So you hate partial feeds too?

All of us who use a feed-reader like google reader to read blogs get super annoyed by those who offer partial feeds, say for example Amitabh Bachchan. The whole idea that some blogger is not happy enough with his content just being read is negative. Why should one be forced to visit the real blogsite? If it’s a news site that wants to make money, which they can only if someone goes to the real site, I understand. But bloggers? Whatever!

What really is painful in going to the actual site? Well, for me it’s just inconvenient. I mean, who likes to open new tabs when so many different blog-posts could have easily been read in just one page of google reader? If this is what pains you, then there is a solution that you should know.

If you use firefox and google reader, you are blessed. An addon called Better Greader helps you open the real site in the same space in your google reader page, where the feed content appears. Besides the fact that you can read the full content right there without having to open the page separately, there is another advantage.

Has it happened to you that you read a good post on your feed and you actually are tempted to leave a comment but the whole idea of opening that site separately and then commenting is daunting enough to make you skip the temptation? One of my readers actually asked me if it was possible to leave comments directly in google reader while reading the page, instead of going to the actual site.

Now, with this same addon, even this is possible. Say, you read a post by me and you want to comment. All you have to do is click on my post title on your google reader and my site will open up in the same frame where you read other posts. That means you can leave a comment from inside your google reader interface itself. Believe me, it’s cool. You just have to try this out to really get what I am trying to say.

Happy reading blogs.

PS1: Partial feeds still suck because the above solution is great only if you use the same computer everytime to check feeds. You can’t expect a cyber-cafe to have firefox with this addon installed by default! So all ya partial feed providers, grow up!

PS2: Those who don’t know what Google reader is and how to use it, can check this out