GFC is gone – now whatGFC se je poslovil – kaj sedaj

I have full page of post themes that I really should do, but I never take time to actually sit down and write them. :blush: So I went through it and decided to do the one that is maybe the most current – GFC “problem”.

For the first year we didn’t even have GFC on Parokeets blog. Then our readers started asking us if there is any way to implement GFC widget on our site. What exactly is GFC? We looked it up and saw that main feature of GFC is that is serves as RSS reader for Blogger/Blogspot bloggers. But as the feature was also available to non-Blogger blogs, we added it to our blog.

GFC followers on Parokeets blog
GFC followers on Parokeets blog

Last year Google decided to stop offering GFC for non-Blogger blogs as of March 2012. Not really nice of them, but I must admit I wasn’t really surprised. They were slowly cutting support for one GFC thing after another so webmasters saw it coming. And as it’s entirely possible that it will in time disappear from Blogger blogs also, I received a lot of questions about alternative ways to follow blogs (I use RSS for news also). I’ll try to be short and avoid technical babbling. :silly:

1) Bloglovin and NetworkedBlogs

Bloglovin and NetworkedBlogs are also primarily RSS readers but they come with their unique style, options … Both of the services are easy to navigate, you can find similar blogs …

Bloglovin’ allows you to group blogs that you follow and that is very useful feature for those of us that follow a lot of blogs. You can choose to receive email updates … Shows you unread blog posts which you can group either by date or blog …

Parokeets blog RSS - Bloglovin
Parokeets blog RSS – Bloglovin

NetworkedBlogs is Facebook application where you can follow blogs that use the app to publish their feed. Downside is that you can follow only 250 blogs.

2) Facebook, Twitter, Google+

Not really the same thing, but you can still follow new posts if bloggers either have automatic posting system about new blog posts or they post them themselves. Our Facebook and Twitter page have automatic updates, while Google+ still does not have that option available so we add each post link manually. All three networks keep you updated with other things besides feed – photos, news, what is coming up …

Facebook and Twitter are pretty known so I’ll only explain how our Google+ works.

Parokeets blog RSS - Google plus
Parokeets blog RSS – Google plus

In the widget on the right side of our blog you can click +1 button which in essence says to Google and your friends – I like this page. You don’t need G+ profile to do that, but you do have to have Google profile set to public (something like that – it leads you how to do that if you do not have the option turned on). As far as I can see, only your friends can see which pages you “plusoned”.

Now if you want to follow our Google+ page (very similar to Facebook page), you have to have G+ profile. You go over Add to circles with you mouse and pick which circle you want us in (Follow or if you created circle for Blogs …).

3) RSS readers like Google Reader (RETIRED! as of 1st of July 2013), My Yahoo!, Bloglines, Feedburner …

I never used Blogger, so I don’t know where you read your RSS feed, but I do know that feed is also published in your Google Reader (Subscriptions – Blogs I’m following). I never mastered that reader as I find it confusing with the amount of blogs that I follow. I use iGoogle (Google homepage – also retiring in 2013!) instead and sort all the blogs in categories: Slovenian blogs, makeup blogs …

How to add blog to RSS readers? Just click on RSS button. It’s usually orange, but not necessarily so. On our blog, RSS buttons are located in upper right corner. We have separate feed for English language and Slovenian language.

Parokeets blog RSS reader button
Parokeets blog RSS reader button

Depending which browser you use you’ll see different options for Firefox, Internet Explorer, Chrome, Opera …

Here is how you add RSS feed in Firefox:

Parokeets blog RSS - Firefox
Parokeets blog RSS – Firefox

Chrome users will first have to install (it’s super fast) RSS add-on as Google doesn’t have built in RSS reader … I better leave that can of worms closed, as I could go on and on about the subject. :silly:

Parokeets blog RSS - Chrome
Parokeets blog RSS – Chrome

You can also use Feedburner to read the feed. These are the options you have when you open Parokeets Feedburner page (among them is receiving email once a day if there is new post):

Parokeets blog RSS - Feedburner
Parokeets blog RSS – Feedburner

I just knew this would turn into a novel. :biggrin: Now you met options I like to use to follow blogs, news … And at the same time, services you can use to follow our blog.

Which provider do you use for following blogs? What are you feelings about GFC shutdown?Nabralo se mi je več kot ena stran potencialno zanimivih tematik, a kaj ko si nikoli ne vzamem toliko časa, da bi se jih lotila. :blush: Čisto vse so namreč precej obsežne in zahtevajo veliko časa za izvedbo/pisanje.
Pred kratkim sem se odločila, da je res skrajni čas, da se lotim seznama. Usedla sem se za mizo in pregledala seznam, ter se odločila za mogoče najbolj aktualno problematiko – ukinitev GFC vmesnika.

Prvo leto delovanja našega bloga sploh nismo imele GFC vmesnika. Potem pa smo začele dobivati vedno več povpraševanj, če obstaja možnost, da ga dodamo. GFC? Na hitro smo pogledale kaj sploh to je in ugotovila, da gre za RSS bralnik, ki je bil primarno namenjen Blogger/Blogspot blogerjem. Vendar je obstajala tudi verzija za tiste, ki uporabljamo druge platforme, tako da smo ga dodale na Parokeets blog.

GFC followers on Parokeets blog
GFC followers on Parokeets blog

Lani pa je prišla iz Googlovega štaba neprijetna novica – z marcem 2012 se bo GFC ukinil za vse, ki niso na Bloggerju/Blogspotu. Ne preveč lepa gesta, a prav hudo presenečena tudi nisem bila. Že dolgo časa se namreč ukinja podpora GFC storitvam, tako da je bilo jasno, da bo le ta slej kot prej poniknil. In ker je čisto realna opcija, da bo počasi izginil tudi na Bloggerju, sem dobila veliko vprašanj na temo alternativnih načinov spremljanja blogov. Se bom potrudila biti čim krajša in čim manj dolgoveziti. :silly:

1) Bloglovin in NetworkedBlogs

Bloglovin in NetworkedBlogs sta v osnovi RSS bralnika. Vsak od njiju ima svoje prednosti, stil, opcije … Za oba je značilno enostavno navigiranje, hitro najdete sorodne bloge …

Bloglovin’ omogoča, da si določite več kategorij in naredite RSS bralnik bolj pregleden. Izberete lahko tudi prejemanje elektronskih obvestil ob novi objavi … Nove/neprebrane poste lahko sortirate po datumu ali blogu …

Parokeets blog RSS - Bloglovin
Parokeets blog RSS – Bloglovin

NetworkedBlogs je aplikacija, ki deluje znotraj Facebooka. Tukaj lahko spremljate samo tiste bloge, ki “objavljajo” v aplikaciji, ima pa tudi omejitev – spremljate lahko “le” 250 blogov.

2) Facebook, Twitter, Google+

Niso ravno ista zadeva, vendar lahko poslužijo tudi kot RSS bralniki. Tako imata npr. naša Facebook in Twitter stran avtomatično objavljanje RSS objav, medtem ko Google+ še dela na temu in trenutno same dodamo link za vsak post. Vse tri storitve nudiju dodatne opcije – objavljanje fotografij, novičk …

3) Facebook, Twitter, Google+

Facebook in Twitter sta precej znana, zato bom nekaj besed namenila le Google+ storitvam.

Parokeets blog RSS - Google plus
Parokeets blog RSS – Google plus

Na desni strani bloga (pod Facebook widgetom) najdete Googlov vmesnik. Če kliknete +1 gumb, poveste Googlu in prijateljem, da vam je stran všeč. Googlov profil morate imeti nastavljen na javno (nekaj v tem stilu). Koliko sem lahko zasledila, se vaše ime izpiše samo pri vaših prijateljih – ostali ne vidijo kdo je kliknil +1.

Če pa želite slediti naši Google+ strani (ki deluje podobno kot FB stran), morate imeti G+ profil. Z miško pojdite na Add to circles in označite krog v katerega nas želite dodati (Follow ali kreirajte krog za bloge).

3) RSS bralniki: Google Reader (s 1.7.2013 ne deluje več!), My Yahoo!, Bloglines, Feedburner …

Sama nisem nikoli uporabljala Bloggerja, tako da ne vem kje točno berete vaše RSS objave. Vem da je ena izmed opcij spremljanje GFC objav v Google Readerju (Subscriptions – Blogs I’m following). Osebno se mi zdi ta bralnik zelo konfuzen in nepregleden, tako da ga praktično nikoli niti ne odprem. Namesto tega uporabljam iGoogle (Googlove domača stran), ker sem si bloge razdelila v kategorije: Slovenski blogi, makeup blogi …

Kako dodamo stran v RSS bralnik? S klikom na RSS gumb. Ponavadi je oranžne barve z značilnim logotipom. Na našem blogu sta RSS gumba locirana v zgornjem desnem kotu. Dva zato, ker imamo ločeni objavi za angleški jezik in slovenski jezik.

Parokeets blog RSS reader button
Parokeets blog RSS reader button

Glede na to kateri brskalnik uporabljate (Firefox, Internet Explorer, Chrome, Opera), se vam bodo ponudile različne opcije.

Takole dodate RSS objave v Firefoxu:

Parokeets blog RSS - Firefox
Parokeets blog RSS – Firefox

Chrome uporabnice boste morale najprej namestiti (zelo hitro opravilo) RSS add-on. Se raje ne spuščam v debato zakaj nima Chrome že vgrajenega RSS bralnika, ker vas bom zdolgočasila do spanca :silly:

Parokeets blog RSS - Chrome
Parokeets blog RSS – Chrome

Ena izmed popularnih opcij je tudi spremljanje s Feedburnerjem. Spodaj so prikazane možnosti, ki jih imate, če odprete Parokeets Feedburner stran (ena je recimo prejemanje e-pošte, ko objavimo post):

Parokeets blog RSS - Feedburner
Parokeets blog RSS – Feedburner

Fju – tole je pa ratal cel roman. :fju: Našteti so servisi/bralniki, ki jih sama najraje uporabljam in so istočasno uporabljeni tudi na našem blogu.

Na kakšen način vi sledite blogom? Kaj si mislite o GFC “ukinitvi”?

24 thoughts on “<!--:en-->GFC is gone – now what<!--:--><!--:sl-->GFC se je poslovil – kaj sedaj<!--:-->”

  1. I read all your post and I didn’t understand a thing! :( I just want to know if I’m still a follower of Parokeets. Am I? Do you still “see” me as a follower, somewhere?

    Reply
    • I don’t know what will happen in March, but until then, everything works as it did until now.
      If you are following us with GFC, you’ll probably have to switch to one of the services I mentioned above. :sigh:
      And that goes for pretty much all the blogs you’re following that are not on blogspot.com.

      If you need help, contact me at gejba(at)parokeets.com (I can’t check subscriptions with majority of applications).

      Reply
  2. I personally don’t like Google+, I find it complicated, so I don’t think I’m gonna use it. My blog is on blogger (I’ve purchased my own domain), yet my blogger dashboard has been broken for the last 2 months or so.. I see no updates and it also says I follow no blogs, although I obviously do.. I’ve also been having a problem with GFC in the last 4-5 days too, I can’t follow any new blogs, I get an error message…

    :angry: :angry: :angry:

    I’m following most blogs from my blogroll, I just add them there :) I used to use bloglovin’, maybe I should get back to it! x

    Reply
    • I must admit I like G+. :sorry: And if they changed their “real name” policy I would open “Gejba” profile too.

      Did you check their help forums? Googlers are slow to answer but others with similar problems are known to be quite helpful.

      Reply
    • I use all of the services mention above (I follow to many blogs for one or 2 to handle :sorry: ) and Bloglovin’ is becoming one of my favorite ones. :yes:

      Reply
  3. ja sam tuuuuužna i umrijet ću od tuge :drop:
    meni je gfc bio najjednostaniji i najbezbolinij način za praćenje blogova i svih ostalih stvari koje me zanimaju… ni jedna druga alternativa mi nije ugodna kao gfc :nono: ali pretpostavljam da ću se morati pomiriti s tim i gotovo :zip:

    Reply
    • It’s true that it won’t disappear in March. :yes:
      But GFC newsletters are no longer supported for anybody (and the feature does not work correctly anymore) + the last time I checked GFC was still in beta stage so they never released it as fully functional software.
      If I were to speculate, I would say that they’ll try to “convert” Blogger followers into something else … G+ maybe?

      Reply
  4. I used GFC only for the purpose of giveaways. I follow yours (and many other) blogs on Bloglovin and so far I am very satisfied. I think Google’s trying to make us use Google+ by removing GFC option for non-Blogger blogs.

    Reply
  5. Google sux!!! They are cutting GFC because noone uses Google+ as its so stupid. Now Google forcing!!!!! users to use Google+
    :angry:

    Reply
    • That is probably one of the reasons, but if they really wanted to make huge impact, they would have shut down GFC for all the users. I guess we’re just not bringing enough money. :silly:

      Reply
      • I suppose they are going to shut down GFC sooner or later for everyone, including Blogger blogs. Google + is not a good product so now they’re trying to force everybody to use it no matter what :devil: . The problem is GFC is/was a unique and popular product designed especially for blogs and I don’t think there’s anything to replace it. Generally, it seems like Google doesn’t understand many things about blogs, the need of remain more or less anonymous for instance (in Blogger they suggest now replacing Blogger profile with the Google + public profile which reveals the name of blog author).

        I think that sort policy won’t do Google any good.

        Reply

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