Review: NewsGator Online
Recently I decided to ditch my long-standing feedreader of choice, Bloglines. It kept ‘losing’ my feeds, and I found myself re-adding sites that I knew I’d already subscribed to in the past – and I’m sure there were probably sites that I never noticed were missing (you may argue that this is a good thing).
When I made the decision to switch, I knew there were only two three things I wanted out of a feedreader:
- It was free
- It was web-based (for use at work or at home)
- I could import my feeds, either directly from Bloglines or as an OPML file
Although I’d previously signed up for an account (and even imported some feeds) with Rojo, when I revisited it I found the cramped layout of both my feeds and the main site too hard on the eye, so – after positive recommendations from Kev and Phu – I signed up with NewsGator Online, the online feedreader from the same people who sell FeedDemon and TopStyle.
Getting started
Importing my OPML file was hassle-free, although the number of feeds meant that it took a while to organise them into sub-folders.
The interface is nice and clean, with clear indications of number of feeds and read/unread status, and Ajax-driven re-arranging of folders. The unobtrusive ‘Latest Buzz’ section occasionally provides some interesting discovered stories without being overly in-your-face, and their built-in bookmarking (here called “My Clippings”) allows saved blog items to be stored separately from the rest of your feeds.
If I had one complaint, it would be the unnecessary complexity of adding a new subscription. The interface seems to favour mainstream media over individual blogs, so to add an obscure feed you have to first select ‘Add Feeds’ and then ‘URL & Import’ to find a text box to paste your RSS feed into. I would have preferred a one-step process; I’m not really interested in browsing feeds by category or search term.
Other features
The search is very good, and a useful way of tracking your own contributions; searching for my own name threw up blog posts that I’d commented on only this morning. They also provide some blogger and developer tools, like pulling article ratings into blog posts or accessing the NewsGator API.
Overall I’m very pleased with the switch; I find it a much nicer browsing experience and have more confidence that my feeds are in safe hands.
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Comments
- Gordon Weakliem
- 633 days ago
- Gareth – not sure what you mean about the differing interfaces, there’s no distinction between existing and new customers.
- #2
- Ben Ward
- 633 days ago
- Gareth: This is an off-the-cuff guess but maybe Matthew is signed up for the Newsgator US site and we’re on Newsgator UK?
Matthew: My personal favourite feature of Newsgator these days is that you can access and keep synchronised your feeds when using NetNewsWire (both free and full versions) on the Mac. Using that also makes feed subscription a doddle. - #3
- Matthew Pennell
- 633 days ago
- Looks like you’re right, Ben – the screenshot here on the .co.uk site looks nothing like mine.
When I signed up I just searched for Newsgator and followed the first link… - #4
- Gareth Rushgrove
- 632 days ago
- Yup. Looks like it’s on which country you say your from. Odd even still.
Gordon: any idea if/when these two will be brought inline? - #5
- Gareth Rushgrove
- 632 days ago
- A bit more digging threw up a couple of interesting points. I’ve posted a few screens and some rambling thoughts
Briefly, you can choose the interface you want when you login by changing the flag. - #6
Looking at your screen shot though, it looks like they have been fixed – but I dont get them :-( I’ll post a screen to flickr, but your newsgator interface is definately nicer than mine. A double standards between new and existing customers?