Wednesday, June 19, 2013

How to make a new category / folder in your The Old Reader subscriptions list

This article explains how to make new categories for listing and organizing feeds in The Old Reader.



Recently I migrated from Google Reader to The Old Reader, in readiness for Google Reader's upcoming retirement.

(If you're not sure why I bothered, you might like this simple explanation of RSS and why it matters for Bloggers, in particular ones who want to research things).

I used Google Takeout to migrate my existing subscriptions from Reader to The Old Reader. (And yes, I did carefully file that exported file away, just in case I want to migrate to some other service.)

Because my subscriptions in Google Reader were organized into categories, these categories were automagically imported into my The Old Reader account.

But today I wanted to change my categories - and it wasn't obvious how to do this from either my settings or profile.


How to make a new category AKA folder in your The Old Reader subscriptions list

To add a new grouping to the subscriptions in a The Old Reader account:
  • Click one feed that you would like to move to into the new category - and hold it down.
  • Drag it to the empty space below your last folder, and drop it into place.  
    Note:   as you do this, the words "NEW FOLDER" appear at the bottom of the list of categories.

To move other items from your existing subscriptions into the new category, just drag-and-drop them too.



How to rename your new folder

To change the name of a folder/category in The Old Reader:
  • Double-click on the existing name - this makes the name open for editing.
  • Type the new name, and press Enter to save it.




How to change the order of your categories

You can re-organize your folders - but only one at a time.
  • Click the folder that you want to move, and hold.
  • Drag-and-drop it into the new place.


Putting feed-items into multiple categories?

For the moment, this is not possible: each item that you subscribe to in The Old Reader can only be in one folder.




Related Posts


Understanding RSS, and why it can make you a better blogger

Google Reader is being retired

Choosing a replacement for Google Reader

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1 comment:

  1. I too made the rocky transition to The Old Reader. Thank you for the summary of how to make and rename folders. I looked high and low. Googled and eventually came across your description here. Honestly, I don'e think I would have ever figured that out myself.

    ReplyDelete