Google Reader: Getting Started

1. Go to the Google Reader home page
2. If you have a Google Account, you can sign in for your Reader with that; if not click on theCreate an Account button
3. Enter a current email address (if you have a Gmail account, use that; otherwise, use your own email address)
4. Create a password
5. Re-enter that password (and yes, you can change all of this later from the Google Account Setting page)

NOTE: Only check the Remember Me on This Computer and Enable Web History if you want your computer to keep a record of what you've done; I keep mine enabled and tracking me…but that's me.

6. Add your location (United States)
7. Retype the word verification
8. Click I accept. Create my Account. 

 

You will receive an email verification to the address you sent. Open up your email application and click on the verification email provided. 

 

You will be returned to a screen that says Email Address Verified and there will be a link that saysclick here to manager your account profile. Click on that. 

 

This will take you to your Google Account page, where you can change your user name and password (amongst other information) and see what Google Tools you are using. Google Account can be accessed from any Google page (e.g. Google), along the upper right side.

 

Under Products (in the right column), you should have Google Reader listed. Click on Settings.

 

Google Reader: Settings

Preferences

1. Scroll Tracking pulls up portions of a feed when you scroll over it
2. Navigation Pane lets you see all your feeds as part of the Reader (I recommend this) 

 

Subscriptions

1. Once you add feeds, the Subscription pane allows you to Delete, Rename and Move to Folder 

 

Folders and Tags

1. This section allows you to see items you've marked
2. Starred items are favorites. You can star stories and easily search through items that you want to remember
3. Shared items are those you want your friends to see

Goodies

This section allows you to get Google on your mobile phone, personalize your Google Homepage (we haven't discussed that yet) or easily send pages you visit to your reader 

 

Import/Export

This is an advanced technique that allows you to move feeds from one place to another en masse

  

Now, click on the Go to Google Reader link, which is right next to the Settings label along the top of your Reader.

 

 

Google Reader: Reader

If you've kept your Navigation Pane open (that's the check box from the Preferences section), you'll see navigation on the right and an empty pane on the right with a video in it. We're going to focus on the left side.

 

1. The Starred Items are those who have marked as with as favorites in your pane.
2. Trends are how and where you are clicking and reading in your navigation.
3. Your Stuff are the items you've shared with friends and the notes you left on stories
4. Click on Friends' Shared Items
5. Click on Share with "Friends"
6. Enter my email address: wiredbeat2000@gmail.com, click on Send

  

Add a Subscription

1. Click on + Add a Subscription
2. You will see a search box, type Sports and hit enter
3. You will now see a list of sport sites
4. Click on the + Subscribe button
5. You should see that feed appear in the left hand side of your navigation

 

An Easier Way to Add Subscriptions

The best way to add feeds to your Reader is to add them while you're browsing a website. 

1. Open up a NEW browser window (Click File in your browser and New Window)
2. Type the URL for CNN (www.cnn.com)
3. In the URL address bar on the right side, you will see an orange button. Click that button.
4. A page will pop up that says: Add to Google Homepage or Add to Google Reader. Click Add to Google Reader.
5. That will take you back to your Reader, where you will see CNN added below your Sports folder (but not in the folder).
6. You have the option at this point to Add a Folder if you'd like.

  

Most modern websites now have an RSS sections on their site (look in the site footers) where you can add specific sections of the site. Unfortunately, nobody has agreed upon the nomenclature for this yet, so you may have to be relentless if you want to add specific feeds. Let's go back to CNN.com. 

1. In the footer there is a link called Tools & Widgets
2. Click on that
3. At the bottom of the page is a link called RSS Page
4. Click on that
5. You will see a list of the specific sections of the site. Either click on the URL (e.g. the link) or the little orange RSS button
6. Click Add to Google Reader

Click Add to Google Reader 

 

Using Your Feeds 

1. Click on the URL that you just added
2. When you do that, you should see a list of stories appear in that Navigation Pane on the right side. Those are the most recent stories posted by the site site.

 

Just above the Navigation Pane, there are three settings (Feeds Settings, Expanded View and List View) 

Feed Settings: which allows you to change how you sort your feeds OR create a folder.

1. Click on Feed Settings, scroll to the bottom and Click New Folder.
2. A menu will pop up asking you to name the folder. Type "Sports" and hit enter.
3. You will see a folder on the left side of your navigation. If you want to re-arrange or add new folders, click on the Settings button along the top of the screen and go to Folders and Tabs.

  

Expanded View: which allows you to see headlines and the first few sentences of the story

1. You can Add Star
2. You can Share
3. You can Share with Note
4. Click on each of these. In the Share with Note type "Check this out" and hit enter
5. These will now be searchable in the Your Stuff tab on the left side of the navigation

  

List View: which allows you to simply see the headlines

1. You can ONLY add a star on this screen (it's the star just to the left of the headline)

  

Google Reader: Manage Subscriptions

At the bottom of the left hand navigation is a Manager Your Subscriptions link which takes you to the Subscriptions page in the Settings section. Here you can Rename the feed, Delete the feed or Add a Folder to the feed