Google Reader Widget
In order to get your shares, you need to know your user id according to Google Reader. This can be found by going to the ‘Shared Items’ link, and copying the 20 digit number at the end of your shared items link.
Consider an alternative
Google Reader Widget shows warning signs in 2026 — compare the alternatives below before installing. It runs on 20+ sites and was last updated 18 years ago, and scores 24/100 on our health check.
- Small user base (20+ active installs)
- Very few reviews so far
- No update in 17 years
- Only tested up to WordPress 2.7 (latest is 7.1)
How does it stack up?
Side-by-side on installs, updates, ratings & supportDaily downloads
Download spikes usually follow a new release — each site that auto-updates counts as a download.
Rankings
Where Google Reader Widget stands todayWordPress.org search rankings
Live position in the plugin search, top 100| Keyword | Position |
|---|---|
| >100 | |
| Google Reader | >100 |
| reader | >100 |
| widget | >100 |
Version adoption
Share of active sites per release.
About Google Reader Widget
From the official readme · v1.9.1Description
Requirements
- WordPress 2.2+ or 2.0.x/2.1.x with WordPress Widgets
- PHP 4.3.0 or greater (needed for function file_get_contents)
- Your Google Reader User ID
Features
- Displays your latest shared items from Google Reader
- Completely customizable display
- Caching for large traffic sites
User ID
In order to get your shares, you need to know your user id according to Google Reader. This can be found by going to the ‘Shared Items’ link, and copying the 20 digit number at the end of your shared items link.
So something like:
http://www.google.com/reader/shared/02774557510273097991
Where 02774557510273097991 would be my user id.
Formatting
There are 3 parts needed to format the output.
The first part, called items start in the admin panel, is the first part of the widget after the title. For the default formatting, this is just <ul>.
The second part, called items end, is the ending of the widget. By default, this is:
</ul>
<a href=”%googlereader%” style=”float:right;”>Shared Items</a>
The third part is what is called for each item. By default, this is:
<li style=”list-style-type: none;”><a href=”%link%”>%title%</a></li>
The premise of calling each value is this:
- start
- item
- item
- …
- item
- end
The formatting for items is:
- %link% – Link to the item
- %title% – Title of the item
- %site% – The title of the site the item is from
- %sitelink% – The link to the site the item is from
- %number% – The number of the current item
- %comment% – The comment (note) made when sharing an item
The formatting for start and end is:
- %googlereader% – Link to your Google Reader shared page
- %count% – Number of items shown
Installation
- Download googlereader.zip
- Extract and upload googlereader.php to the plugins/ directory
- Enable Google Reader in the Plugin admin panel
- In widget admin panel, place Google Reader in the sidebar, and edit it to enter your user id
For developers
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Best Google Reader Widget alternatives
All google plugins →FAQ
Google Reader Widget: quick answers
Straight answers, pulled from live WordPress.org data.
Live data from WordPress.org · checked Oct 3, 2026
Is Google Reader Widget free?
Yes. Google Reader Widget is free to download and use from the official WordPress.org plugin directory.
Is Google Reader Widget safe to use in 2026?
Google Reader Widget shows warning signs in 2026 — compare the alternatives below before installing. It runs on 20+ sites and was last updated 18 years ago, and scores 24/100 on our health check.
How many websites use Google Reader Widget?
Google Reader Widget is active on 20+ WordPress websites and has been downloaded 15,303 times since it launched in March 2008. It was downloaded 130 times in the last 30 days.
Does Google Reader Widget work with WordPress 7.1?
Google Reader Widget is officially tested up to WordPress 2.7.1, while the latest release is 7.1.2. It may still work, but try it on a staging site first.
When was Google Reader Widget last updated?
The latest version, 1.9.1, was released on March 4, 2009 (18 years ago).
Who makes Google Reader Widget?
Google Reader Widget is developed and maintained by sk33t.
What are the best alternatives to Google Reader Widget?
The most popular alternatives to Google Reader Widget are Site Kit by Google (5M+ installs), Google for WooCommerce (800K+ installs) and GA Google Analytics (400K+ installs).
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