Sent to you by Hemi via Google Reader:
Knowing that new users are signing up and veterans are looking for some ideas to make their experience even better, we have put together a quick how-to that should offer something for everyone.
Tell us in the comments about what you do to get the most out of Google Reader!
History of Google Reader
When RSS became a standard for publishing material on the web, the way that we received our information changed very quickly. No longer did users have to go find content; now it could come to them automatically. With the world at their fingertips, something had to be created to sort all of the information. Feed Readers soon started popping up, and power house Google created their own version.
Google Reader is robust in features, and can be used "out of the box" for those that just want a point and click solution, or tweaked so that power users can play around.
Getting Started With Google Reader
If you are entirely new to the world of blogs or if you want to simply expand your reading, click on the "Browse for stuff" link and go to the "Browse" tab. Choosing "Staff Picks" is a safe bet - you'll find some amazing articles - but you can also enter keywords into the "search & browse" field at the bottom of the page.
Another way is to manually enter the URL of a blog into the "Add Subscription" area and Google Reader will usually find the feed and automatically add it for you. A third way (and the one that I use most often) is to locate the "Subscribe To This Feed" button on the blog of the site you wish to follow. If the site is well designed, it should be fairly obvious and you just have to follow a few prompts. Now that you have content you can start reading…think of Google Reader as a complete newspaper, each blog as individual articles.
Google Reader Time Savers: Trends and Keyboard Shortcuts
You can find out what your reading habits are by clicking "Trends" in the menu bar on the left side. Of course I didn't read every article word for word; just like a newspaper I skimmed through the list and skipped over things that didn't capture my attention. If there are feeds that you almost never pay attention to, why not unsubscribe?
Sorting through Google Reader can be pretty quick if you know some simple keyboard shortcuts; the two that I use the most are "J" which skips to the next unread item and "K" which brings me back to the previous item. I've practically worn out these two keys on my laptop. If you really want to scan through your items quickly, hit "2″ to switch to the list view then use "n/p" to scan through the items without opening them. When you find something you want to read, hit "enter" and it will open in full view. For a complete list of keyboard shortcuts you can go here or just type "?" within Google Reader for a great popup of commands.
Google Reader's Advanced Options
The ideas in this section aren't advanced in the sense that they are complicated; they are just things that require a little effort to get going, as opposed to the out-of-the-box Google Reader that will probably be fine for most people.
To create folders, click on any one of your subscriptions in the left navigation bar until it opens up in the main reading pane. Click the button called "Feed Settings" at the top of the page and select "New Folder". Type in a name that is helpful for you and click "Ok". That's it…you can repeat this process to create more folders or to file feeds into existing folders. This is also a great place to rename subscriptions (which I often do) if the names the author originally chose are too long or are not descriptive.
However, with the new design comes some reports that certain extensions aren't working properly, so here is a short list that have been verified to work smoothly:
Better GReader - Preview web pages inline in Google Reader, collapse the header and sidebar for more reading area, get a Mac OS X like skin, add favicons to feed subscriptions and more with Better GReader.
Littlefox - Although not specifically used for Google Reader, Littlefox is designed for optimal screen space. It creates a nicely organized navigation bar that you can easily expand and collapse, leaving you a lot of real estate for reading your feeds. I'm a minimalist so I love this add-on for my morning reading time.
Google Reader Notifier - This extension adds a small icon to your browser that shows how many unread items you have in your reader. Mousing over the icon pops up a list of the unread items. Useful for staying ahead, it can also create some angst in users that obsessively check for new posts.
Saving and Sharing - The bottom of each story from your feeds contains a few options. "Add Star" is great for tagging items that you want to go back and review later, or something that really grabs your eye. "Share" and "Share with note" show up in your friend's list of feeds, assuming you are connected via Gmail or Gchat. You also have the ability to email stories to others, keep a post unread and add your own tags.
Your Turn: How Do You Use Google Reader?
Google Reader has everything you could ask for in a feed reader, and with the newest design even more controls are at your fingertips. If you are still reading blogs the old-fashioned way, by clicking from one page to the next, we strongly encourage you to go sign up on the Google Reader page and try this out. Your productivity will skyrocket and you'll probably discover some new blogs that you didn't know about before.
Now it's your turn. If you have a tip or trick that you use and think it would be useful for others, let us know in the comments!
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Related Articles at Mashable | All That's New on the Web:
Google Reader Graduates, Launches International Versions
Google Reader Gets Search!
New Google Reader for iPhone: Still Neat, Not Very Social
Google Reader Starts Counting
Google Reader Gets New Features
Google Reader + iPhone = Awesome
Google Reader: Not Everything Is About Privacy
Things you can do from here:
- Subscribe to Mashable! using Google Reader
- Get started using Google Reader to easily keep up with all your favorite sites
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