Feedly...Feedly...Feedly

In the spring, I was super excited here about moving my Google Reader to Feedly.

Until yesterday.

My Feedly was empty.  Sheer panic!  

And yes! I did transfer to Bloglovin, just in case, like I promised and all of my subscriptions are there.  However, I have to admit, I am a Feedly girl.  

The layout and styling and organization just "fit" better.

I decided to hunt around. IF you did not transfer your google reader by July 1st?  Do not fear!   You can still download your google reader information until July 15th, 2013 via Google Takeout.

I downloaded the files to my computer. It is a large zip drive.

Then I went to My Feedly.

I chose Import OPML.

Browsed for my subscription files on my computer. 

(your google takeout zip drive under subscriptions.xml)

 and imported the files.

I timed it.  It took about 2 minutes.

I almost cried and kissed the computer when the all arrived!

(I do have more than the screenshot shows up above, that is just a taste)

Hope this helps out anyone who might have ran into the same problem!

Feedly

By now, most of you already know Google Reader is disappearing as of July 1, 2013 if you see the buzz on blogs!  So funny to me because Google thinks we don't use it and it is all I see in my feeds since it was announced!!!  I think you all know that I loved it so much for the organizational aspect!

No worries though! There are alternatives!  USA Today had their top four choices HERE.

I narrowed it down to Bloglovin and Feedly. 

 I went with Feedly.

Why?

•  I liked the easy transfer. I did not even have to download my Google reader file to my computer. It just asks permission to access Google.
• It not only transferred everything.  It also kept my organization files.  The left side has all of my categories still!!
• It is very appealing to the eye.  Each post now shows a photo to the left of the post.  In Google reader, it was just the title of the post.
• I picked up on the navigation within seconds.  I found the "mark as read" right away because sometimes I don't need to read certain blogs...just look at the eye candy.
• I love how it shows featured posts at the top, but still has all of the posts that I have not read.
• It feels like a magazine!  It even says so on the home login page!  I find it ironic because Mr. Boss thinks I am stalking people when I read blogs.  My response to him is that  I feel like I am just reading my magazines electronically.  All the quilting trends are there!  A great alternative to 25 printed magazines. right? 

I will admit.  I am not sure how to add new blogs and how to make new organizational groups.

 I did find a great link for Google Readers to migrate to Feedly easier HERE.

The biggest issue for me?   I need to take a hard look at all of the blogs I follow.  I am in over my head at 946.  

Ouch!

Good luck and let me know why you think another alternative might be better.  It isn't set in stone for me.  I have a few friends trying different ones at the same time. I just don't want to go crazy, myself!

My biggest worry is that it keeps asking me permission to access my Reader.  I am worried that something is going to go very wrong in July.  I admit, I saved my reader files to my computer, just in case.  However, Feedly did address the issue here:

I just hope they are right!

 

EDITED TO ADD:  I just found this interesting article and it confirms that Feedly was the right choice for me.  But please take a look at it's comparison of the two HERE to see which might fit you the best!