Yesterday the world received some very sad news: Google Reader is going away. I know. Sad face. I’ve been using Google Reader since I first started following blogs back in 2008. I love the way that it’s attached to my gmail. I love the interface and the way I have everything organized. I love that it’s one of the first sites I pull up every morning when I enter this fabulous World Wide Web.
Despite my undying love for Google Reader, that doesn’t mean there isn’t a better system out there. But like any change, it will take some getting used to. I did a little research to see what my next reader should be, and discovered there are some pretty neat sites out there! My favorite was Feedly, since it had the prettiest design, but since it needed a plugin on your browser, I decided to merge all of my blogs to BlogLovin‘. HelloCotton was the next runner up.
Merging your subscriptions isn’t too hard, but it does take a few steps. I’m not the most tech-savvy, so if I can figure it out, so can you my friend. Here is a step-by-step process on how to merge your Google reader subscriptions to BlogLovin’ complete with screenshots. If you are using another feed service, you’ll need to follow the first four steps.
Let’s get started!
UPDATE: Since writing this post, Bloglovin has made the step even easier!
1. Go to Settings (screenshot is on Step #5)
2. Scroll to the bottom and click on Import Blogs (Step #6)
3. Click “Import blogs.” Boom! It will all transfer.
Just disregard the rest of this post. :)
—
Step 1: In your Google Reader, click the icon on the top right. In the dropdown menu, click “Reader settings.”
Step 2: Click “Import/Export” and click “Download your data through Takeout” at the bottom.
Step 3: Go to Choose Services and Reader should automatically be downloading. If it’s not, click Google Reader. It will start to download. Once you are done, click Create Archive at the bottom.
Step 4: Once you click “Create Archive” it will automatically take you to the third tab named “Downloads.” It may take a while to download all of the file, but for me it just took a minute or two.
Step 5: Once it is finished downloading, save the file. It should save as a zip file (this step technically isn’t pictured.) After that, go to BlogLovin’ and open your account (or create it. It’s easy if you have a Facebook account). Once you’re in BlogLovin, click on the heart that says “Account” and click on “Settings.”
Step 6: Scroll to the very bottom of the Settings page until you see “Other.” Click on “Import blogs.”
Step 7: Find your downloaded zip file that you saved from Step 5 (it will most likely be in your Downloads folder). Open the zip file and find the file that has .xml at the end. Click on the file and click “Choose.”
Step 8: It will take a minute or two for the file to upload. It didn’t work the first time, but eventually I saw the message that all my blogs had been imported. (I think I need to clean out my reader! I am following so many…:)
Step 9: Rejoice because all of your blogs are now on the Bloglovin homepage! And then go through and reorganize all of your blogs into groups.
Step 10: Follow My Pretty Pennies in your new Reader. :) Bloglovin’ / HelloCotton / RSS Feed
Have a wonderful Friday everyone! What RSS reader do you follow? Are you as sad as I am about Google Reader? :(
Thank you so much¡¡¡¡ I was thinking which reader choose, and then your post arrive in my mail.
I am going to check bloglovin and maybe clean my reader¡¡¡
I think due to google reader going away they actually added a step right after you create your account to do it in only a couple clicks automatically.
I just found out yesterday that Google Reader was dying. :(. Thanks for the info!
You’re so right! Ha, so much for all this work writing the post. ;) I updated it with the current steps. Thanks for the heads up!
The easy route wasn’t working for me (grrr, super annoying), so thanks for the detailed tutorial! Plus, I wasn’t sure which reader to go with, so thanks for doing the research for me :)
Yea! Thank you so much for this tutorial, I just did it and it was pretty simple.
I’ve been trying to figure out what I’m going to do because I’ve been spoiled by google reader and couldn’t imagine life in July having my morning blog reading ritual messed up. I’ll have to pin this to spread the word!
Thanks for the tip! I knew someone would figure out some great alternatives now that google reader is going away, and you totally came through. =)
Ha, I’m sorry the easy route didn’t work but I’m glad I didn’t waste all that time for nothing! :)
Thanks Lessy! Yes, I’m still getting used to Bloglovin layout. Nothing is the same as Google Reader!
Aw, thanks friend. :)
I know, so sad! Glad it was helpful. :)
Good luck! Let me know if you have any questions. :)
Oh no! I love google reader! I had no idea this was happening until now… I’m so sad! I’ll definitely have to switch to blog lovin’. I’ve always thought that I should try using blog lovin’ but here’s the extra push I needed! Thanks for sharing this :)
Thanks for the info! I’m still going to have to think on what new service to switch to, though. My initial thought was to go with Feedly, but since you pointed out that it’s based solely in browser-add-ons and in the app, I am second-guessing that. However, Bloglovin’s Android App is getting nothing but terrible reviews the last few months, and I’d really like something with a good, synced-up Android app. I guess everyone is right – there’s really nothing as good as Google Reader right now. Makes me even sadder to see it go.