Show HN: An alternative RSS reader and search engine for news and content
newsandrumors.com
newsandrumors.com
I have been solo developing NEWS and RUMORS for the last year with the goal of improving and simplifying content discovery and providing a way for lesser known bloggers and content publishers to reach a much larger audience.
There is so much great content on the internet that gets lost or never found because the search engines, news readers and news aggregators all feature and focus on the same high traffic sources, many of which write articles based on content from the same professional newswires and press releases.
I want to give readers a lot more control over the content they consume and the format of how it is presented.
To do this I developed a high performance search engine using a very clean and highly customizable low-bandwidth user interface for searching and displaying content acquired through an extensive modular-designed indexing system.
There will be a lot more that NEWS and RUMORS will offer as I continue its development, but it is a fully functional and beneficial service right now that I hope many people will enjoy!
## OVERVIEW
NEWS and RUMORS provides fast and simple access to a large amount of diverse content from a wide variety of sources while focusing on user privacy.
I created NEWS and RUMORS because I wanted a news and content search engine that does not show me advertisements as search results, does not track everything I do, does not only show content from high traffic sites, and lets me decide what content I want and do not want to see and how I want to see it.
The "Popular" search results (default home page) currently contains a variety of hand-picked sources because there is not enough traffic yet to generate an accurate list, but that will change once more people start using the site.
## FEATURES
- Discover great content from sites other services ignore
- Search, read and save your favorite sites, topics and searches
- Fast and low bandwidth web interface
- Personalize search results
- Multiple site theme options and search layout options
- Passwordless login only requires email
- No user tracking with focus on user privacy
- Read what you want, when you want, how you want
## SCREENSHOTS
- Light Theme: https://i.imgur.com/q2yn3tp.png
- Dark Theme: https://i.imgur.com/1gkwFtb.png
## QUICK SEARCH DOCS
- limit search results by domain = @domain.com
- limit search results by topic = #topic
- limit search results by feed = .domain-com-blog
- limit search results by exact word = _word
- limit search results by string = string
NOTE: You can combine the above search methods to create more complex searches.
## DIRECT URL EXAMPLES
You can quickly read many sites by simply adding their domains using this URL format ..
- https://newsandrumors.com/s/github.blog
- https://newsandrumors.com/s/bbc.com
- https://newsandrumors.com/s/wired.com
- https://newsandrumors.com/s/npr.org
- https://newsandrumors.com/s/wsj.com
You can quickly view results for any topic using this URL format ..
- https://newsandrumors.com/development
- https://newsandrumors.com/creative
- https://newsandrumors.com/react
- https://newsandrumors.com/python
- https://newsandrumors.com/marketing
- https://newsandrumors.com/saas
- https://newsandrumors.com/fortnitegame
Be sure to login to gain greater access to NEWS and RUMORS features!
I am building NEWS and RUMORS for people like us.
You can help me make it better by sharing your comments, suggestions and criticisms!
Looks pretty similar to my handlr.sapico.me , I have an alternative layout that fetches cover images.
https://newsandrumors.com/?q=haskell
Most of the results seem to be about horse racing rather than functional programming!
https://newsandrumors.com/?q=%23creative+_haskell
There does not seem to be a lot of haskell content though in the search engine so if you have some sources you can recommend, let me know and I will add them.
I will also setup a search topic (#haskell) for it to make it easier.
As you can tell, I have a lot more sites to add to the index and search topics to create .. :)
Thank you for pointing that out!
Typo "Exlude" in help. My opinion, help on search needs a rewrite, it is confusing AF.
Is there a way to set my "Default search" to a SET of sources? Like if I want to pick gizmodo, npr, ... a dozen or so fave sources. As it stands the source list is like a huge radio set, only one button down at a time.
I also added the spam folder check message to the login link emailed page.
I agree the search page needs to be rewritten and also simplified.
While there is a max sources limit per search, you can include multiple sources in a single search ..
@gizmodo.com @npr.org
The goal is to index content as quickly as possible without impacting each site's performance or causing automated defense systems to block the requests.
Just some comments.
1. At the moment you are forced to login if you want to change site theme or font size. It would be nice if you could without logging in. I am fine it with the settings persisting as long as I don't clear the cookies.
2. Are there any plans to support prefers-color-scheme so you don't have to manually set the color to dark?
3. Also, the links to news article aren't direct. Goes via https://newsandrumors.com/nar/go/<random-id-here>. Is it possible to opt out of this?
1) Are you sure you cannot change the font and and site theme without logging in? I just tested it and it works fine for me in private and incognito modes.
I purposely designed it so a lot of the settings are available via the quick action bar for non-logged in users.
If you have no-script active or have disabled javascript, then the only option would be to login to change them via the Settings page.
Otherwise, you should be able to toggle those easily via the quick action bar above the search results.
2) Definitely. I probably should have already done that.
3) I am still thinking on this. My plan was to soon remove it for upgraded accounts. There is no user-specific tracking, but by anonymously tracking clicks in general it helps with ranking and generating "popular" search results order.
Whenever the cog is clicked browser goes to "/start" and a page with "Enter your email" is shown.
Clicking Cancel or Continue without filling email takes me to page before.
The quick action bar on the search results page also has a smaller cog icon and other icons on it that will allow you to change several settings without logging in, but you must have javascript enabled to access them.
P.S. Just out of curiosity, what's the business model for this site?
The site supports user subscriptions for advance reader and searching functionality, so my hope at least for now is that people will use the free version and at some point want higher limits or more functionality and then upgrade.
I have a lot more planned for it long term (everyone always says that, but it is true) such as an API service, but for now, I am focused on improving the reader service and adding more sites to the index.
I just wish more search engines offered an option or default setting where search results would only include exact matches.
There is an unexpected behavior if I search "New York NY". The search box just shows "New York" on the results page. Is that deliberate?
Try #newyork for the state or #newyorknewyork for NYC and of course you can add any keywords you want to it after that.
I am planning to tweak the mobile/responsive styles on some layouts to make them a little easier to read.
Some of the search layouts will show differently on mobile screens so maybe toggle between them to see if you like one of those better.
The thread links use the CSS :visited selector to show the links in a different color to help identify the links you have previously clicked without the site knowing that information itself.
There is a history function for logged in members, but for user privacy it can be limited or disabled by the user via the Settings page and is also auto-purged periodically.
At the very least the site needs to show content that has been added since your last visit and that is something I plan to implement soon.
I plan to work on a solution, but if I do, users will be able to opt-in or opt-out depending on the implementation.
That said, any other suggestions would definitely be appreciated.
"9c064f09d669c4a7ec0da2bb54c16a…"
Setting aria-hidden might be the easiest way to deal with this particular issue.
"Popular" and "newest" are not marked as control elements like buttons, combo box, or a radio button so they look just like plain text to my screen reader. It is experience that suggests that hitting enter on them will produce any result.
The search button is not labeled and it reads just as "button". What you call a quick bar (a guess) is a line of buttons represented as links but with no text inside them and no apparent function.
PS: Great idea for the site btw. I'm bitching so much only because it seems as something that I might use and wish to have as comfortable as possible.
I have worked really hard to provide as many options as possible for people, but it is hard to anticipate everything people will want or need from it until they use it and tell you so feedback like yours helps.
I have added everything you wrote to my notes from this thread so I will see what I can do to improve them for you.
That said, I will probably post something on the site soon as I always find it interesting to see how other sites are built.
Nice job!
Really great work!
Non-upgraded accounts can include one exclusion source in searches as well by adding ..
-@domain.comBy "diversity" I mean that a developer who writes good articles on python whose blog only gets a few users a day will be treated the same as content from high traffic sites.
Unlike other news services that either have political leanings or are beholden to their advertisers, I want to provide an independent service where people can decide for themselves what they read or do not read.
Major news sources will always get more overall exposure simply through quantity because they publish so many articles every single day. However, low traffic sites and blogs will get their content promoted at or near the top of the search results when it is indexed in the same manner that the high traffic sites do.
I understand there are sites you dislike which is why I added an Upgrade global filter feature where you can block sites, topics, keywords, etc. that you do not want to see. Other Upgraded users can do the same when they do not want to see content they dislike as well.
The Popular search results are currently supplemented by a variety of hand-picked source feeds because the site is new and there is not yet enough traffic history to generate an accurate list of popular content, but that will change once more people start using the site.
Of course people will not be happy with some of the sites selected if the target site has a political bias that they disagree with, but it is only temporary until traffic starts to grow more on the site.
I already have it built into the engine to ignore the supplemental sources once the activity level hits a certain level.
That said, it will still come down to the users. If a lot of users are viewing specific content, it will likely find its way to the home page.
On a side note, you can change your default home page via the Settings page to avoid the popular search results.