Even though the top web browsers including Firefox, Internet Explorer and Safari all have their own built-in feed readers; they really aren’t that useful except for reading single posts. There are also those users who want to be able to view posts from their favorite blogs and news sources without signing into an online feed reader such as Google Reader or Bloglines, for example.

Having a feed reader as an extension in your browser can greatly increase the experience you have while reading your favorite blogs - enabling customization as well as being able to choose the extension that makes the most sense for you. In this post, we will explore the various options throughout the top browsers Firefox (the other browsers lack any popular tools for RSS feeds). Bookmarking tools, and those that require registration are not mentioned, although utilities to check feeds/site update time have been, as they provide an additional method for users to stay up to date with their favorite blogs.

Firefox Extensions

 

Sage is a lightweight RSS and Atom feed aggregator extension for Mozilla Firefox. It’s got a lot of what you need and not much of what you don’t…

 

 
General Features

• Detects and reads most types of RSS and Atom feeds including RSS (2.0, 1.0, 0.9x)
• Feed Discovery tool allows detection of feeds - detects more than just the one feed present in the address bar
• Drag and drop with integration with Firefox’s bookmark storage and Live Bookmarks
• Easily import and export OPML feed lists
• Use style sheets to customize the layout
• Technorati and RSS search engine integration
• Many languages supported

Screenshots and Navigation

To add a feed, simply click on the ‘Discover Feeds’ button located next to the refresh button in the sidebar. The top portion of the sidebar features the sites you have subscribed to, and to the bottom, posts within the site. On the right (main section), posts are listed as excerpts in an organized manner.

Shown below – Sage screenshots, options menu, adding feeds, and two sample styles.

 

 

[Wizz] is a constantly improving RSS and Atom feed reader. It is fairly powerful, feature rich, well supported and has comprehensive online help.

 

 

General Features

• All versions of RSS are supported, as well as Atom 0.3 and 1.0.
• Supports Podcast (Enclosure) feeds and Feed protocol.
• Integration with Firefox 2.0 feed handling.
• Enables very rudimentary offline news reading.
• Supports feeds that are GZipped.
• Filter news items on words and/or phrases.
• Find feeds using the Feed Search utility – as long as there is a feed or OPML identified with the correct mime types, Wizz will be able to find it.
• A ‘Quick Read’ function allows a user to quickly view a post excerpt (first 1-2 lines) without clicking on anything – simply hover over a post link
• Watch List integration for monitoring selected feeds (configurable interval). It can also be configured to notify or save new items.
• Export/import feeds to/from other feed readers using OPML support.
• Use the mark as read/unread tool to manage feeds and stay updated with news.
• Allows storage of feeds on a server for easy access on any PC.
• Support for self-published feeds.
• Integrated Features and Tools: Live Bookmark import, email sharing of news items and/or feeds (SMTP implementation), domain specific Google search, Feedster search, Feedbase search, a simple weather reports tool, and a Gmail checker.
• Multiple language support.

Screenshots and Navigation

In my opinion, adding a feed isn’t the simplest task with this extension. Head on over to the Help page as there are many answers to commonly asked questions. Once you are acquainted with the features offered, and how to add feeds (by clicking the Feed Search/magnifying glass icon and double clicking on the feed type you want to add), the Wizz RSS Reader is one of the most customizable and versatile feed readers out there. Note: you are also able to add them by using the Bookmarks menu under ‘Wizz RSS’. Taking a look at the layout, instead of just a sidebar position, it can also be viewed in a small window. The toolbar presents further options, available whenever you browse the web. In addition, like Sage, Wizz RSS features a fairly simple navigation through the category and channel tree.

Images below include a design/layout screenshot of Wizz and a preview of the options menu.
 

 

Brief makes reading RSS feeds as easy as it gets. It is designed to have the right set of features to be both powerful and simple. Brief stores feeds on your disk and presents them on a seamless, interactive page.

 

 

General Features

• Integration with Live Bookmarks – all you need to do is select the folder containing your feeds.
• Mark articles as read and star those that interest you.
• Multiple display options – as a single feed or whole folder, or view full entries or only their headlines.
• Full text search utility.
• An icon in the status bar lets you know when feeds are updated.
• More customizability – style sheets can be used to create a unique experience.
• Keyboard shortcuts – make navigation faster through your news and blog stories.
• Within the options menu you can select how often to check for updates and how long to keep the downloaded items. You may even have separate settings for each feed, if you need.
• Multiple languages supported

Screenshots and Navigation

Feeds are contained in folders, all displayed within a sidebar. Click on a feed or a whole folder to view it. Content is then displayed on a seamless page, with unread items highlighted and buttons on each to mark it as read, starred, or deleted. Different views such as headlines view will give you a more compact display and let you unfold the items you want to display in full. Go to the main site by clicking on the article title.

A Brief screenshot and a preview of the options menu.
 

Other Recommended Browser Feed Readers for Firefox

• NewsFox 0.8.2

- an efficient 3-pane (email) style Atom and RSS feed reader.

Compatible with: Firefox: 1.5-3.0b1, Last Updated: November 14, 2007 – 169 KB, By: Andrey Gromyko, R Pruitt

Features
- Allows users to group feeds as they wish.
- Feed content can be read offline.
- Update feeds at your convenience.
- 1-click subscribe option available with the Firefox URL bar icon.

• Beatnik 1.2

- A simple, but elegant news reader for Atom and RSS feeds.

Compatible with: Firefox: 2.0-2.0.0.*, Last Updated: November 1, 2007 – 166 KB, By: Andy Frank

Features
- Extremely simple, but lacks useful tools. Feeds listed in the left column, expanding/collapsing content is located on the right panel as collapsing/expanding content areas.

• Simple RSS Reader (SRR) 1.1.2.1

- A simple tool for displaying RSS feeds.

Compatible with Firefox 1.5-2.0.0.*, Last Updated: October 9, 2007 – 89 KB, By: Alvaro Junior! and DJIO

Features
- As a toolbar, it simply displays the article, with the ability to scroll and go directly to the article.
- Easy to add new feeds

• Feed Sidebar 1.0.2

- The Feed Sidebar extension for Firefox displays new items from your Live Bookmarks in the sidebar. As a new Firefox feed reader extension, it combines simple, but useful tools to mark feeds as read, or quickly go to the post you want to read.

Compatible with Firefox 1.5-2.0.0*, Last Updated: May 18, 2007 – 34 KB, By: Christopher Finke

• infoRSS 1.1.2
  - An extension that scrolls feeds in the status bar, also compatible with podcasting RSS feeds, which can be downloaded directly. Combines features such as a Gmail notifier, which would require additional extensions. Compatible with Firefox 1.0-3.0a1, Last Updated: December 11, 2006 – 493 KB, By: didier ernotte   

  More: RSS Ticker 1.9 | rssPlayPen | Enhanced Feed Preivew

Stay Updated with Firefox Extensions

Update Scanner 2.0.15 (Firefox 2.0-2.0.0.*) by Pete Burgers displays changes to websites, since you last visited them.

Google Reader Watcher 0.0.9 (Firefox 1.5-2.0.0.*) by Ajnasz checks your Google Reader account for any changes to your favorite blogs, notifying you of any updates. It also serves as a quick link to Google Reader, displayed in the status bar.

Google Reader Notifier 0.36 (Firefox 1.5-3.0a1) by markdbd has more features than the Google Reader Watcher but serves a similar purpose – displaying recently updated feeds from Google Reader plus support for many languages.

Feed Sidebar 1.0.2 (Firefox 1.5-2.0.0*) by Christopher Finke.