Google Case Study - Reader
Objective
After successfully completing the case study, you should be able to:
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Access Google Reader account
Set up Google Reader
Subscribe to RSS feeds
Organize subscriptions
Create tags
View preferences
Sharing RSS feeds with others
What is Google Reader?
Google reader enables you to view updates from the subscribed
websites from one web location. Instead of checking your regular
websites every few hours or every morning for the latest information,
you can subscribe to them through Google Reader. Once subscribed,
any changes in the blogs or websites automatically start displaying in
your Google Reader page. Thus, you have one page to check for the
new content.
The website content, such as latest news, website changes, and blog
post, is made available to other websites through a web syndication
process. Web syndication helps its users in receiving updated
information automatically to one website. The orange symbol indicates
that the website uses feeds to publish its content.
RSS (Really Simple Syndication), also sometimes called news reader,
feed reader or feed aggregator, is a program which pulls users’
subscribed feeds and embeds them in the reader web page. Along with
the headline of the feed, the reader displays metatags such as the feed
URL, title, author, and publication date. Google Reader is an example of
feed reader. Like other RSS readers, Google Reader provides an
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interface to read and manage feeds. Feed readers can be configured to
pop up a message when an update arrives.
Feed readers not only save your time from checking multiple websites
for changes but also help you manage information in one place.
Google Reader
Google Reader account is accessed from Gmail account. In Google
Reader, you can search for RSS subscriptions or add a webpage link that
generates RSS feeds. It allows you to organize feeds in different folders,
add new folders, and delete feeds and folders that are not useful to you
anymore. You can add notes and tags to feeds in your collection. You
can also share your feed collection with others.
Objective
In this exercise, you will access Google Reader.
Open the Internet Explorer browser and type in http://gmail.com
Type in your Gmail user ID and password to enter into your Gmail account.
Click on the Reader link, a link on the top navigation bar.
If you do not see Reader link, click on the arrow next to the more link and click on Even more to
find Reader under Communicate, show, & share.
Google Reader opens in a new window.
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Scroll down on the
Welcome to Google
Reader welcome
page and click on
the play button in A
quick video tutorial
to view the features
of Google Reader.
This video is created
by the Google
Reader team.
NOTE:
The video tutorial
may no longer be
available on Google
Reader page.
Please skip this step
if you do not find
the video.
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Click on the Add a
subscription button
and type “ipad
applications.”
Click on the Add
button.
You can type in
search criteria in the
Add a subscription
textbox. This will
look for websites
that generate RSS
feeds. It also allows
you to type in a URL
in the search box.
Click on the Subscribe button for Gizmodo’s Essential iPad Apps.
If Gizmodo’s Essential iPad Apps link does not appear, click on the
subscribe button for another link of your interest.
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Click again on the
Add a subscription
button and type in
cnn.
Click on the Add
button.
Click on the Subscribe button to subscribe to cnn.com feed.
Notice CNN.com appears under the Subscriptions on the left.
Let’s learn how to subscribe to the feed from the webpage.
Open a new Internet Explorer window. Type in
http://www.pcmag.com URL.
Click on the Subscribe button on the top right corner (under and then
click on the RSS feeds – Get PCMag.com headlines on your desktop
with RSS link.
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Scroll down to the Comments section and click on the Subscribe by RSS
- RSS icon
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Click on the Subscribe to this feed in Google Reader link to subscribe to
this feed through Google Reader.
Click on the Subscribe button on your Google Reader page to receive
headlines from PCMag.com
.com.
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Skip this step if you
were able to add
PCMag in your
reader list
successfully.
If there is no RSS
icon
in the
Comments section,
click on the first
XML icon
link
appearing after the
Fresh Reviews from
PC Magazine text.
Then, click on the
Google button to
subscribe to this
feed through
Google Reader.
Last, click on the
Add to the Google
Reader if prompted.
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Go to the Google Reader main page.
Click on each subscription under Subscriptions on the left.
As you click on the link, the content becomes available in the main
window on the right.
As you scroll down feeds in the main window, the number next to the
link under Subscriptions is reduced.
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By default, feeds are
shown in the
Expanded view.
Click on the List
next to Show in the
right top corner
above show details.
List view does not
show the summary
next to the feed so
scanning feeds is
easy.
Setting
Settings let you organize your subscriptions. You can create new
folders, delete existing folders, rename subscriptions, delete
subscriptions, and unsubscribe subscriptions. You can also create tags,
email your subscriptions to other sites, and set view preferences for
subscriptions.
Objective
In this exercise, you will change the default settings of the Reader.
Click on the option icon next to your user name at the top right corner
of the Google Reader main page and select Reader settings from the
drop-down menu.
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Alternatively, click on Manage subscriptions at the bottom left corner
under Subscriptions to go to Reader settings.
This opens the settings page with the default settings of the Reader.
Click on the Subscriptions tab if it is not already selected.
Click on the Add to a folder button on the right for a CNN.com
subscription and click on New folder...
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Type in News.
Click on the
OK button.
The news
folder will be
called News
and the CNN
subscription
will belong to
this folder.
Similarly, add
PCMag to a
new folder.
Name this
folder:
Magazines
Add Gizmodo’s Essential iPad Apps to the News folder.
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Click on the Rename link for the Gizmodo’s Essential iPad Apps.
Type iPad
Apps in the
Rename
textbox.
Click on the
Save
button.
Select CNN.com by clicking on its checkbox.
Click on the Unsubscribe button.
When prompted to unsubscribe the link from the feed, select Cancel.
By selecting the Cancel button, you cancel the feed to be removed from
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your subscription list.
Another way to unsubscribe to a feed is to select the trashcan icon for
the feed.
Try unsubscribing a feed this way and select Cancel to keep the feed.
If by mistake, you remove a feed, go back to the Google Reader main
page and add it again.
Click on the
Preferences
tab to select
it.
Review the
features
under
Preferences.
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Click on Folders and Tags tab to select it.
Select News and Magazines folders by clicking on their checkboxes.
Alternatively, go to Google Reader page by either clicking on the
Google Reader logo or clicking on the Back to Google Reader link to go
back to the main Google Reader page. Then, click on the Reader
Settings under Settings tab on the right corner to view the folder. Now
select News and Magazines folders by clicking on their checkboxes.
By default, Google Reader has made your folder private. In private
setting, these links are available only for your view. In order to make
these links available to others, you need to change their settings to
public view.
Click on the drop-down menu for Change sharing… and select Public.
Click on the sharing settings link for the first item in the settings.
This opens the sharing settings page in a new window.
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Scroll down
the Sharing
settings web
page and
click on the
email link
under Tell
some
friends.
In the To: field, type in your instructor’s email address.
In the Subject: type in your full name and section number.
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NOTE: Google uses your account name in the From field. Go to Gmail
settings to update your information when necessary.
Select the “Send me a copy of this email” checkbox.
Click the OK button.
Type in the fuzzy characters if prompted for Word Verification.
Click on Settings and then Reader settings link to go back to settings
page.
Click on Goodies to select it.
Browse the page and learn about different goodies available from
Google Reader.
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Click on Send To and review the options.
You can receive feeds from your favorite social networking websites,
such as Facebook, MySpace or bookmark websites such as Delicious
and Digg.
Sharing
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Sharing lets you share items with your friends. You can also add notes
to items that you want to share. Shared items can be emailed to your
friends.
Objective
In this exercise, you will share feeds with others.
Click on
Google
Reader logo
to go back to
the main
Google
Reader page.
This will take
you out of
the settings
page.
Click on the
CNN.com
under News
under
Subscription
s to view
unread
feeds.
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Click on any feed that interests you in this subscription.
Scroll to the bottom of the feed and click on the Share with Note link.
In a new
pop-up
window, add
a note
relevant to
your feed in
the textbox.
Click on the
Post Item
button.
Your friends
will view your
shared item
with your
posted note.
Click on the Add star link to star an item.
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Starred items can be viewed quickly in Starred items from the Home
page.
Click on the Like link if you like the feed item.
People who access this shared item can see that you like this feed item.
Click on Keep unread if you do not want Google Reader to remove this
item feed and keep it in bold format so you can read it again.
Click on the Edit tags link to change tags.
Tags help others find the information about the feed item. Multiple tags
are separated by commas.
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If a tag
already
exists, add a
comma and
type in a
word(s) that
helps you
identify the
content.
Click the
Save button
when done.
Trends
Monitoring your trend of subscribed items and reading items can help
in organizing subscriptions. You can unsubscribe the feeds that you are
not interested in anymore.
Objective
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In this exercise, you will view your trends.
Click on
Trends
under
Your
stuff on
the left.
Review
your
trend in
the
right
window
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Log out of Google Reader by clicking on Sign Out in the top right corner.
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