What is this?
This web-based tool will allow you to subscribe to LiveJournal "friends only" feeds using your Google Reader account. Normally this is not possible because Google Reader is unable to pass credentials to LiveJournal in a way that it understands. Incidentally, this tool could also be used to allow any newsreader that's not capable of digest authentication to pick up "friends only" feeds: it's just particularly well-suited to Google Reader.
If you'd like to start using it, just log in using your LiveJournal username and password. You ought to be aware of the privacy implications of doing this, of course!
Log In
Log in using your LiveJournal username and password.
How does it work?
This tool works by caching your username and password here on this server, and issuing you with a series of randomly-generated URLs - one for each feed to which your LiveJournal account connects (one for each friend). When Google Reader or another newsreader connects to the URL, this tool connects to LiveJournal using your username and password (i.e. it impersonates you), downloads the feed (including any "friends only" posts to which you might be privy), sends it to the newsreader, and then deletes it (we don't keep copies of the friends-only posts that pass through this server).
Essentially, we're acting as a proxy server between your newsreader (e.g. Google Reader) and your LiveJournal feeds. You ought to read our privacy policy before you log in.
If you don't want to store your LiveJournal credentials on this server, you're welcome to run a similar tool on your own web server. An earlier revision of this tool is available under the LGPL and can be downloaded here. Lee of lee.org has written a guide to getting it to work, because my documentation sucks.
Frequently Asked Questions
How can I keep up with new enhancements to this service? How can I feel part of the community that uses and loves this tool?
There's a blog at blog.lj.abnib.co.uk. As you're obviously pretty proficient with Google Reader or a similar piece of software, you could subscribe to its RSS feed.
How can I send feedback? I have a great idea for a feature, or something doesn't work!
You can get in touch with the author through his contact form, or you can leave a comment on the LiveJournal-to-Google Reader Blog.
Is it safe to give you my username and password? What will you do with it?
Unfortunately, because of the ways that friends-only feeds and Google Reader (and some other newsreaders) work, this service needs your username and password in order to impersonate you (that is, pretend to be you) and thereby get access to your LiveJournal friends, including their friends-only posts.
This does, of course, necessitate that your username and password is stored on our server using reversible encryption. For more information about how seriously we take this, read the privacy policy.
I've changed my LiveJournal password and now my feeds don't work!
After changing your LiveJournal password you'll need to log in here using your new password to re-activate your feeds.
I've changed my LiveJournal username and now my feeds don't work!
Unfortunately, this means you'll have to set up your newsreader again. Delete all of the subscriptions to proxied LiveJournal feeds from it, then log in here with your new username and password and re-subscribe to each of them. Sorry!
Why did you write this tool?
I originally wrote this tool because I needed a way to subscribe to my friends' LiveJournal accounts using Google Reader. Many of my friends post some or all of their journal entries in a friends-only form, and it annoyed me quite a lot that I had to periodically use my LiveJournal "friends" page in order to keep up with their day to day blogging. So I wrote this tool to fix this problem for me and for my friends. Now it's used by hundreds of people every day, so it's obvious there's a real need for the tool.