Bloglines vs. Google Reader

Bloglines vs. Google Reader

Bloglines:

• Dated interface
• Weird User Interface, dare I say “Frames”
• To long a delay between setting up account and getting up to speed
• Feed setup takes too many clicks
• Sometimes too much customization, leads to frustrated users and in the end less use
• Too much feed visible and even when I changed the setting to only show headlines it still showed the whole entry
• Too make changes requires going to different menus rather than being able to do it within the same screen.
• Does it do folders, like Google? At .40 cents a minute (I’m blogging from the middle of the Atlantic) it’s too expensive to try and figure that out! Most people aren’t even being charged those kinds of fees and still won’t bother to try and master this reader.

 

Google Reader:

• Easy to use interface
• Quick to setup
• Feed addition is quick and easy
• Sharing is simpler, and it’s a one-click process
• You don’t have to email to share
• Scan quickly through feeds
• View trends
• Quickly switch views between “expanded” and “list”
• “Home” section gives you headlines from each of your feeds
• quickly see “Friends” shared items
• Allows for a high consumtion of information in a short amount of time
• I could go on forever about the features that Google Reader has that Bloglines does not have or has and just doesn’t do well.

Overall, I would recommend Google Reader any day over Bloglines. I feel that while Bloglines offers a few more features (it’s a bit smarter and can find feeds where they didn’t really even exist), it’s just too much of a pain to really play with. The interface is a bit dated and customization menus are too buried within the interface, if you just want to do quick adjustments. Maybe this is all due because I am more used to Google Reader been using it now over year, but I am a pretty savvy internet user and Bloglines just frustrates me. I don’t care enough about it or see its features relevant enough to my needs to spend any more time with it. This is coming from someone who really likes using new internet apps (even the annoying and non-useful ones) and this one just didn’t do it for me. 

What messages can Librarians/Libraries take from the Brown & Duguid reading?

...not to put the shelves too far away from one another or move them around on a daily basis. 

Chapter 3 discussed technology as it relates to the office environment and home-workers in reltation to that. C/D (I now work in advertising too!) and thier experiemental new office structure took a large portion of the chapter. How does all this relate to libraries? To be honest, I'm not really sure. I think I will take this approach, Libraries should be choosy what technologies they choose to use. Just cause it's trendy doesn't mean you have to adopt it. Also implimentation is important. If you are trying to be trendy and jump on the "bandwagon" - you should also decided to do a good job of it. I've gone to more than one library website where they have tried to incorporate web 2.o features on thier web -1.0 websites and it just comes over looking very pedestrian and dosen't send a good message at all. They would have been better off just keeping it simple rather than trying to do to much at one time. KISS a.k.a "Keep it Simple Stupid" should be hung up in every library across the globe. Do not complicate things that don't need it, aka don't try to use technologies where you don't or cant properly support/impliment them. 

Approach #2 to the chapter: Libraries should take a lesson from C/D and not be so strict with thier clientel. I may be the proud and the few, but unless it's a special collection environment - I think Coffee is a very good idea, some call me crazy, but I will even go as far and say a Cafe would be a nice touch too. Unlike with the move-again and again C/D'ers, libraries should try and create a familiar and relaxed environment if they want people to be comfortable. Libraries are not Book Museums (well unless they are), they are aisles of information organized in a recognizable pattern (although some would argue thats a stretch). 

Random thoughts on the chapter: I tended to get lots of out the chapter from a corporate work perspective and how people rely on other people to understand and support the use of technology (i.e G.Bell). This chapter made total sense to me. Often times in the library environment I would become the IT Help Desk as libraries tried to catch up and the staff tried to just keep pace. Now I am IT and it's even worse. There is quickly becoming a general accepted level of computer skills and to fall below that makes you almost irrelevant. I think this is not really due to people critizing the level of knowledge, but the cost and time that is consumed by one user having to show another user how to do something. This is a bit of a tangent, so I will end that 

In closing I think the guy at the start of chapter 3, should own a MAC and there is a reason shared office space for independent workers is opening up all over the city. 

Library Blogs

Ok, so SG wants us to post some library blogs and say why. If some of you have not done this yet, I suggest this link to help you out. http://www.blogwithoutalibrary.net/links/index.php?title=Welcome_to_the_Blogging_Libraries_Wiki

I also tried pretty hard to find a library that had done anything really cutting-edge in respect to blogging, but no luck. 

1. Library of Congress Blog:  http://www.loc.gov/blog/

The design is nice and clean, not to mention its won a few awards. The blog covers a wide variety of topics that could interest a reader. The site makes use of imagery to grab the readers attention. Overall a nicely organized site with a good solid taxonomy. There are not many web 2.o features to be had here, but a nice experience. 

2. Smithsonian Institution Libraries Blog: http://sil.typepad.com/

I am more of a special libraries kind of gal and well, I also have a soft spot for museums (as I worked in one for 6.5 years). So that was my main reason for choosing this blog. Not anything super special here except the content (that's the thing lots of people miss the mark on). The content is interesting and engaging, like the LIC it varies in topics and uses imagery to add more interest. 

Wordpress -vs- Blogger Pt. II

Well, it seems as though I'm not so good at following directions, actually I think I just got carried away in my prior post.

Here is my findings of my nice, long previous post presented as convenient bullet points.

Blogger:

• super simple set-up
• finding admin UI is not so easy
  
• admin UI is nice, clean and is designed well
• execution - real easy to get started blogging, only a few clicks
• themes - very slim pickings
• mods - gadgets are easy to use and have a guided setup
• page layout - not much control here with the GUI, however its nice and simple
• not as customizable as Wordpress, but easier to use out-of-the-gate
  

Wordpress:

• email confirmation for setup, not as quick, but still pretty speedy
• finding admin UI is very easy
• admin UI is overwhelming for a newbie user
• execution - easier to start blogging than Blogger, but a more complex "write" page
• themes - lots to choose from (5 pages worth)
• mods - not many widgets to chose from and set-up is not as intuitive
• page layout - like Blogger not much customization abilities other than those inherent in your chosen template
• more freedom, but not a lot of room to exercise those freedoms

Wordpress -vs - Blogger

To keep this fair I am posting this review on both my Wordpress Blog and my Blogger Blog (that's pretty redunant, eww in more ways than one! ha ha). 

I use Wordpress for my own personal site at lealaabbott.com. However, I realized the only way to fairly compare the two is to compare the web-based (developer hosted) version of Wordpress against Blogger. This is because I self-host my Wordpress site for my website and use it as the CMS system, so I have all the freedoms of editing the code etc that come with running the backend of a Wordpress site. So instead I am going to approach this as if I was a beginner to either platform. 

So, lets start with the basics - Sign-up and Execute: 

Ok, lightning speed with Blogger since it is integrated with Google, so if you have a Google account it doesn't take much work to then have a Blogger account. Wordpress same story, super easy you just had to go through a confirmation email. It took awhile (in Internet minutes) for the confirmation email to arrive. When it finally did (Yahoo had stuck it in the Spam folder), I was ready to get to blogging. 

So getting started with Blogger. Executing a blog on Blogger was super simple. Its a little wacky navigating to the administration section, but its findable. For instance if you start from your vanity page such as http://ljascils598f08.blogspot.com you have to first go into "New Post" then you are able to see the "Dashboard" link which takes your to your administrative menu. Not liking that, kinda bad UI if you ask me. However once you get to your "Dashboard" the Admin GUI is nice and clean and easy to read and understand, the information is laid out nicely and is uniform and cohesive. 

Now let's get started with Wordpress. Wow, OK, this is definitely different. I hate to admit it, but the Dashboard is really overwhelming! On the other hand, its much more intuitive to find than the Blogger admin menu. However, if you are a more experienced user all these features add up to more customization and integration opportunities. For the purposes of this section, however we are just setting up and account and executing our first blog posting. As busy as the admin GUI is it's pretty easy to find the "Write" link in the upper right-hand corner (best spot for frequently used or most important features on a website). The "Write" interface is pretty similiar to the Blogger interface with one difference, advanced options. Good for advanced users, but not so integral for beginners. 

Winner of this section: Blogger

The Fun Stuff - Themes: 

Ok, Worpress I think wins hands-down here with thier zillions (well 5 pages, just seems like a lot) compared with Bloggers 16 available themes. Yes you can edit the HTML, but we are talking blogging for the beginner here. My begginer persona I'm using for this does not include him/her having programming skills. Why don't you tell me which one you like better in the comments section. 

Wordpress Blog: http://ljascils598f08.wordpress.com/

Blogger Blog: http://ljascils598f08.blogspot.com/

Winner of this section: Wordpress

Everything Else:

Yes, my persona is a beginner, but I think mod'ing out your blog isn't too difficult for this newbie to handle. So lets have a look at how you can customize in either of the two platforms. 

In Blogger the "layouts" tab takes you to a part of the admin menu that allows you to change the appearance of your blog. The resutls are a pretty minimal set of tools that you can use to move around and edit your blog layout. Interestingly enough only two of the boxes you can actually move around and when you click on edit, its really a content managment settings GUI wrapped up in what you would think was the "layout editor" section of the platform. The other links are "page elements", "fonts and colors', "edit HTML" and pick new template (we already know that link isn't much fun). Well, I like the fact that you can edit the HTML, but remember my newbie persona not a programming bone in their body. So not really to exciting. "Fonts and Colors", ok midly exciting. However, "gadgets" now I could definately spend some time here. Lickety-split easy to add and I found exactly the ones I wanted right away, del.icio.us and my picture. There are tons of gadgets to choose from, they are easy to search for and a click of the button to add.  This Blogger thing is pretty darn easy! Now let's take a peek at the competition. 

In Worpress "Design" mode, we have the tabs  "themes", "widgets", "extras" and "edit CSS".  We already played around with the themes, lets have a look at the "widgets" and add a few.  To keep things even, we will add the same widgets that we added to our Wordpress Blog. Wow, big difference we only have around 20 widgets we can add. I can't even add the picture widget, oh well. Now I get to the next user experience difference. In Wordpress you actually have to click on "edit" in the widget to set up your preferences as opposed to Blogger where it walked you right through it. I guess I will just have to add the "del.icio.us" widget. 

Clear winner in ease of use and options: Blogger

My final opinion: 

I think for a new user Blogger as a blogging platform is a much better option than Wordpress. Its easy to get started and add features and functionality. However, there is a limit to your freedoms. With Wordpress there is more freedom, but the options just aren't there to exercise that freedom. So kind of a loser there. After this little exploration I am happy to return to my self-hosted blog as that gives me all the freedoms I could ever want. However, my newbie persona is off to do some blogging on thier new Blogger blog. 

I like Blogger, but love Wordpress

I like Blogger, but love Wordpress...

Blogger is a great out of the box application....however, it just does not have the customizability of Wordpress.

This is not really a post, but rather a starting point...stay tuned for more....or if your really bored, read my real blog.

www.lealaabbott.com

Ciao! Update! Funny, this was my first post (just to put something there, besides hello world) having no idea it was the topic assignment. SG read my mind!