5 Google Reader Themes for Sheer Awesomeness

5 Google Reader Themes for Sheer Awesomeness

Google Reader, the online feed viewer is one of the most used application from the Google factory. Unfortunately, it has only one default theme and there are no options to customize it with backgrounds and colors like in Gmail. However, there is ahidden easter egg, which changes your sidebar style. Officially Google doesn’t provide custom themes but you can use third party tools to beautify your GReader.

Let us look at 5 awesome Google Reader themes that will not only decorate but alsosimplify your reading experience and enhance the productive time spent.

Note: Since by default Google gives no themes, we will use third party addons and scripts that will work only for the machine they are installed. To use on other browsers/computers we will have to install them again.

1. Feedly – Do more in addition to styling

Our first choice is Feedly which is actually a web app wrapper over Google Reader. In simple terms, Feedly not only prettify your Google reader but also provide bunch of additional features and widgets for Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Flickr.

The favorable first position of this theme comes from the magazine like view that gives comfortable and fast reading experience. Essentially Feedly provides 4 views to choose namely: Titles and Summary, Titles Only, Grid and Entire Content Inlined.

Another pro for using feedly is the consistency across multiple devices. Feedly is available as an addon for firefox, Chrome, Safari browsers and for iPhone, iPad and Android phones and tablets. So no matter you are using cell phone or laptop, you will have similar experience everywhere.

10 Ways to Find Blogs You’ll Love

April 11, 2011 by Jolie O'Dell

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The Content Exploration Series is presented by Mashable Explore, a new way to discover resources and information on your favorite Mashable topics. Mashable Explore is brought to you by the all-new, 100% reinvented 2011 Ford Explorer. Drive One.

Every now and then, we all get stumped when looking for a good online read.

Whether your feeds need a refresh, you’re delving into a new topic, or you’re just new to this whole “blog reading” thing, we’ve got you covered. There are dozens of services on the web dedicated to helping you get the most out of the universe of regularly updated blogs, and many of them are focused on helping you find the most high quality content as well as the content most relevant to you.

As an added bonus for the aesthetes out there, some of them are also an absolute pleasure to consume from a design perspective.

Here are ten tools we like to use to get out of a blog reading rut. In the comments, do share your tips and tricks with us and other Mashable readers.

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Blog Directories

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First, take a look at these encyclopedic catalogs of blogs. You’ll be able to browse or search by topic, so you’ll find the content and bloggers you’re looking for.

1. Alltop

Alltop is the granddaddy of all blog discovery tools. The site, which was cofounded in 2008 by Silicon Valley person of interest Guy Kawasaki, is known for its tight, topic-based groupings of the creme de la creme of blogs and a handful of other informative sites.