Feb 062012
 

I’ve been testing out alternative web-based feed aggregators. My old reader kept making improvements, which sounds great except that is really just made it harder to use, blogs I followed kept disappearing and reappearing, and, well, it became ugly. After testing out a few, I’ve settle on Bloglovin’.

It’s clean. It’s simple. You can import your feed into Bloglovin’. It’s easy to resort your blogs, and it just seems more…roomy.

Screen shot of my Bloglovin' area.

A nice feature is that you can open your posts with the Bloglovin’ frame. See it there at the bottom of the image below)? I can read, comment, and then click the next button to visit the next blog. This is a huge time saver. I’ve already been able to read more blogs. With a few more adjustments I hope to visit everyone.

Bloglovin' in frame

I can also “like” a post. I liked this post. It is just like starring or favoring a post and Bloglovin’ places the post in a special folder I can refer back too.

Bloglovin’ was developed by some guys in Sweden that just wanted an easy reader that worked. They succeeded. Check it out. (You can use Bloglovin’ on your mobile devices as well.)

What feed aggregator do you use?

Side note: For the last week and a half, I had problems with my database that prevented comments and page viewing. I apologize to all of you who were affected. It is suppose to be all fixed now.

Bottom note: In addition to hosting problems I encountered Internet connections.

Quick Update: Importing
You can import all you blogs and keep them sorted as they are in Google Reader. In Google Reader, go to the little gear on the right hand side. Choose reader setting. Then Import/export.Create an OPML file. Then import into http://www.bloglovin.com/import.

Yet another update (2/7): I have been able to visit a LOT more blogs, some I haven’t visited in a long time.

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30 comments on “How to Love Blogs with Bloglovin’, A Review

  1. L.G. Smith on said:

    I like the idea of being able to file away favorite blog posts. That’s an awesome feature.

  2. Joanne on said:

    I’ve been seeing this mentioned lately. And I agree, it is nice to be able to file favorite posts. Often I come across one, usually one with a recipe I’d like to eventually try, and then don’t get back to it, so it would be nice to have an instant folder to put it in.
    Joanne recently posted…Whole Latte Life – The Miniseries, Webisode 3

  3. Talli Roland on said:

    Interesting! I know I’ve heard of this somewhere along the way, but I had no idea exactly what it was. Thanks!
    Talli Roland recently posted…What’s Going On

  4. Sarah Ahiers on said:

    oh man, i’m TOTALLY going to have to check this out! I love how it opens the blogs in the bloglovin frame, that would be a huge time saver. I wonder if it will work on my work PC, since googlereader no longer does, which means i don’t get around to as many blogs as i would like.
    Thanks for the review!

  5. Patti Nielson on said:

    I’m so tech unsay this was a great post and I’ll definitely be checking it out.

  6. Lydia K on said:

    Umm, I don’t have a blog aggregator. *hides*
    I used to just use my Blogger Dashboard but it was too overhwhelming. I’ll keep this one in in mind!
    Lydia K recently posted…Medical Mondays: Give me a (crippled) hand!

    • Southpaw on said:

      I used that for about six month, but it was overwhelming. I love being able to sort blogs into categories.

  7. Miranda Hardy on said:

    I’ll be looking into this. Great information.

  8. Alex J. Cavanaugh on said:

    I’ll have to look into that one. Can one import all blogs at once or only one by one? Because for me that might take a while…
    Alex J. Cavanaugh recently posted…Digging the Low-Budget Films!

    • Southpaw on said:

      All at once! It keeps them in your folders too.

      In Google Reader, go to the little gear on the right hand side. Choose reader setting. Then Import/export.Create an OPML file. Then import into http://www.bloglovin.com/import.

      I did a happy dance when I found that, because I never would have been able to switch everything one by one.

  9. Jennifer Shirk on said:

    Very cool! I had never heard of that!

  10. Clarissa Draper on said:

    Wow, I want to check that out. I like simple.

  11. Carol Kilgore on said:

    I’m glad you found something that works. My on-blog blog roll seems to be stuck for the past few days. I can’t add or delete any blogs. I don’t like issues – LOL.
    Carol Kilgore recently posted…I’m Hearing Voices – Characters on the Couch

  12. DEZMOND on said:

    I love the commentluv section, too bad it doesn”t work at your place. I’ve noticed it at other people’s sites too, but they usually take it down after a while

    • DEZMOND on said:

      Dez, I test posted with your URL. It can’t find it if you use the www.

      -Southpaw
      DEZMOND recently posted…WW2 MAGICIANS IN HBO’S "HOBGOBLIN" & "THE WAR MAGICIAN" FILM! DYNAMIC TRAILER FOR "STEP UP 4"! "THE MOUNTAIN BETWEEN US" BESTSELLER GETS A MOVIE ADAPTATION!

  13. Lynda R Young on said:

    Oh, I’ll have to try this one because my current one keeps crashing when I try to open it…

  14. Laura Pauling on said:

    I use Google reader and right now have no problems with it. Using the command keys the posts open up pretty quickly to comment. Interesting.
    Laura Pauling recently posted…WANTED DEAD OR ALIVE! Rewards offered.

  15. The Golden Eagle on said:

    Right now I use Google Reader. I’ve been considering shifting to a different aggregator, but I don’t want to make a mess of what’s an already large mess. Though if you can import things into Bloglovin’, I think I’ll check out this one.
    The Golden Eagle recently posted…Book Review: The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

    • Southpaw on said:

      You can import. I wrote the how to’s in a reply to Alex, but I will add it to the post too.

  16. Angela M on said:

    Thanks for posting this. I’m having a terrible time trying to keep up with posts. I think I’ll try it out and also incorporate some ideas Alex uses to organize the blogs I follow. Great info!
    Angela M recently posted…Blogfests galore!

  17. Stina Lindenblatt on said:

    I hadn’t heard about it until now. The ‘like’ feature sounds great!
    Stina Lindenblatt recently posted…Revealing Characterization through Banter

  18. Maria Zannini on said:

    It’s good to have choices. I haven’t had any problem with Google Reader, but if it starts, at least I have an alternative.

    You can save posts on Google Reader too. I do it all the time.

  19. Beverly Diehl on said:

    This sounds awesome! I need to organize my blogs, so I can better get to everyone. Saturday, I have techie plans for you!
    Beverly Diehl recently posted…Doctor, I Have A Fever! #MancandyMonday

  20. Hmm that sounds interestin’. I’ll have to check that out.

  21. Ann Best on said:

    I might try this, though I just decided I wasn’t going to boggle my aging brain with any new “devices.” But…
    Ann Best recently posted…Scenes on an Old Canvas: Traveling in the Desert – and “Free Book” Promotion

  22. ali cross on said:

    That is so cool! I’m totally checking it out … thanks for the recommend!