Move to Google Reader

I have been resistant to using another program for reading RSS feeds, but I have been collecting a large number of subscriptions using Firefox’s Live bookmarking feature. Not a great way to keep up with all of the feeds, so I wanted to make the jump to using Google Reader. I use Google for so many other things during my day that it seems right that I would use Google Reader as well, plus this way I don’t have to open yet another application to read my feeds, I can simply read them in my browser, which I have open anyways.

The only problem, how do I get the list of Live bookmarks from Firefox into Google Reader? Google Reader supports importing, but only the OPML format. Firefox does not export Live bookmarks in that format natively. Following Google Readers FAQ I found OPML Support for Firefox. I installed the add on, restarted Firefox, opened the bookmarks manager, exported my Live bookmarks as a OPML file, imported it into Google Reader, and was browsing all of my Live bookmark feeds in Google Reader in less time than it took me to write this. I uninstalled the add on from Firefox since I doubt I will need it again.

I can now read all of my feeds in Google Reader, and have one Live bookmark in Firefox that loads the RSS feed from Google Reader to give me all of the latest headlines. The switch will easily save me half an hour every day since I will not be browsing through dozens of Live bookmarks all the time. My next task is to integrate Google Reader into my Gmail so I don’t even have to browse to two places.