March 26, 2004 | View Comments (48) | Category: Our Thoughts
Summary: What RSS readers do you use and why?
To no surprise to anyone here, I have contradicted my sayings yesterday and decided to write a post today. But this is more out of necessity than desire. I need a good RSS reader. No, I do not like RSS feeds so I have no idea what is good out there. No money will be spent on this venture (but donations of commericial software are always welcomed here at Whitespace). I do not need to hear what you use, but why you like it, which would require me knowing what you use :-). Right now I could tell you what gum I am chewing, but it would not matter.
I ask this only because I have some responsibilites that require I keep on top of what is happening on those sites. I am, and always will be, a site visitor.
Trackback URL: http://9rules.com/cgi-bin/mt/mt-tb.cgi/188
I'm stuck on Windows, and use a free tool called Feedreader (www.feedreader.com). I abhor Outlook, and will not use an Outlook-based reader.
Feedreader provides a clean, minimalist UI in the traditional 3-pane layout: feeds down a full-length pane on the left side; posts for the selected feed listed in the upper pane; details of the selected feed in the larger lower pane. Clicking on a link within the text of an entry displays the selected page in the large lower pane.
Pluses: Clean, simple, easy to use.
Minuses: No OPML (or similar) export.
I have no connection to Feedreader other than as a satisfied user.
Brian Casey (http://www.goption.com)
Feeders don't make any different to me as long as it prompts me there is a new post on Whitespace. I just click the link to read it on WhiteSpace. I hate reading it on the feeder's window.
By the way, I use NetNewsWire.
Donny (http://www.visualgui.com)
I've been using SharpReader for about a month now, and it offers everything I need in an RSS Reader/Aggregator.
It's free (voluntary donations), supports all RSS versions and ATOM, easy to configure (drag and drop subsciptions) and can sit quietly in the system tray or pop-up notifications when feeds update.
I think it's available for Windows only.
Michael
I have not found anything on Windows that closely resembles the clean interface and unobtrusiveness of NetNewsWire on Mac. I use the lite edition which is free.
I heard FeedDemon is popular on Windows So I thought I would give that a try and I absolutly hated it.
My favorite feature of NNW is that I can close out the Window (which on Mac, generally doesn't quit the app) and the icon is still in the dock. Red box with how many new unread items there are will be on the icon which I can right click (or command-click or click-hold for one button mouse users) the icon to see all of the sites with unread posts and go through the menus and click a headline to launch that post in my browser. Quite handy indeed.
Jason
I too am on Windows and tried FeedReader first and have since switched to NewsDesk ( http://www.wildgrape.net/ ).
It's clean, unclutered, free, sits in the task tray and supports OPML import/export. You will however have to have the .NET framework installed to run it.
Rene
I'd recommend Feed Demon for Windows, in case you decide to change your mind about paying anything for a reader.
It's clean, unobtrusive, and the feed display can be styled with XSLT, CSS, and JavaScript.
It supports the feed:// protocol (which makes it a breeze to automatically import single feeds and groups of feeds with OPML), supports RSS 0.9x/1.0/2.0, and the upcoming 1.1 supports Atom 0.3.
Exporting your feeds to an OPML list for sharing or archiving is simple.
If you've got tons of feeds that you're subscribed to, you can apply "watches" to look for specific keywords in feeds to find something that you're interested in reading. Nick Bradbury himself subscribes to over 1500 feeds, so this is helpful for people like him.
My favorite thing, however, is that Nick spends a lot of time in the Feed Demon newsgroup, and is VERY responsive to bug fixes, feature suggestions, and other comments. This is probably the best feature of all.
There's a free trial of v1.0 over at www.feeddemon.com, but it doesn't include some important fixes that are in the Beta and RC builds of v1.1. Hopefully, he'll make a trial version of 1.1 once it goes final. I'm trying to get my best friend to check out the world of RSS as well.
Ryan Parman (http://www.skyzyx.com)
I'm using RSS Reader Panel. It's an extension for Firefox. It's fast, clean and opens links automatically in Firefox. If you use the contents area, it resembles AmphetaDesk.
RRP has OPML export and import. It's very easy to use (just drag and drop the RSS/Atom link in the RRP sidebar).
ByteWarrior (http://bytewarrior.madoka.be/b2)
FeedDemon (BlogLines.com when I'm away from the computer)
Garrett Dimon (http://www.yourusabilityresource.com)
i'm fan of feedDemon from the first moment i started using it.
its more userfriendly then any other rss reader i have tried and looks smooth too.
I hate it when programs look like they were built in 1988.
Jay (http://www.brainstir.be)
I haven't had much experience in RSS readers, but I downloaded an extension for Firefox called RSS Reader Panel a day back.
It seems very user-friendly: It opens as a sidebar in my browser so I don't need to start it separately. Adding feeds is as easy as saving bookmarks. It checks for updates for a click of a button. Easy to modify how I want it to behave, easy to keep track of read articles etc. etc.
Good extension. Edit CSS good.
Pekka
I went through every RSS app out there, and eventually purchased FeedDemon because it met EVERY demand that I had - easy to use, configure, clean, simple, and flexible.
I had 2 requirements that no other program offered - (1) the ability to store the data in a portable harddrive so I could take the data home and it would remember all my settings/history and work instantly at home, and (2) it would use Mozilla as the default browser when I clicked on a link.
This has been the first "personal" software purchase I've made in years, and that says a lot...
Bryan Peters (http://www.urbandude.com)
FeedDemon, too. I did not hesitate to pay for it because it is just how it should be.
andreas (http://www.andreas-kalt.de/blog/)
Bloglines. it keeps track of what you've already read, so when you go between computers you don't have to search through old entries. It also has a little program that can alert you when new entries arrive.
David
Oops, that's what I get for only skimming the post.
FeedDemon isn't free, so it's out. But in that case BlogLines.com is good simply because it doesn't require that you install any software. It's a simple and easy to use interface.
Garrett Dimon (http://www.yourusabilityresource.com)
Bloglines. It's fast, free and best of all accessible anywhere since it's online.
I love having the ability to check my feeds when I'm away from my own computer (on vacation, out of town, etc.)
It was easy to setup, required little thought and it does its job.
kartooner (http://www.kartooner.com)
If your on the mac - I've been using SlashDock for years now. Simple and free.
Jeremy Johnson (http://www.jeremyjohnsononline.com/)
Sharpreader over here. Non-bloated, non-complicated, sits quitetly in the systray, supports pretty much everything and does it's job.
Snowflake
You want to visit sites, not just read unformatted rss feeds? Me Too!!
That is why I use RSS Reader Panel for Firefox. The panel is displayed at the left of your browser (like the history sidebar etc) and shows which feeds have been updated. Click an updated feed (with the little red asterisk) and a list of items in that feed apear in the lower half of the panel. Each item links to the entry on the webpage. Using your browser history, it shows wheather you have already visited that entry. If, not, just click it and viola, your viewing the entry in its webpage in th emain browser window as you wanted all along.
To add items to the list, just bookmark them to the bookmark folder (or any of its subfolders) you specify.
You never have to leave your browser, and with tabbed browsing, you can check many different sites without ever switching to different windows.
I see some other comments here describe other great features contained in my favorite extension for my favorite browser.
waylman (http://achinghead.com)
NetNewsWire is the best on the Mac. OmniWeb 5 also has some neat RSS integration.
RSS saves me at least half an hour daily. Just keep down your subscriptions, and don't, whatever you do, leave it running while you're working.
Andrew Dunning (http://www.webinspiration.ca/)
I don't really like newsreaders since I like reading posts from the actual site. I just want to know when those sites are updated. Sounds like RSS Reader Panel and Bloglines look promising.
Here's a couple more that I haven't seen posted. Sorry if I don't include why I like them, but like I said I really don't like the experience of newsreaders.
- NewsGator (Windows only)
- NewsMac ( Mac only)
Grant (http://threesixty.cc)
FeedDemon - too many useful features to list! But, the newsbins are great for saving related stories, especially when researching a specific topic or following an item of interest.
LindaDblU (http://lindadblu.blogspot.com)
I have tried (probably like most) almost all the readers listed above.
I settled on bloglines because it is fast, free, unobtrusive, works in with my brower, allows for remote access, etc.
I started to get a little worried when some applications wanted me to download or use .Net. The less number of applications I have running or need to open to accomplish the same task the better.
seriocomic (http://www.seriocomic.com)
I personally use NewsGator, due to the fact that I use Outlook for e-mail - I love that I can get my feeds and e-mail in the same app (it's also great that I can use the same keyboard shortcuts as Outlook, since it is Outlook). The other reason that I like NewsGator is that any feed I download will be saved for as long as I choose. From the little that I've used other readers, they only save 'x' days worth of posts, or just 'x' posts. I want to keep some feeds around forever, because they're a good resource when I'm stuck on a problem.
I don't think the post that mentioned NewsGator mentioned this, but it costs $30. There is a free 14-day trial period.
For what it's worth, I originally bought NewsGator 1.3 (I think...maybe it was 1.2?) and I've received all of the updates since then for free (1.3, 1.4, and 2.0).
milbertus (http://www.milbertus.com)
As many others have suggested, I use feeddemon because I like it's ability to catagorize feeds, set watches, and notify me when sites are updated. In the past I tested out a lot of feed readers and most of them failed poorly when you get past the 200+ feeds mark, feeddemon works well with any number of feeds. Even more so the built in browser integration allows me to visit the site to read the post where the feed itself allows me to make the call if I want to read the post or not. This goes back to users not visting the site and just reading the feed... though the tool can be used both ways.
Nick Finck (http://www.digital-web.com)
I've just had a look at Shrook (OS X) and am quite impressed. I've never bothered with news readers as I've always liked reading the actual sites and the design around them. Shrook helps in this case as it can display the actual entry or site within the program using webcore(?) so it's the same as viewing the site in Safari...
Christiaan
Bloglines
- a web-based reader is the way to go if you're got decent bandwidth surf from >1 computer.
- you can send your view to your friends who ask "so what's RSS?"
- recommended blogs is fun to trawl through
- since it's a webpage, you can middle-click items to open them in new tabs
- it's growing, they're frequently adding new features
Sam (http://www.silverstripe.co.nz)
FeedDemon is what I use now, but for sheer functionality, I can vouch for SharpReader as well.
Steve (http://www.rodentregatta.com/)
Never tried an RSS reader til today, but I downloaded SharpReader based on comments here. Ugly interface, but it worked pretty well.
JC (http://thelionsweb.com/weblog)
I use FeedOnFeeds,
a server-based RSS reader. Install it on your own server and you can read your feed from any computer which has an internet-connection. You can update the feeds manually or running a cronjob to automate it. Perfect if you use more computers (i.e. work and home) and if you don't want to rely in online services like bloglines
wchulseiee (http://www.wchulseiee.net)
Jyte is great for a number of reasons, including it's fast, small, efficient, and Python. It supports all RSS and Atom feeds, but breaks from the pack with a search mechanism - feeds and scraped news are stored on a central server, articles matching keyword searches are delivered to your Jyte.
There's an integrated browser for offline reading, plus OPML import. It's free and works on Windows, Linux, and soon on the Mac.
sarah gilbert (http://www.cafemama.com)
If you want something crossplatform and use Firefox then go for the RSS Reader Panel extension, as linked to by others above (call me lazy). It's not the most feature filled but it actually does just what I want it to. Supports Atom and OPML import/export as well.
Pete (http://www.monkiboi.net)
I use "RSS Reader" from rssreader.com (which gets the prize for most obvious name). I tried FeedReader at first, and it's very simple, but RSS Reader has a few extra bits that are useful -- like if you copy an RSS link into the clipboard and then hit "add feed", it automatically grabs the feed from the clipboard.
Laurie (http://www.seldo.com/weblog/)
Another vote for Bloglines. Works great for me because I use at various times six different computers in different locations across three different operating systems and because Bloglines is a server-based browser application it's just like being on one system. It's great.
john (http://www.johnsjottings.com)
Since this is a survey, I'll toss in another vote for Bloglines. A feature that hasn't been mentioned yet: you can group the feeds into nameable folders and view all new posts in a folder by clicking on it, or click on the + sign to expand the folder and view new posts feed by feed. The public view is also neat, it's fun to see what other people are reading: eg, here's mine.
Micah (http://msittig.wubi.org/)
I'm a big macromedia fan so I use,
http://www.macromedia.com/software/central/
I don't know how it compares to others but its pretty nice
dan (http://www.nwebit.com)
Bloglines. I didn't really set off searching for a browser based RSS reader, but when I found Bloglines, I found it did a better job than any desktop based software I had tried with the added benefit of being online and available wherever I was.
Marcus (http://marcusvorwaller.com)
Thanks to those who recommended the FireFox Reader Panel..much better than what I was using!
Hasan
Which RSS reader has this features?
- standalone application
- open URLs in default browser (or embedded Gecko engine)
- group entries, which has same URL, it's good for linkroll feeds (for example SharpReader can it)
- (free)
Thanks!
BB
I made my own - built into my blog.
but, i am quiet tempet to try out the firefox extention for the blogs that I dont want to add to my blogroll just yet.
plus, my reader still needs some work.
Phil Baines (http://www.wubbleyew.com/blog)
Another vote for Bloglines.
Add to the already mentioned features the fact that you can save entries to look at again later...
But the biggest plus has to be that it's web based, so you can access your feeds from any machine...
Kent
I use Mozilla extension RSS Reader, very easy to use and convenient... Basic settings, good for few blogs (about 20).
dusoft (http://www.ambience.sk/)
I try to integrate as much as possible. Trillian is a great IM program which brings together AIM, MSN, Yahoo, IRC, etc. Coincidentally, it also has a News plugin which I use to grab all my feeds. Makes skimming the titles easy. They also offer plugins for grabbing all URLs sent via chat (URL Grabber) and WinAmp. It's a great piece of software.
Aaron Gustafson
Forumzilla extension for Thunderbird suits me. I best like the pane view of fave funnies.
But, I've also set up one My!Yahoo (in Opera 7.5) as (mainly) a dedicated RSS reader; the Yahoo summaries are easily read and Opera's snappy back-forth and open-in-new-page abilities complement Yahoo.
I still think Beaver is nifty cuz it allows me to make its default browser the micro Off-by-One, which I can set to turn off all plugins and image abilities needed for ads in my face.
Nigel L
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#1
I like NetNewsWire because it's unobtrusive in that it can be hidden but the icon will tell you when there are new posts to read. Also, it lays out your feeds clearly and cleanly in a single paned window with favicon support to help differentiate more easily.
It's also very easy to flick through new posts by pressing the space bar and you can open the post in your browser (in the background if you want) by pressing the forward arrow. In all, it's a very tightly designed app and saves me a lot of time even if I get obsessive about checking it.
Of course NNW will be useless to you if you don't use OS X which I think is the case... Oh well, this is a poll after all :)
James (http://james.moap.net/blog/)