As you may have noticed, the title of this post is a deliberate play on Linden’s title. While i agree with him that Kedrosky seems to have totally missed the point of RSS (ie: you don’t blame a data format), i don’t think that all feed readers are the same. And so, Linden’s title still seems a little misleading to me. We both agree that the problem here is definitely software and i know of at least one feed reader that solves most of the problems described in Kedrosky’s post. Again, i’m talking about SearchFox.

As Linden has pointed out:

“RSS is just a data format after all. The problem is that the current generation of feed readers merely reformat RSS for display. They don’t do anything else, no prioritization, no filtering, no help dealing with the flood of information.”

I’m not going to deny the growing problems posed by information overload. But, in my opinion, SearchFox is a “next generation” feed reader designed with machine learning technology that both prioritized and filters information similar to the way Findory learns to assume what articles you’re going to be most interested in. The difference is, and this is why i hesitate to even compare SearchFox to Findory [see previous comments posted between Greg and I], the latter doesn’t let you choose your sources.

So, to go back to a common analogy that surrounds RSS: “We are drowning in information” [borrowed from Greg's post]. To this i would have to say:

i’d rather be drowning in an ocean of my own design.

oh, or maybe i’d also say:

Nobody forced you to swim over to the deep end of the pool. (that one sounds pretty mean though.)

[ For a more in depth comparison of feed readers (including SearchFox) you can read:"3 week shakedown, 2 RSS readers remain.", which is itself a follow up to an earlier post entitled:1 week comparison: SearchFox, Feedster, Pluck, Bloglines, Rojo, and NewsGator", which is itself a follow up to an earlier post entitled: "So you think you can RSS? How", which is itself a follow up to an even earlier post entitled: "So you think you can RSS? Why". ]

The Recap:

• RSS? Why. ( evolution of the Net and why RSS is so popular )
• RSS? How. ( how to start using web-based RSS services )
• 1 Week Comparison. ( a look at 6 popular web-based RSS readers )

The Breakdown:

SearchFox -

• Pros: really fast now – with possibly the fastest OPML import i’ve seen. (ironically, you get a message saying it might take 5-10 minutes for all the feeds to show up, 50 or so in my case, but it took about 3 seconds), if adding a feed fails you get a useful link to validate the feed (also there’s a quick link to the actual website to check if it’s online), machine learning technology is really starting to warm up (stories are given a score based on your interests which saves me lots of time)
• Cons: no way to sort by date (sometimes you just want to see the most recent articles for a quick second) [see comments], accident prone one-click delete (individual sites and entire folder of feeds with no warning), “email” this post requires a configured email client like OutlookExpress (sort of works against the idea of being web based)

Rojo -

• Pros: rename feeds (you’re not stuck with default name for any feed you want to add), easily find info on the feeds you’re subscribed to (by clicking the “i” icon), advanced sort capabilities (sort by: feed tags, how frequently read, unread story count, and name), “email this” post (a feature i actually started using regularly)
• Cons: i can’t see what date each post was made (only vague 2 hours ago, 5 hours ago, etc.)[see comments], tagging stories and feeds can get tiresome (time consuming)

Bloglines -

• Pros: tabs help keep things organized (not by much), icons associated with feeds (left sidebar) help when trying to quickly find a site, “email this” post (same as Rojo), organize your favorite clipping into folders (on the fly), preview this feed (just before you add it)
• Cons: favorite clippings are displayed in the sidebar (instead of the main window), clicking on top-level directory in “My feeds” makes all new feeds appear as read (that sucks), “mark all as read” link is kind of useless (see previous con), export OPML feature is unintuitive (file opens in browser instead of downloading the file automatically – user must click “file”>”save as”) and is hard to find because it’s all the way at the bottom of the left sidebar.

Newsgator Online -

• Pros: favorite clippings are displayed in the main window (instead of the sidebar), convenient “email this” post feature (same as Rojo)
• Cons: can’t seem to find any info on each of the feeds i subscribe to (# of subscribers, Feed URL), no way to rename anything (folders or feeds), no way to mark “all posts” as read (only mark “this page” or “this post” as read), no icons associated with feeds (icon save time when trying to find stuff fast), had some css problems with collapsible feed descriptions using Firefox.

The Shakedown: (and why they lost out)

• Bloglines – while it is probably the easiest RSS reader service to get started on, things quickly get disorganized to the point of no return. The result was that i eventually just exported all my feeds as OPML and imported them into SearchFox and Rojo.
• Newsgator Online – is most likely my 3rd favorite service of those mentioned above. And although there aren’t any major problems to speak of, something about the main user-interface just turned me off. For some reason the whole layout just makes me feel like i have less control over everything. Also, the company as a whole seems a lot more corporate; it makes me wonder how dedicated they are to the free “online” version of their software.

Conclusions:

With 2 RSS readers remaining, SearchFox and Rojo stick out as my favorites (so far). Looks like it might take a little longer to decided on just 1 service but i’m not really in any rush to choose. In the meantime, i’ll continue to use both of them regularly and probably post some more of my observations. i might even come up with some sort of wishlist or “things i’d like to see” in new versions of SearchFox and Rojo so stay tuned.

[ This is a follow up to a previous article entitled:"1 week comparison: SearchFox, Feedster, Pluck, Bloglines, Rojo, and NewsGator", which is itself a follow up to an earlier post entitled: "So you think you can RSS? How", which is itself a follow up to an even earlier post entitled: "So you think you can RSS? Why". ]

i can’t believe an entire week has gone by..
i wanted to take a couple of hours each day to test out these 6 feed readers, but i gotta say that i still can’t decide which one i feel most comfortable with. looks like i may have seriously underestimated how easy it was going to be to make this choice. in the meantime, let me just say, that i have become a full blown feed junkie, thank you very much (not sure who to point the finger at on this one – but it’s got to be somebody’s fault right?).

anyway, here’s how i’ve been doing it and what i’ve found:

i started by logging in to each service, in 6 different Firefox tabs, all in a single browser. next i began to mess around, but trying to give each feed reader an equal amount of my attention. first i used the directories to browse for new feeds, and the search box to find sites with content i was interested in. then i took a look at the account features provided by each service. could i change my preferences.. did i even have any preferences? there were many things to explore. i did notice that Pluck and NewsGator kept logging me out if i hadn’t used them for more than 10 minutes or so. while this might be a very secure and efficient thing to do, the result was that i ended up spending a lot more time using all the other feed readers – who wants to have to keep logging in over and over again every ten minutes?

once i got bored of that, i tried to import an OPML file, which is essentially just a list of many different feeds all conveniently packed into one file. very useful for quickly moving around all your feeds (ie: import / export). suddenly i had a ton of feeds in my reader (80-120), and things got all cluttered. things were a mess, so i figured this might be a good time to test out how well each feed reader was able to manage large numbers of feeds. i deleted and renamed feeds and folders, reordering them in a way that was most useful to me. options like: display only unread articles, mark as read, and sort by date, are all particularly useful in these respects.

here are some more brief observations i have made over the course of the week:

SearchFox –
Pros: expand/collapse summaries within feeds (Results), easy to navigate/browse feeds (DirBro), sort by day/week/month/favs/all (Results), ability to mark article as unread (Manage), machine learning technology (SpecO)
Cons: slow to add feeds (Manage) [this seems much faster now], no OPML import [see comments] or export (Manage) [this feature was added: 10/21/05], no account preferences (AccSet) – but they’re still just in beta.

My Feedster -
Pros: add feeds really fast (Manage), import/export opml files and urls(Manage)
Cons: feed results page is difficult to view (Results), no way to sort page results (Results)

Pluck Online -
Pros: fast loading pages (Results), import opml files but not urls (Manage), open stories in new window (Results), add bookmarks as well as feeds (SpecO), view Shadow pages (SpecO)
Cons: can’t tell which articles are new or have been read (Manage), no export opml (Manage), weird reloading browser window if you try to do anything (DirBro)

Bloglines -
Pros: sort results differently for each folder/category (Results), expand/collapse feeds (Results), import opml files but not urls (Manage), export opml (Manage), keep articles as new even after they’ve been read (Manage)
Cons: no folder is created when importing new feeds (Manage), saving favorites is a 2-step process (ClipFav)

Rojo -
Pros: import/export opml (Manage), expand/collapse summaries within feeds (Results), many ways to sort (Results), easy one-click save/flag entries (ClipFav)
Cons: no easy way to rename categories (Manage)

NewsGator Online -
Pros: easily mark stories as read (Manage), choice to view only unread items (Results), the only service where you log in on a secure (https) server (SpecO), import/export opml files and urls (Manage)
Cons: can’t keep articles as new once they’ve been read (Manage)

Some of these feed readers have special features that would require more extensive testing in order for me to really say which i liked better. extras like tagging feeds (Rojo), favorites (Pluck), communities (Rojo,Pluck,Bloglines), machine learning (SearchFox), could easily sway my decision. the only service i am sure i would never stick with is Feedster. aside from being fast, i often had problems viewing feeds, organizing anything, uploading my logo/image, and sometimes it just wouldn’t work at all. if i had to pick my favorite 3 out of these 6 readers, i would have to say Rojo, Bloglines, and NewsGator. SearchFox could be up there as well, because of it’s ease of use. but since it is still in beta, and because i am forever intrigued with the idea of machine learning technology, i will keep SearchFox around for another 2 weeks. in that time, hopefully i can narrow these 3 services (actually 4) down to my #1 favorite. wish me luck.

[ This is a follow up to a previous article entitled: "So you think you can RSS? How", which is itself a follow up to an even earlier post entitled: "So you think you can RSS? Why", and looks at the evolution of the internet, why RSS and other feed formats are so popular today, how to use them, and why you might like one service over another. ]

Everyday i seem to find at least 2-3 new websites that i think are really cool and interesting. I usually bookmark them, but i know of so many good sites that it’s becoming impossible to keep up with all the new things that are being published on a daily basis. I understand why RSS is all the rage right now, i just have to pick an RSS viewer that i like and start using it.

Granted, there are a whole lot of these “news reader” softwares popping up all over the place, but when i first heard of SearchFox, i thought well.. the choice may just have gotten a bit easier. This article is an attempt to compare 6 popular RSS reader services in terms of general usability: the registration process (getting started), speed, ease of use, as well as any unique features that might make one service stand out over the others.

Here is a list of services i am going to try out:

1. SearchFox
2. My Feedster
3. Pluck Online
4. Bloglines
5. Rojo
6. NewsGator Online

First, lets look at the registration process. Let me start by saying, SearchFox is unfortunately still in beta, and is not setup for open registrations. What this means is you’ll have to email their support team and ask for an account. This takes some time. How long, well, let’s just see if they even make it into this review.

My Feedster was the first service i actually signed up for. It was quick and easy, but once i got in i found the backend to be a little unintuitive. It felt a little overwhelming, with few places to turn for help. I immediatly found that i was already subscribed to about ten feeds, many of which i would later get sucked into in an attempt to delete them. So, some time wasted there.

Next was Pluck Online, it looked like a good service but i found that in the sign up process, although they state that only “Items marked with an asterisk (*) are required”, in reality, all fields are required. This includes your first, and last name – something i’m not in the habit of giving out to any new web service that happens to come along. Let me try the thing before asking for this type of info, give me a reason to want to add it in later. Simply writing “Your name lets us personalize Pluck.” doesn’t exactly comfort me in any way. So i moved on to the next service.

I’m happy to say that Bloglines is easy to sign up for (no first/last names), quick, and simple to use. Right off the bat, their “Quick Pick Subscriptions” offers you a directory to choose feeds from. These are conveniently grouped into categories and today’s most popular. They also let you know that this directory is always availably so there is no pressure to choose all your feeds right now. With this in mind, i just chose a few feeds to start out with and get a feel for the main interface. The “My Feeds” section is where you’ll find and be able to read all the sites you’ve subscribed to. There is a left sidebar that is divided into 2 sections: your feeds, and extras. It’s all quite easy to get used to and works well, as far as i could tell.

Rojo was a service that i stumbled onto at the last minute before writing this article. Registration was the quickest of all the services i tried out. Simply enter your email, pick a username/password, and you’re in. No email confirmation was required, so i got to start using Rojo without a single delay. I should mention that the next page, before you get to the main interface, is a wizard which does ask to personalize your experience. You can enter your first/last name, zip code, even you’re own blog URL (if you happen to have one). You can also choose to exit the wizard (which is what i did), and just skip all the personal stuff. One thing that was unique about Rojo, was the ability to Tag your feeds, as well as group them into traditional categories. [ Update: I did actually get an activation email, but i didn't need it to log in, and never even saw it until after i posted this article ]

The last service is called Newsgator Online. Once again, i was asked my first/last name. Then to make matter worse, on the next page of the registration process, i was bombarded with a ton of paid choices with different monthly costs and other confusing things. The whole experience felt a little cold and corporate, as if they where just trying to get you to buy a paid version of something by making you scroll through a list of other “offers” before you can click the next button. The following page lets you choose “Starter packs” which are cool (similar to the Quick Pick feature in Bloglines). Once you finally get inside, it all works pretty well.

Back to Pluck Online.. once i actually signed up for this one, i was pleasantly surprised to find that it was very user friendly. Bright, colorful, with lots of helpful tips and suggestions to get you started. It seemed to work as fast, if not faster, than any of the other services i got to try out. Another good thing about it which i hadn’t realized at first is that you can also import you bookmarks from either Internet Explorer or Firefox browsers, something that i don’t think any of the other services were offering.

Last but not least, after a few hours, i received a reply from the good people at SearchFox. Once i activated my beta RSS account, the rest of the setup was a breeze. I’m not even sure if there was anything else to do because before i knew it i was already using SearchFox like a pro. Adding categories and feeds was all pretty straightforward. Although this service is still considered to be in a beta stage of development, it already performs equally well as any of the other RSS readers i got to try out. What is supposed to set this service apart from the rest is that “SearchFox uses machine learning technology to automatically rank and personalize incoming feeds to reflect each reader’s unique interests.. [It] learns by watching what individuals find interesting, taking into account various inputs such as the source, author, and topic of an RSS entry. Existing RSS readers only show information chronologically, which quickly leads to information overload.” I liked what Yahoo did with machine learning technology, so i was interested to see it used with this type of service.

Most of these 6 RSS reader services have features that will only get better as you continue to use them on a regular basis. That is why i intend to use all 6 of these services for an entire week before making my final choice as to which one is the best for me. I will likely post a follow up to this article, and go into a little more detail (describing some more of my findings) once i really get comfortable with each one. So check back soon if you’re interested in taking an even closer look at these RSS reader services.

[ Update: "There is an article on Read/Write Web entitled: "Subscriber Stats and Web-based Feed Readers" that compares several RSS readers (some of them not covered here) using subscriber statistics, and other useful comments about Rojo and Bloglines. ]

[ If you enjoyed this article, be sure to check out the follow up entitled: "1 week comparison: SearchFox, Feedster, Pluck, Bloglines, Rojo, and NewsGator." ]