Blogging Tips: Goodbye Google Reader, Hello Bloglovin'!
  

Blogging Tips: Goodbye Google Reader, Hello Bloglovin'!

I have been using Google Reader to follow the blogs that I read for years, so I'm pretty sad that they've decided to discontinue it. BUT... after looking into several replacements, I've found a good one that I think I'm going to be happy with!

So, today I thought I'd bring back an old series of blogging tips,
and share it with you & give a little tutorial on using it...

If you are new to RSS Readers, and wondering why you'd want to use one...

RSS Readers are Awesome Because:

1. You don't have to check every blog to see if it updated
(just check the reader- it will tell you which blogs have new posts)
It's like checking your email, but you're looking for blog posts instead of email messages.


2. Do you need a #2? ;)
It's free, it's super easy, and it saves time!

3. You can arrange the blogs you read into categories in folders.


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So, after doing my research into different RSS Readers, I've settled on Bloglovin'. If you don't want to do the research, let me save you some time. Bloglovin' is simple to use, it's not a huge change from what you're used to if you've been using Google Reader, and if you have been using Google Reader, it's really easy to import your list of blogs that you read on Google Reader, right over to Bloglovin' and you're good to go!

---------------------

Here's how to get onto Bloglovin':

Go to
www.bloglovin.com , and you'll see this:


(click the blue button)

Then you'll see this:


(decide how you want to sign up, and click on that option)

When you've imported the blogs you read (if you are currently using Google Reader), or added the blogs you want to read, you'll see something like this when you go to bloglovin' to check on your blogs (a simple list of unread posts from your favourite blogs- the title, a photo, and a little blurb from the beginning of the post:



When you click on one of those posts, it takes you right to the blog where you can read the post. You will see a little bar at the top of the screen that says "Bloglovin'" and let's you navigate from one blog to the next, from your list:



I love this setup! (It's still fast, like Google Reader was, but you get to actually see the blog post, AT the blog, and you're right there if you want to leave a comment on the blog.)

When you want to add a new blog to your bloglovin' list, you click the little dropdown arrow by your picture, then click on "manage blogs you follow"



Then click the blue button at the top that says "Add Blog". (shown in image below)

A search box will pop up where you can enter a URL (like http://www.raisingmemories.com) or the name of the blog you're looking for (like Raising Memories) and any blogs that relate to your search will pop up & you can choose the one you wanted!



You'll also see the "Create New Group" button- that's where you can create a new "folder" or "group" of blogs, by whatever category you like. These can be rearranged at any time.

So, have I convinced you that Bloglovin' is fabulous? ;)
If there's anything that wasn't clear in this post, please feel free to ask questions in the comments- I would be happy to answer them or change this post to make it clearer! :)



9 comments:

  1. I've seen a lot of bloggers promoting Blog Lovin'...I tried it for a few days, but ended up settling on Feedly. :-) I'm just thankful that they can import from Google Reader - I can't imagine trying to transfer all of that over myself!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Feely was my "runner up" :) What did you like better about Feedly?

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  2. I know you did this just for me ;) ... thank you!

    ReplyDelete
  3. I am debating between Blog Lovin' and Feedly too. There is one feature from Google Reader that I can not figure out on Blog Lovin'. Does Blog Lovin' have a way to tag posts and categorize them (for instance if you want to put a specific post in a folder of "Main Dish Recipes") like Google Reader does or can you only categorize each blog? I know Feedly allows you to categorize a specific post but I really like the set up of Blog Lovin'. Decisions! Decisions!
    Thank you so much!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hey Erin,

      In the time I've spent on Bloglovin' I haven't seen a way to do that. You can "like" a post, and then you can view the posts you have liked, but I haven't seen a way to categorize those. (I hadn't ever used that feature with google reader- I tended to just use Pinterest for that ;)

      Delete
  4. I am debating between Blog Lovin' and Feedly too. There is one feature from Google Reader that I can not figure out on Blog Lovin'. Does Blog Lovin' have a way to tag posts and categorize them (for instance if you want to put a specific post in a folder of "Main Dish Recipes") like Google Reader does or can you only categorize each blog? I know Feedly allows you to categorize a specific post but I really like the set up of Blog Lovin'. Decisions! Decisions!
    Thank you so much!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Great post! I didn't realize Bloglovin could do so much. I stayed up super late last night and transferred my favorite reads to the sidebar on my blog. Hopefully that works for me! You're on there :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Wow, that's a good list you have there- I will have to check some of those out that I'm not already familiar with :) I'm so happy I'm on your list :)

      Delete

Thanks for taking the time to leave a comment- I love reading them! :)
~Heather Lynne

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