Sunday, September 12, 2010

How do I keep up now?

I just found out that Bloglines, my beloved feed collector, is shutting down at the end of the month. Ask.com has decided that it's not economically feasible to maintain Bloglines when their primary focus is answering questions.

Geeminy, I wish they'd thought about that when they acquired Bloglines back in '05. Why buy up a business if you're just going to shut it down?

So, now I need to go looking for another RSS aggregator. Bloglines very nicely provided detailed directions on how to save all the links for transport to a new aggregator, but, alas, did not offer any suggestions as to which aggregator to use.

I can't just 'follow' on Blogger...I still have the old template version, which I've tweaked to my satisfaction, and to be able to 'follow', I have to convert to layouts.

I tried the layouts when I first started my other blog, but quickly found that it didn't work so well for me for some reason, so I converted that one over to the template, too. Converting to layouts would be a MAJOR overhaul. So following isn't an option. (which really stinks when so many folks limit their cool contest/giveaways to folks who 'follow' them....just sayin'.... ;) )

Anyway, my whole blogroll is based on my bloglines subscription list; that may really mess that up, too.

Can you tell I'm a little ticked? Just a little?

Anyway, does anyone have a good aggregator they can recommend? I need one in 3 weeks...

10 comments:

  1. Google Reader, my dear, Google Reader. It leaves Bloglines in the dust. I converted on Friday and haven't looked back.

    At least Bloglines gave us a little advance notice...

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  2. Wow! I didn't realize you had to have a new template to follow? I love following because all I have to do is open up my blog and there are all my favorite bloggers post waiting to be read. AND I can also read my followers list in Google Reader - so I guess that's another vote for Google Reader.

    ...and thanks for clicking through and leaving a comment on my last post! It is sooooooo appreciated!

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  3. I can't even see who's following my blog unless I switch to layouts...frustrating! When they first introduced following I could, but it wasn't very long before clicking on the number just gave me the message that my blog is not configured for following...

    I'm still trying to patch up all the old broken links to my PR reviews; I just don't have time to recreate all my bloggy stuff!!

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  4. Oh...Thanks so much, NancyDQ, I exported my list to Google reader, so now all I have to do is figure out how to link to the list of my subscriptions so I can fix the blogroll...

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  5. ...and I just tried clicking on the # of followers for the umpityumpteenth time, and, lo and behold, all the lovely faces appeared! Perhaps that was a bug that they finally fixed.
    I still can't follow unless I'm in layouts, though...sigh...

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  6. i just switched to google reader, but i'm admit, i'm not loving it. i'm still working out how to save posts for later, without marking them unread (gotta tag them).

    at least we got a warning.

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  7. I am just as ticked off as you are! Tried Google Reader and hated it. Not only that, the next day I had malware attack my PC - the very next day, mind you. Anyway, all is well now, and I went down a road I swore I'd never take - I paid for a reader. It does everything I need it to do - plus much much more. It's called Awasu, and yes, they even respond to help questions via a forum. The more I use it, the more I like it.

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  8. I confess to having clicked through to see if anyone recommended something great that I had not heard off. :-) I'll keep an eye out.

    I've been using Google Reader for 2 or 3 years now and like it fine.

    You can set up a folder for your blog roll, (I call mine blogroll...) and mark it public. They offer you ways to add it to your site, but I cannot comment on that. It's easy to move feeds on and off your public folder to update your list just by checking the folder name.

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  9. Well, I'm over on Google Reader now, so we'll see how it goes. I just kept looking around until I found how to share the blogroll (made me late for work this morning!), but now my Blogroll page is switched over so I guess I'm covered.

    Not sure I'm liking the way GR displays all the feeds, but, well, I'll either figure out how to change the settings or I'll learn to live with it... ;)

    Thanks to everyone who offered advice/suggestions/commiseration!

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