November 15, 2006

RSS Reader Suggestions

In the past, I have suggested people try Pluck to read RSS feeds. I liked it because it had 3 access points: sidebar in Firefox, sidebar in IE, and a log-in web page. It saved my feeds and items, so I could access them from my regular computer or any system that I was using. I could store internal bookmarks of specific entries. It also cooperated with Outlook so I could email links directly to individuals that I thought would be interested.

The bad news...
The Pluck RSS Reader is being discontinued as of January 5, 2007. At that time, the server will be shutdown and unexported data will be lost.

I am now exploring new options.

I often suggest Bloglines to people that are new to RSS readers. It is very easy and free, but might lack the options for a "power user".

I am trying Rojo, which is another web-based reader. It is also free and you can try it without actually signing up.

In the past, I explored Attensa, which delivers RSS feeds directly into folders within Microsoft Outlook. That experimentation was short lived, as I already spend too much time in my email application.

Firefox and the new IE offer toolbar reading of feeds. I probably have more than 200 feeds I browse, so I do not use these tools much. I have one or two favorites that I have added to my Firefox toolbar.

I am currently using BlogBridge that is a stand alone application. Since I am often getting emails, phone calls, and in-person visits to help people with using our library's resources, I prefer the stand alone application. It allows me to open Firefox or IE quickly to help a library user, without potentially losing what I was working on.

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Comments

Posted by Roger
Posted on November 15, 2006 10:00 AM

If you were on OSX, I would HIGHLY recommend using NewsFire. http://www.newsfirerss.com/ :)

Posted by Brian Gray
Posted on November 15, 2006 10:53 AM

Thanks Roger. I will add it to my list of readers that I mention in my CaseLearns workshop on RSS feeds.

Posted by Jeremy Smith
Posted on November 15, 2006 11:19 AM

To people new to feeds, I usually recommend Bloglines. It's the easiest to use and grasp for people new to the fold. "It's just like an email client," I tell them, "but instead of getting lots of junk mail, you 'subscribe' to certain web sites like you 'subscribe' to magazines."

For power users who use multiple computers, I would probably recommend Google reader. For power users who use a single computer, I would probably recommend NetNewsWire for OSX. For Windows... I'm not sure what News Reader fat client I would recommend.

Posted by Brian Gray
Posted on November 15, 2006 01:16 PM

Thanks Jeremy. I am always exploring alternatives.