss feeds. you don't want to start from scratch. good news; you don't have to. really, it's super easy to export the feeds you have now have into a better, badder reader. i promise, you won't regret it. i'll walk you through it. please don't let the amount of words on this post frighten you, it's just me running away with myself. the basic four patented steps are quick and easy to apply. you'll see results in only minutes.

okay so i admit to being biased. think of me as that best friend who desperately wants you to dump your lame boyfriend and go out with google. sure he's trendy and popular, sure he's a bit geeky. but believe me, i made the switch and believe google reader is above and beyond better than bloglines. once you switch, be sure you subscribe to martawrites if you haven't already. this way we can stay in touch.

you ready to give it a try? for those of you with issues about commitment, don't worry. you can follow these four steps and still keep your bloglines reader in tact. he won't go anywhere. just think of it as your free 30 day trial. but i doubt you'll ever miss him once you have google by your side.


buh bye, bloglines. now bookmark your new reader and say hello to a whole new world. feel free to leave your satisfied customer reports, raves and reviews about google reader in the comment section. and spread the word. see you on the sunny side, in a week or so.

30 comments:

Anna Kristina said...

love the instructions! I'd switch, except I've been a Google reader gal since the very start of my feed reader days. I'd say I'm married to Google by now, with no prenup. ;)

Jamie said...

I use my blogger reader and have reached my limit of subscribing to blogs. =( I know I need to switch to google reader but don't like change. Sounds so ridiculous but true! Tell me I should just do it. I'm sure all the cool kids are doing it. ;) This post may just make me take that leap!

Travelin'Oma said...

You were right. Bloglines had issues, but he was a hard habit to break. After my initial breakup with Bloglines I kept seeing him for a while, unsure of my new commitment. It became too hard to juggle both, so I went all the way with Google, and kissed Bloglines goodbye. I'm still getting acquainted with all Googles charms, but I don't regret my choice. Thanks for lining us up.

(It HAS kept me from visiting my friends in their own places. I just wave from the curb most of the time. I hope they know I'm still here even when I don't comment.)

polly said...

i must be one of the girls in the crowd that no one eats lunch with, and just sits and watches all the popular girls with all the geeks and the football players. cause i have no idea what you are talking about. please call and explain, if you dare be seen with me.

Diane said...

I love google reader, and find it very easy to click on over to the real blog/site for comments.

This reminds me of the time my husband told me it was time to switch from WordPerfect to Word. I didn't want to change, because I knew WordPerfect so well. One day I got on my computer and WordPerfect was missing and there was only Word. Way to force me to switch! It was great, though.

It is definitely worth switching to Reader.

Shelly said...

This was excellent. I've never tried bloglines, and happened to just start with Google reader. Maybe you could highlight some of Google's best and most fun features?

GayleV said...

Dear Miss Marta,
I love Google reader. We've been married for a long time. Apparently it isn't monogamous since so many of you use Google Reader, too ;). However, after discovering the amazing EASE of keeping track of the blogs I followed, I added SO many blogs to my reader that I just don't have time to keep up. I need you to do a post on how to break up with some of the blogs I follow (not you of course.) I just hate having so many blogs that I don't get to everyday. Every time I try to get rid of some, I remember the good times I have had with that blog and just can't bring myself to do it. It is causing me stress to see so many unread posts. Breaking up is HARD!!
Love,
Stressed in SF

Sarah said...

Sadly, I just don't get Google reader. For some reason I just don't like checking it. I'm sure there's a way to fix it to my liking, but I always, always go back to bloglines. I have some stuff in my Google reader, but I keep forgetting about the blogs in there!

Anonymous said...

I love Google Reader, it's like another one of my best friends. I tried bloglines for a bit and found it confusing. p.s. love your too-cute-for-words instructions!

Jules said...

That was so simple! I did it, but now I have a problem with subscribing to blog. With bloglines, all I had to do was click on the little rss box. With Google it looks like I have to actually enter the address. Is this correct? I keep clicking the rss box and it keeps taking me to bloglines.

heather said...

yep i held off switching for a long time, but once i made the commitment it's been me & google reader til death do us part. i don't even care that he's two-timing me with all of you...that's how great he is!

Marisa said...

You're so funny! I'm already a Google girl, but I kept reading your instructions because they kept making me laugh. :)

And, hi? I didn't know I could email posts from Google Reader! How did I miss that?? Thanks for the tip!

Mary said...

I haven't been happy with Bloglines for a bit, but didn't want to make the change - it seemed too hard, but thanks to your post, I just switched! And already I'm so happy.

Thank you! And I love reading your blog. I rarely comment, but your words always inspire and make me smile, so thank you. I have a new son, 5 weeks old, and I hope to find as much joy in our lives together as you and Benji do!

Gayle said...

I can't believe this is your post today! I just experienced a hard drive crash last week (yes, I am one of those bad computer owners who hadn't done a back up yet) and I lost all my favorite blog bookmarks and everything. Now had I already been signed up for google reader, then this wouldn't be a problem, BUT I didnt use it. Now that I have my computer back I was looking for ways to remedy this problem in the future, looks like I have found my solution! Thanks for opening my eyes to Google Reader!

leni said...

i definitely could have used this about a year ago when i made the switch to google reader. i transferred each blog one by one (i read over 75 of them!) because i didn't know there was another way!

deb@virginia blue said...

i love Google Reader! so easy to use and organize :)

Unknown said...

to be honest, I had no idea there was
a bloglines. I've always used google
reader as far as I know (:

anyway, talking about google reader,
somehow, all your posts just comes
up in my reader at one go and even
though I see a time stamp that says 8.24pm (posted 14 minutes ago), I
click on your post to find that it was
posted on may 6 instead ):

(no wonder I've been missing out
on all those giveaways! lol)

Anna said...

Marta, You are such a great teacher. I wish you could "teach" me how to find accomodations that are safe and reasonable in Ecuador while we adopt our little one and how to buy plane tickets. Each day I say I am going to just do it and I dont......

Jake said...

Min...remember the blood, sweat and tears involved in getting me on bloglines?! You totally had to come to PA twice to help me.

Too many changes in my life already. I will do this someday. But only if you come help in person!!!

Hedy @ WDW not just for kids said...

Thanks for the painless info!

summer said...

you ARE a great teacher, marta. if i didn't already have (and LOVE) my faithful reader by my side, i would surely be switching after this. and i love the design element of this post.. the fonts and styling are perfection. i was thinking about it all along the scroll-down.

ps. i hope you're having a fabulous time on vacation right now.. we miss you!

Shaina Longstreet said...

i love bloglines. does this make me a bad person?? :(
great step-by-step post though. im sure lots of people found it helpful. :D

Margaret said...

So you got me convinced to give it a try. But, where are my saved blog posts? I don't see them saved in google reader when I switch.

Robin said...

Marta, you have changed my life. So much so that I'm blogging about you! Check out my post on Wednesday, June 2nd! www.robinsideabook.blogspot.com Thank you!

Megan Elizabeth Johnson said...

I've been in an abusive relationship with my bookmark function on firefox to keep up with all my blogs (I know gasps, right) I've known about Google Reader for a long time now, but I just wasn't able to make that commitment.
After reading your blog I've finally let go of my bookmarks and I'm happy to say Google Reader is treating me like I deserve.

Bri (like the cheese) said...

There are other readers?

Anonymous said...

So I've been seeing Google Reader for a few years now. Thought it was just me. *sigh*

But I subscribe to 200+ blogs. It's all too much but I hate to see them go.

I too would like to see a post on breaking up with some blogs-that-are-not-yours.

sunnysblog@gmail.com said...

I'm not anonymous :)
just posted above about going out with google reader.

loving technology! maybe transferring to google reader is easier than posting a comment! :)

Katie Mitchell said...

I just subscribed to google reader this weekend thanks to your suggestion. I'm loving it already! Who knew it could be so simple? Thanks for your great advise! I love your blog.

Eliza said...

Apparently Bloglines is shutting down... and then in the back of my mind I remembered that you had done a post about breaking up with bloglines. So, I gave it my Dear John letter just today. Thanks to your help the transition was nice and smooth :-D

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...