Last January I mentioned how cool it would be to have a Google Reader module that I could add to Netvibes, my start page of choice. I’ve had some great comments on that post that have proven to be helpful.
Beej had mentioned using Bitty Browser in Netvibes to run Google Reader. I was intrigued but hadn’t ever actually tried it.
After a few more exchanges, Rob mentioned that you can add a full web page into a Netvibes tab. Bingo! There’s the answer I’d been looking for, cleverly hiding under my own nose.
This is very simple to do, here’s a quick walk through.
First, create a new tab and give it a name (I named mine GReader). Now, in the properties for that tab, set it to single column.
Now, at the top right of your Netvibes page, click on the “Add Content”. Move down a bit and expand “External Widgets”. From there, you’ll click on “Web Page”. (until today I never knew that was an option!)
The rest is pretty straight forward
Click “Edit” on your new widget. Set the URL field to http://www.google.com/reader/view.
Click on “Add to My Page”.
You’ll probably want to experiment a bit with the height setting, that’s pretty dependent on your monitor resolution.
The final result is a Netvibes tab running a complete Google Reader.
Thanks Rob! Based on the options available and a bit of experimentation I do believe you’ve shown me the light on the best way to integrate two of my favorite web apps. And a big thanks to everyone else who also participated in the discussion — lots of great ideas. 
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12 comments
1 ping
Wes
December 12, 2007 at 5:06 am (UTC -7)
Thank you!!! Awesome tip — tried it and it works great.
Going to try this with Google Notebook as well.
Chris Kasten
December 13, 2007 at 1:54 pm (UTC -7)
Hi Wes – Glad you liked it. We should be thanking “Rob” though
Doing this with Google Notebook is an interesting idea. And my wunderground.com weather page. And some forums…
Definitely an intriguing capability of Netvibes, that’s for sure.
TedHead
January 10, 2008 at 11:30 am (UTC -7)
I have another workaround. It’s kind of silly, but it does the job.
Set up a tab in your iGoogle page with only one column (this is an option when you click the arrow beside the tab title, click edit this tab). Add the google reader module. Now add the iCustomize module so that the header of the page is removed. In the end, your reader module should be taking up the full width of the page and there should be no header.
Then add http://www.google.com/ig as a webpage in Netvibes and voila, you have the exact same module on your Netvibes homepage. Kind of silly, but works nicer than having the full interface as a tab.
Mark
January 10, 2008 at 5:55 pm (UTC -7)
This is a great solution to a problem I’ve had for a while. The only down side is that it doesn’t appear in netvibes mobile. Any ideas?
Chris Kasten
January 11, 2008 at 7:54 am (UTC -7)
@TedHead – that’s a bit round-about yet very clever. I like it!
@Mark – no clues off the top of my head. But thanks for reminding me that there’s a mobile version… I’ll have to check it out.
a
January 11, 2008 at 1:14 pm (UTC -7)
when i set the google reader page in the
internet page module on netvibes
google tell me that i have problame in the cookie
what shell i do ?
TedHead
February 26, 2009 at 9:48 am (UTC -7)
Hey there, I’m back a year later with another solution haha. Do what you are doing already but try out the iPhone interface, it fits in a lot nicer. http://www.google.com/reader/i/
Chris
July 27, 2009 at 8:40 pm (UTC -7)
@TedHead – Thanks! http://www.solo-technology.com/blog/2009/07/27/google-reader-in-netvibes-solved-again/
Jaxter
November 25, 2009 at 4:05 am (UTC -7)
The problem is that it doesn’t work in Safari…
Any solution ? Please ? :-$
Thanks for the tip, anyway !
Peter
September 11, 2010 at 8:45 am (UTC -7)
This no longer works as far as I can tell. Maybe because I’m using Chrome?
Chris
September 11, 2010 at 11:06 am (UTC -7)
It would appear that Reader doesn’t like being framed.
Peter
September 11, 2010 at 4:34 pm (UTC -7)
Ha . . . any other suggestions, Chris?
Google Reader in Netvibes – Solved (again) » Solo Technology
October 4, 2009 at 7:59 pm (UTC -7)
[...] Netvibes has continued to improve and Google Reader has an iPhone mobile interface (pointed out by TedHead in a comment from February of this year). OK, actually three things – I’m back to using Netvibes [...]