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Want to get more out of your RSS feeds? Are you curious how some people are able to follow thousands of feeds while you feel overwhelmed with fifty?
Today we're going to look at how you can use Google Reader to help organize and tame your RSS workflow.
Because it's web-based Google Reader is easy to hack -- users have created everything from Greasemonkey scripts to entire themes. With a few scripts and some ingenious tips you'll soon be a Google Reader power user in no time.
So roll up your sleeves and get ready to dive in.
== Organization tips ==
How you organize your feeds is up to you, but if you want more out of Google Reader getting organized is essential. Reader makes it relatively easy to organize by creating tags which show up in the left-hand column as folders.
For example you might create a "Wired" tag and use it to hold all the various feeds from Wired.com and related sites.
Other methods include separating high priority feeds in a separate folder or keeping work-related feeds in one folder and personal or just-for-fun feeds in another. Whatever method you use, make sure you stick to it. Once your feed list tops a couple dozen sources, organization becomes key.
Tip: When you're plowing through your feeds if you see something you want to read, star the item and move on. Once you've skimmed through everything head to your starred items folder and you'll find just the items you really care about.
== Shortcuts ==
The next thing to master is Google Reader's keyboard shortcuts, which provide all the tools necessary to zip through your feed items without ever taking your fingers off the keys. Here's a few, *cough*, key shortcuts:
#j/k - selects the next/previous item in the list
#space - moves the page down/up
#o - in list view, expands or collapses the selected item
#s toggle star stars the selected item
#v - opens the original source for this article in a new window/tab
#shift-n/p - selects the next/previous subscription or folder in the navigation
#shift-o - opens the item currently selected in the navigation
#u - show and hide the list of feeds in the left-hand sidebar
#? - displays a quick guide to all of Reader's shortcuts
The two you'll find most useful are j/k for quickly skimming through feeds and s for marking important items. Another trick: if you've reached the end of your unread items in one folder and want to jump to the next folder without resorting to mouse, just hit shift-n to select the next folder and then shift-o to load its contents.
If keyboard shortcuts aren't your bag, check out the [http://userscripts.org/scripts/show/8843 Read by Mouse], a Greasemonkey script which, when toggled gives you some additional mouse based options. When you activate it, the script will make Left clicks go to the next item, Right clicks go to the previous item. Middle click takes whatever action is selected in the drop-down list (open original URL in tab, share the item, star the item, or add a specified tag to the item). Works wherever Greasemonkey does.
== Browser-based tricks ==
Perhaps the best browser-based tip is to [http://gears.google.com/ install Gears], which will enable you to take Google Reader offline -- read your feeds wherever you like, no internet connection needed. Gears is available for nearly all platforms, Firefox and IE browsers.
Once you have offline capabilities set up, it's time to explore some third-party scripts and hacks.
There are literally [http://userscripts.org/scripts/search?search=google+reader hundreds of Greasemonkey scripts] to customize and enhance Google Reader, but our favorite way to get the cream of the crop is using Gina Tripani's [https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/6424 Better Google Reader], a Firefox plugin which takes many of the most useful Greasemonkey scripts and wraps them up in a neat package.
If you'd rather track down Greasemonkey scripts yourself, here's a few of our favs:
#Preview Item - Instead of the RSS feed content, this script automatically fetches the linked URL and displays it within the Google Reader item frame. Very handy, comes in two flavors, [http://userscripts.org/scripts/show/6412 Automatic] and [http://userscripts.org/scripts/show/9455 Preview Button]. The second does the same thing, but only when you click the "Preview" button.
#Google Reader Minimalistic - Hit the "w" key to toggle the top frame of Google Reader in and out of view. Handy for laptops and situations where screen real estate is limited.
# Google Reader + del.icio.us - [http://userscripts.org/scripts/show/11620 Google Reader + del.icio.us] allows you to post your favorite news items directly to your del.icio.us account. Great for bookmarking your favorite articles.
#Auto Add - [http://userscripts.org/scripts/show/8390 Auto Add] bypasses the screen that asks if you want to add a new feed to iGoogle or Reader and takes you straight to Reader. Handy if Google Reader is your default feed reader and you frequently add new feeds.
#Google Reader All Starred - [http://userscripts.org/scripts/show/2345 All Starred] adds a button to Google Reader that allows you download all your starred items as HTML links.
== Misc Tips and Tricks ==
Using the Sharing features -- Google reader lets you mark items to share. You get your own URL and your own RSS feed of shared items, so why not use them? To start sharing items, just click the "Share" link at the bottom of the item, or hit shift-s. There's also a [http://mike.crute.org/blog/2006/12/29/wordpress-google-reader-plugin/ WordPress plugin to display your shared items on your blog]. You can even [http://www.mitchelaneous.com/2007/10/26/feeding-twitter-google-readers-shared-posts/ pass your shared items directly on to Twitter].
Use Notes -- Not long ago Google [http://www.webmonkey.com/blog/New__Notes__Turns_Google_Reader_Into_a_Web_Clipping_Machine added a Notes feature to Reader]. Notes allow you to share even non-feed items (any webpage basically). When you're on a page you'd like to add to Google Reader just use the Notes feature to bookmark it and it'll be added to your shared items along with any notes you want to make.
Get a Desktop Notifier -- Don't have your browser open all the time? No problem, just install a notifier and you can see when news arrives. There are versions for [http://troelsbay.eu/software/reader Mac], [http://www.braindotty.com/google-reader-notifier/ Win], [http://markdbd.com/proyectos/google_reader_notifier/ Firefox] and [http://electragician.blogspot.com/2006/11/google-toolbar-for-ie-google-reader.html Internet Explorer].
Broaden your Idea of Feeds -- Feeds don't have to come just from content publishers. You can turn even your Google searches into feeds using a service like [http://feedmysearch.com/ Feed My Search]. It's even possible to create custom page scraping feeds for sites that don't offer RSS. Check out [http://www.dapper.net/ Dapper.net] for more info.
Go Mobile -- Google Reader offers a mobile optimized version for reading news on the go. Just point your mobile browser to [http://www.google.com/reader/m/view/ http://www.google.com/reader/m/view/]. If you're on an iPhone you can get your own iPhone-specific version at [http://www.google.com/reader/i/ http://www.google.com/reader/i/]
Theme it -- Don't like the way Reader looks? No problem, just install one of these scripts to change it. [http://userscripts.org/scripts/show/8782 Colorful List View colorizes the item headers in Google Reader list view; [http://userstyles.org/styles/1236 Google Reader Optimized] removes all unnecessary UI elements; and Jon Hicks' [http://www.hicksdesign.co.uk/journal/google-reader-theme Google Reader Theme] make Google reader look more like a native Mac OS X app].
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