Blog Readers and Saving Yours....

Friday, January 21, 2011

Actually, I'm going to do the tip about saving your blog first. If you are like many RVers, the blogs are the history of your travels. For others it's a photo journal or maybe a cache of poems, stories or other things you've written.

Have you ever thought about how you would feel if lost your blog? Maye it's a Blogger glitch. Maybe they, heaven forbid, disappear. Maybe.....you just want to move to another platform for your blog and want to bring your past posts with you.

Well, there is an easy way to back up your blog...I try to remember to do it a couple times a year although I know I should do it more often. Hoping that some day we will be able to schedule backups.

So, here are the steps to back up your blog:

  1. Log in to Blogger
  2. Click the SETTINGS link
  3. Click the EXPORT BLOG link, on the BLOG TOOLS line

  4. Click the DOWNLOAD BLOG button

  5. Choose SAVE FILE

The file will be saved to your default download location. I have a folder in My Documents named Backups and I move my blog backup there, adding the blog name to the front of the file since I have multiple blogs. You don't need to rename the file if you only have one blog.

That's it...you're done. Your blog is now backed up and can be imported into Blogger, WordPress or other blogging platforms that allow importing XML files.

Now on to blog readers. If you only follow a few blogs it's easy enough to do with bookmarks or via Blogger's FOLLOW links. Then you just need to remember to click on them regularly. Some blogs also allow you to receive email updates when the blog has a new post.

But if you find yourself following more and more blogs, you soon realize that you need something to help your find and follow your regular blogs. Why? Because you have one page that shows all your blogs and you can set it to show only the updated blogs! To me, the simplest reader to use is Google Reader.

Rather than my try to explain how to set it all up, THIS PAGE has all the information you need, including links to some video tutorials. The first section is about setting up iGoogle. iGoogle is a portal page, a page you can set up to suit your information needs. From there you can easily see and read the blogs you follow in Google Reader. But this is not necessary...you can go directly to Google Reader.

There are many, Many, MANY programs out there to read blogs and follow news feeds. I can't begin to enumerate them all...and they are changing daily. So instead, I'll tell you about what i use and give you some links to check out. But if you are somewhat technologically impaired, I suggest you stick with Google Reader to start. LOL!


When I decided I wanted to step away from Google Reader and try a desktop based blog reader, I found RSSOwl and it has worked out very well for me. I could create folders (labels in Google Reader) for sorting and I could even have a blog in more than one folder. I like that it is Open Source (I already use Firefox, Thunderbird with the Lightning calendar add-on and Open Office) software.

It was easy to import my Google Reader list. I can also easily save a backup of my current feeds that can be imported back into Google Reader or any other RSS reader I might prefer. It has a lot of features for news reading that I don't use but that's true of most software. We learn the parts that fill our current need and then stop pushing the envelope. LOL!

Feel free to email me with any questions and I will help you as much as I can. I am NO guru on this topic, believe me!! Oh, one side note. If you follow blogs that are hosted on mytripjournal.com, you will NOT be able to add them to a reader...at least not that I can find. If anyone knows how...please let me know. I have a half dozen friends who I have bookmarked but constantly forget to check for updates (and with my volume of mail, I don't want email updates).

I know this is kind of technical, but hopefully it will help a few readers....one more promised topic checked off my list! LOL!

Till next time - keep on rollin',
Donna and Stu
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12 comments:

  1. LauraJanuary 21, 2011 at 3:22 PM

    Thanks so much for these tips. I will be putting both of them into action.

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  2. TeriJanuary 21, 2011 at 3:29 PM

    Thanks for the backup info, I didn't think about doing that. I use Google Reader for now, but may try one of the other formats in the future.

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  3. HappytrailsJanuary 21, 2011 at 4:32 PM

    Thanks for the backup information! I have always been afraid something would happen and I would lose all my entries. I will work on it this evening!!

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  4. SandraJanuary 21, 2011 at 4:46 PM

    For some reason and I can't claim that I set it up this way, blogger emails my blog to me daily complete with photos so I just save them in my email program.

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  5. GloriaJanuary 21, 2011 at 5:31 PM

    Thanks for sharing all that!

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  6. Dennis and DonnaJanuary 21, 2011 at 6:23 PM

    Thanks for all your info....you are my idol...I didn't understand a thing, but McGuyver will!! I'll put him on it!!! Thanks again!

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  7. Chuck and Anneke's RV travelsJanuary 21, 2011 at 6:29 PM

    I have been using Google reader for several years and it works great. I have not used the blogger backup, but may give it a try. I transfer by blog entries into a word document on a regular basis, so I can always see it no matter what.

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  8. FeliciaJanuary 21, 2011 at 8:58 PM

    Thanks you.......... I am just starting my blog and learning so much from other bloggers. Not many followers but that is ok!

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  9. RV AdventuresJanuary 21, 2011 at 9:44 PM

    I try to do this on a monthly basis. I have found that i like using Windows Live Writer to publish my blog with. I can write and save it to my computer when i'm not connected to the internet and when i do connect all i have to do is open and publish. Then go to blogger and sign in and click edit post and publish. It's very easy.

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  10. Donna KJanuary 22, 2011 at 1:17 AM

    Great post...gonna get that backup thing going for sure. Already do the reader. Love the "Blog Community" (for lack of a better term). Always something to learn.

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  11. Jim and BobbieJanuary 22, 2011 at 9:55 AM

    Donna, how often do you back up your blogs? Is weekly sufficient?

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  12. CroftJanuary 23, 2011 at 6:42 PM

    Thanks for the reminder Donna! I just backed up my Blog - All 5.6 MB of it!

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