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Google Reader
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Google Reader | |
|---|---|
 Google Reader screenshot |
|
| Developer | |
| Platform | Web browsers |
| Genre | RSS feed reader |
| Website | http://www.google.com/reader |
Google Reader is a Web-based aggregator, capable of reading Atom and RSS feeds online or offline. It was released by Google on October 7, 2005 through Google Labs. Reader graduated from beta status on 17 September 2007.[1]
Contents |
Major revisions to Reader's interface were made on September 28, 2006. Nick Baum, Product Manager on the Google Reader team, whilst being interviewed by Robert Scoble, stated that the redesign is a movement toward making news aggregation something for the general public to enjoy. [2]
Here are some of the features that are now included within Google Reader:
- A front page that lets you see new items at a glance
- Import and export subscription lists as an OPML file
- Keyboard shortcuts for main functions
- Choice between list view or expanded view for item viewing (showing either just the story title or with a description, respectively)
- Automatic marking of items as read as they are scroll past (expanded view only)
- Search in all feeds, across all updates from subscriptions [3]
Users can subscribe to feeds using either Google Reader's search function, or by entering in the exact URL of the RSS or Atom feed. New posts from your feeds are then shown on the left-hand side of the screen. One can then order that list by date or relevance. Items can also be organized with labels, as well as being able to create Starred Items for easy access.
Items in Google Reader can be shared with other Web users. This can be done by sending a link through e-mail, directing the user to the shared article; or Google Reader users can create a basic webpage, that includes all shared items from their account. Other people can then subscribe to this collated feed. Finally, users can insert a snippet of JavaScript code into their website, that will display a certain collection of shared stories in a small box.
Google Reader was the first application to make use of Google Gears, a browser extension that lets online applications work offline. Users who have installed the extension can download up to 2000 items to be read offline. After coming back online, Google Reader updates the feeds.
A mobile interface was released[4] on 18 May 2006. It is can be used by phones that support XHTML or WAP 2.0.
On 4 May 2006 Google released a new feature[5] which enables feeds from Reader to be displayed on Google Personalized Homepage.
Google Reader is included within Mozilla Firefox 2.0's feed recognition, which can automatically redirect users to Google Reader's Add Subscription screen to add the feed.
On May 8, 2007 Google created a version of Google Reader specifically formatted for the Wii web browser. It can be found here.
In addition to a (free) Google Account, Google Reader requires one of the following web browsers to work:
In all cases, JavaScript must be enabled for Google Reader to work.
Google Reader allows users to group related feeds in different folders. If all subscriptions are removed from a folder, it is listed at the bottom of the subscription list as a tag. A user must then go to the "Edit subscriptions" page to remove the tag.
Other criticisms include feed updates appearing hours (or even days) after the feed was updated, a lack of password-protected feeds, and no warning that a user has subscribed to duplicate feeds. [6]
Its main competitors are NewsGator Online, Rojo.com and Bloglines.
- ^ "Official Google Reader Blog: Breaking up isn't hard to do"
- ^ "Meet Google Reader"
- ^ "Official Google Reader Blog: 'We found it!'"
- ^ "Official Google Reader Blog: You can now use Google Reader from your phone."
- ^ "Official Google Reader Blog: There's some Reader in my Homepage!"
- ^ "9 Ways to Improve Google Reader"
Google:
Unofficial:
- Google Reader user reviews
- Google Reader review (Linux.com, 10/18/06)
- Google Reader printable Cheat Sheet for Shortcuts
- Google Reader API
- Perl interface to Google Reader
Categories: News aggregators | Atom | RSS | Web 2.0 | Google services