Rate my startup: Feedlooks, a web-based RSS reader

http://www.feedlooks.com - clickable

the sign up link is too obscure

also, google reader integration?

How about a live demo?

Well, as a blog reader, I rather like the absence of bloggers' visual glory when I read my feeds. I'm interested in articles, not in someone else's design skills. Especially since, in most readers, I can set my own CSS preferences and thus read feeds that are not only stripped off but then customized exactly how I like them.

I was thinking about the same idea the other day and now I'm very happy that someone actually implemented it. It looks pretty slick and the overall speed is fast. Good work.

Just one small detail I noticed is that when I signed up with an email address that contained a '+', it didn't autofill that on the login screen when I clicked on the redirect url I got on email.

Out of curiosity, what technologies are you using for Feedlooks?

This is quite a good idea. I'm working on a very similar idea myself, except I use the feed's main page and link the feed stories to where they are on the main page.

My criticism is largely the same, but I want to echo it so it becomes that much louder. First, an instant demo is invaluable. It teaches the user immediately what they are getting into without the login/signup cost. Also, you should let the user in right on signup (logging them in so they don't have to login in immediately after they confirm). If they don't confirm in 24 hours, gently remind them, and then in a month of no use, delete the account.

Also, I wish organization of the feeds was easier so I could read the feeds that start with the letter 'Y' much quicker than having to load 50-some feeds first.

This could go far, so hats off to you. I know from experience that this isn't easy.

Looks nice, the logo design could use some work.

- Keyboard shortcuts or bust.

- Signup link too hidden. Man I hate most web service signups. if I try to log in and you don't have the email in your system, maybe you should just create an account for me and send me a verification w/ whatever password I entered in the verification email - or require that to not have my account deactivated shortly I must click on the activation link sent and set my password.

I cannot use it at all. My minimum font size is set at 24 (weak eyes); you apparently hard-code the font size and the line spacing, and Firefox is overriding only the font size. The result is that I see only the top half of each line.

Though my personal preference is for no layout in my feed reader, I actually do like the idea and I think there is definitely a market for it.

One small nitpick: the specific example you chose for the screenshot under the "Why" tab is a bad example. If I had to choose between a plain-text article and that hard-on-the-eyes-gray-text-on-bright-green-background, I'd definitely choose the plain-text hands down.

On a related note, if you do decide that you want to integrate a button that allows the user to view a plain-text stripped-down version of the article, I recently implemented similar functionality in LeadNuke and wrote an article about the "algorithm" (it's actually quite simple) I used to strip down the page. It's specifically written for Ruby, but you can skip to the "algorithm" part of the article: http://www.alfajango.com/blog/create-a-printable-format-for-...

My feedback on the signup process:

I'd be changing the Login box with the Signup box. You want to make it REALLY easy for people to join!

Users who come specifically to login will find the login button no matter where you go. Users considering registering may not look ("Oh, this is too hard to find, not to worry")

Ok, one huge grip - don't make me verify my email, that adds a whole huge step to the account creation process.

Also, If I click on a link in the blog, the feedlooks bar should go away, I dont want that hanging around - or at least open the link in another window, like greader.

Overall though, I really like the idea - really cool ,and nice implementation - I will try using this over greader for now :)

I've been wanting something like this for a long time. One less thing I have to build. :) It's like an inverse Tumblr.

I'd love to try a demo where you just put in a feed URL (without requiring email / password) and it shows you to display it. Or let me create a password if I want one.

Sign Up link should be most visible item on your page. Actually you could offer Google OpenID/OAuth Hybrid connection and grab user's Google Reader data while you're at it.

I prefer Akregator but I'd like to ask where did you get the idea for such personal captions on buttons? (“I understand what is happening”, “I will check my email” etc.) Do you actually have some data as to whether it makes people read messages more carefully?