Google Reader is adequate for organizing your blog reading, but I am sold on FeedDemon. And here’s why:

• It’s on my desktop, so I can catch up on reading even when I’m not online. Photos don’t show up offline, and I can’t link to the blog site, but I can read the content.
• I can choose to view Full Posts, Summaries, or Headlines in the article list.
• Unread articles show in bold, plus, you can “star” unread articles just as in Google Reader. But in the reading window, you have a number of viewing choices. I use Unread or Starred, but you can choose Unread, Starred, Today, Last 24 Hours, Last 48 Hours, This Week, Last Week, or All Articles.
• Subscribe within FeedDemon if you like, but I usually subscribe with Google Reader. It’s handier when you’re surfing the web, and it syncs with FeedDemon the next time you open it.
• You can easily unsubscribe within FeedDemon. Just right-click on the blog title and choose Unsubscribe.
• If you get too far behind in your reading, you can right-click on the Subscriptions folder and Mark All Feeds Read.
• The Watches folder has subfolders entitled Unread Articles and Starred Articles. If you’re in a hurry, you can just view unread material. If you’ve starred articles to read later, you don’t have to hunt down the blog on the main list. It will be easier to find on the starred list.

When I open FeedDemon, here’s what my display looks like. I do not show the full screen because, if I shrink the graphic to fit the space, you can’t read the text.

And, here’s my reading method. I usually start at the top of the Subscription list. When I click on a blog showing unread articles, it shows them all on the right. I scan the titles. If I’m not at all interested, I Mark All Unread by clicking on the newspaper icon at the top left of the frame. If something looks interesting but complicated, I can leave it marked unread to return to later. Sometimes I’ll read a piece that I might want to read again or use as a reference. I star these articles so they’ll be easier to find.

It’s possible to be subscribed to too many blogs. If I find myself routinely skipping the content of a particular blog, I unsubscribe. Every couple of months, I have a cleanout of my blog list. Like my closet, FeedDemon gets cluttered.

Give FeedDemon a try. Develop your own methods for organizing and reading your subscriptions, and tell me what you think.

How-to Information:

Download FeedDemon 4.0.0.22 here.

How to set up Feed Demon

Before we get into the how-to, I want to mention this. A Christian friend was horrified that I would use a tool with the word “demon” in its name. I looked up “demon” on the Merriam-Webster site, and the fourth definition is probably what the creators of FeedDemon had in mind: “one that has exceptional enthusiasm, drive, or effectiveness.” I have to admit that nothing about the name was a put-off for me, but I felt I had to mention that.

FeedDemon is a desktop program that you can download FREE at FeedDemon.com. There are two versions. “FeedDemon Lite is free ad-supported software which contains a subset of the features found in FeedDemon Pro. Features available only in the Pro version are listed here” (copied from FAQ page).

To use FeedDemon effectively, you must have a Google Reader account. FeedDemon syncs with Google Reader so that you don’t have to worry about losing your marked or unread articles. If you already use Google Reader, skip down to the Further Information section for tips on using the reader. Here are some pointers on getting your Google Reader set up.

• If you already use Gmail, you do not need to create a new account. Look for the link to Reader at the top of the Gmail page once you’re logged in.
• If Blogger (Blogspot) is the only Google service you use, go to Google.com and log in with your Blogger username and password. Once logged in, click on More and you’ll see a drop-down list with Reader toward the bottom. Click on Reader, and you’re there.
• For those who are not familiar with how feed readers work, take minute to check out this beginner guide on how to set up Google Reader. Or, you can start with the Google Help Forum.

In the next post, I’ll share my favorite features of FeedDemon and provide information on downloading and setting it up.

This is the first of two posts on how to use FeedDemon desktop RSS reader to minimize your time and effort following blogs.

Further Information:

Google Reader: Cut the Time You Spend Reading on the Web

YouTube video (8 minutes) on how to use Google Reader

• There’s an ad in the lower left corner of the FeedDemon desktop. Annoying, but pretty unobtrusive.
• FeedDemon now syncs with Google Reader instead of Newsgator, which is an improvement, I think. I usually recommend Google Reader for beginners to feed-reading, because there are online tutorials on how to use it and it’s easy to use. Once a beginner has learned to use Google Reader, it’s easy enough to move to FeedDemon for more efficient blog tracking.
• I think it runs a bit slower than the old version, but I really can’t complain.

Go to the FeedDemon site for a complete overview including features description and screenshots. I welcome comments from anyone who uses another feed reader. If you would like to write a guest post on an alternate feed reader, e-mail me at akinemily[a]gmail.com.

In a previous post, I mentioned that I had started using Newsgator’s FeedDemon to track blog posts. See the May 20, 2009, post here. I described some of the basic features in that post, but I have since discovered a number of other goodies in FeedDemon.

Since I am now subscribed to more than 70 blogs, I definitely don’t want all those feeds coming in to my e-mail. Subscribing by RSS feed with FeedDemon helps me to do a quick scan of the topics. The main screen looks like this:

The left column is the list of my subscribed blogs. In the center is the list of posts on the blog I’ve selected in the left column. The right column contains the blog post I’m currently reading. I scan the blog column where I see in bold print the ones that have updates. I select the one I want to read, and the latest post appears in the right window. I scan the title and first paragraph to see if it’s worth reading the whole thing. If not, I just mark it “read” and move on.

The blogs I subscribe to help me keep up with trends in the publishing industry, news from writers I follow, daily Bible study, world news—you name it. It would take me forever to read every word of every feed every day. FeedDemon helps me make quick work of it. I can flag individual posts (notice the blog titles in red font above. I can add posts to my clippings folder if I want to save them for later reference.

I’m not the only one who likes FeedDemon. See Reviewsaurus.com

If you use Google Reader, you will soon be able sync it with FeedDemon and have the best of both worlds. FeedDemon has new version coming out soon that allows this.  Check it out here.

Try it!  Go to the Newsgator site to download FeedDemon. It’s free. If you use use a Mac or iPhone, other Newsgator products are available here. Reminder: you do need to sign up for the online Newsgator account in order to use FeedDemon. With the online account, you can access your blogs from any computer (as long as you remember your username and password).

NewsGator works pretty much like any other online feed reader. However, FeedDemon is downloaded to your computer at www.feeddemon.com. You need to be online to use FeedDemon once it’s installed, but you can also “prefetch” feeds for browsing offline if you have situations where you can’t get Internet access for a short time.

In the graphic above, you see the feeds list on the left. The next column to the right is a list of the posts on the current feed. The last column displays the content of the selected post. There’s a built-in tutorial for those just starting out. If you get so far behind reading your feeds that you just can’t catch up, just go to Tools and hit Panic Button. All your feeds will be marked as read, and you’ll have a clean slate.

FeedDemon synchronizes with NewsGator online so that, if you are away from your computer, you can still track your feeds by going to NewsGator on another computer. When you re-open FeedDemon on your own computer, it will synch with NewsGator once again.

Download it and give it a try. You can import your feeds from your former reader. FeedDemon also has a Find New Feeds feature and a Clippings folder where you can save posts you want to access later.

If you haven’t subscribed to this blog yet, let this feed be the first one you add to your FeedDemon. You can subscribe via e-mail if you prefer. See top right column.

Six Apart has a great beginners’ explanation of feeds. Click here to read the entire article, then come back for my specific recommendations on how to get started using feeds to follow other people’s blogs.

The article mentions several feed readers (or aggregators) that can be used to make following blogs efficient. Google Reader is easy to use, and there are online tutorials where you can learn how to use it. If you don’t have a Google account, you have to set one up at www.reader.google.com. Once you set up your username and password for Reader, you can use Gmail and other Google services from the same account.

For those who already have a Google account, just log in to your Gmail account. Reader appears as one of your choices at the top of the page. Click on Reader. The help section doesn’t really tell you much unless you know something about feed readers, so I suggest you go to the video tutorials at Butterscotch.com and work through all of the lessons on using RSS feeds and Google Reader. There are several, but here’s the link to the first one.

If you don’t have a Google account and don’t want to open one, you can use any one of a number of feed readers recommended in the Six Apart article. I have tried Bloglines and Newsgator myself. Both are free services, so I suggest you try them both before making your decision on which you will use. Sign up for a Bloglines account at http://www.bloglines.com/. Newsgator can we used online, or you can download FeedDemon for use on your computer. To get started with Newsgator, set up your account at http://www.newsgator.com/.

If you just want to keep it simple, Google Reader is your best bet. Once you are familiar with how the feed reader works, you can check out the others.

I invite you so subscribe to this blog. The stated purpose is to provide information about online resources for all writers but especially those writing for the Christian market. Check out the older posts, or use the search feature to see what else is offered here.