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Show HN: I made an RSS feed reader

dambr.com

10 pointsdanparsonson27 comments

I didn't try it out because you required me to log in. Sorry. Maybe have a 'try it now' button to a demo account, if it's really essential that you have logged in users.

OK, thanks, I'll have a look at that.

Since the app is personalised (i.e., it shows you only the feeds you've subscribed to), I can't think of any way around having a login for long term use. Do you have any suggestions?

Send the user to a secret URL the first time they use it, which they can bookmark. Give them the option to create a username and password so they don't have to remember the URL in the future.

Nice idea - thanks!

I get 'Couldn't validate the captcha, please try again' when trying to register. But there's no captcha visible. (OSX / Opera)

Do you have javascript enabled? I'm using reCaptcha (although I'm considering dropping that in favour of something simpler - "which of these pictures is the right way up?" or something like that).

Incidentally, you will also need javascript for the password entry to work - your password is hashed (SHA1) before transmission.

Otherwise - could it be some sort of ad-blocking extension maybe?

Ah yes, was going to comment on that too.. Why do you have a captcha? Are you having spam registration problems?

As captchas are a hassle to people, I wouldn't worry putting one in place until you have an issue with non-humans registering.

You're right, thanks - it's only there 'just in case'. I've taken it out.

OK, I've just tried with a vanilla install of Opera and the captcha isn't showing up - I'll fix that ASAP.

OK, give it another go - the captcha is no more!

I use Bloglines a lot, but since it's closing down at the end of the month, I decided to make my own feed reader. It's still in development, but it's basically working so I thought I'd share it for any other (soon to be) ex-Blogliners on here.

Will it be open source?

I hadn't really thought about it to be honest - do you see value in that? It's a fairly simple beast so I don't imagine it has much to teach anyone; do you think you might like to host your own copy?

I added a couple RSS feeds but they aren't showing up for me.

What advantage does this service have over Google Reader?

Give the crawler a few minutes (no more than ten) to catch up - currently new feeds aren't crawled immediately. I'll add that to the list of things to change.

As for advantages over Google Reader: most of my feed reading is done on my mobile phone, so that was my starting point - I wanted something as quick and simple to use as possible, one click and you've got all the new articles in one page, loaded. That way, losing signal on the journey to work isn't a problem because I don't need to keep loading pages. I guess this will translate well to the desktop too - everything is there for you immediately, with minimal user input.

If there are any features you'd like to see, please do say!

Give the crawler a few minutes (no more than ten) to catch up - currently new feeds aren't crawled immediately. I'll add that to the list of things to change.

You should put a note about this.

I like the minimalistic design.

Good idea, thanks; glad you like it!

Google Reader has mobile version: m.google.com/reader

Indeed it does, but on the phone I use I have to click each feed in turn to see new articles. I like the one-click experience of just getting a page of everything new all at once, so I can scroll through at my leisure, go onto the underground (I work in London), etc.

I'm also looking for a new permanent home for RSS reading now that Bloglines is closing down.

I like a cross between "click each feed" vs "all feeds" -- grouping. So if I click the group "London" I get all new items from my feeds that are in the London group.

OK, I like that - I'll see about making it an option but it will mean adding grouping as well; I'll try to get it in place before Bloglines closes next Monday.

Mobile Netvibes is like this. It's pretty plain looking, but if your OPML is set up with categories and such, you can drill down or take in a specific site, an entire category, or your whole feed on one endless screen. I've given NV a lot of crap over the years, but I do think they have the most flexible and make-plain-able RSS readers out there.

In that case go on - mobile google reader does not cover your needs and I guess there are more people like you :)

Oh, I forgot to say - if you 'read more' off the login page, I've written a bit of a blurb about the benefits as I see them - direct link: http://dambr.com/About.html.

I think I'll add that and the contact link to the site menu bar.

Snap! I logged in, imported the OPML file and now it shows that you have no new articles to read.

Alright, maybe you are attempting to start from now-onwards but at least show me old / read articles?

How else do you expect me to read there?

Wassup with UI and design btw?

That's something that I'll be fixing over the next day or two - currently, any newly added feeds won't appear for up to ten minutes while the crawler catches up. I've just added a message to the articles page to explain this when there's nothing to read. Once the new feeds have been cached, you should see any new articles for today (although in light of your comment I think I'll push this back to show two or three days, what do you think?).

In any case, refresh after ten minutes and you should get something.

As for UI and design - I'm going for 'minimalist' ;-) The visual side of things is not my strong point and it's still 'work in progress'. If you have any suggestions, I'd be delighted to hear them!

Give a try to newsbeuter which is the real lightweight and useful rss reader.

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