Advice on Newsreaders?

If you have any questions about using any of the features on this site, or if you are experiencing problems using any of them, please post your questions here.

Moderators: Rosie, Jean, CAMary, moremuscle, JFR, xet, Peggy, Matthew, Gabes-Apg, grannyh, Gloria, Mars, starfire, Polly, Joefnh

Post Reply
harvest_table
Rockhopper Penguin
Rockhopper Penguin
Posts: 1509
Joined: Wed May 25, 2005 6:29 pm
Location: Fergus Falls, Minnesota

Advice on Newsreaders?

Post by harvest_table »

This is all new to me, could sure use some input. :oops:

Okay, I've read the information about this in the smartfeed link and I'm still not sure exactly what steps to take. On the Wikipedia site do I sign in, create an account and have an option to download a newsreader?

It mentions there are a number of newsreaders. What would you recommend Tex, Wikipedia? I see Wikipedia is free, do some charge? What other newsreaders are out there?

Do they take up alot of space on a computer? I'm using an old updated E-machine and although I have broadband it's still quirky watching videos and such so I try to treat it with kid gloves by not downloading to many programs that I don't need.

A newsreader would be a benefit since I visit quite a number of sites on a daily basis. Thanks for setting up this feature Tex!

Love,
Joanna
User avatar
tex
Site Admin
Site Admin
Posts: 35065
Joined: Tue May 24, 2005 9:00 am
Location: Central Texas

Post by tex »

Hi Joanna,

Your choice of newsreaders should depend on the browser , (or browsers), you use. The latest versions work best, (and might even have a built in newsreader), but there are newsreaders that work in various browsers. I prefer Sage, (since I use Firefox), but Sage is unique to Firefox, I believe.

Most newsreaders are free. Some require registration, and some don't. I'm not familiar with the wikipedia newsreader offerings. I prefer one specifically written for the browser I'm using.

For most browsers, you can go to their website, and search for newsreaders in their offerings of "add-ons", or "extensions". Look for keywords such as RSS, or syndicator, or news aggregator, or newsreader, and try to select one that will handle all four types of normal service, RSS 0.91, RSS 1.0, RSS 2.0, and Atom 1.0, so that you don't have to limit your selection of feed sources.

Then download it and install in in your browser, (usually through the "extensions" menu selection, under tools). From that point, you can search for news feeds, and enter the URLs of the feeds you want, into the "bookmark" file in your newsreader, (not the same as the main bookmark file in your browser). Or, alternatively, if you are at a site you like, you can select a functon that will allow your newsreader to "search" for a newsfeed on that site, and you can select to enter that URL as a newsfeed.

All newsreaders are slightly different, and the only one I am very familiar with is Sage, (for Firefox), so before I can tell you how to set up another one, I would have to know which browser you are using, so that I could try setting up a newsreader for that particular browser. You can uven use remote newsreaders, which are not installed on your own computer. These often require registration.

Let me know, and I'll see what I can figure out for your browser. Once you learn the tricks of getting started, it's pretty easy, but some of this stuff is not necessarily intuitive.

Love,
Tex

P S If you enter the URL that the system derives on that "Smartfeed" page into your newsreader, it simply allows you to read selected forums from this board, in your newsreader, as if it were a newsfeed. It doesn't do what I originally thought it would do, (that is, it doesn't post news feed headlines in the forums).
:cowboy:

It is suspected that some of the hardest material known to science can be found in the skulls of GI specialists who insist that diet has nothing to do with the treatment of microscopic colitis.
harvest_table
Rockhopper Penguin
Rockhopper Penguin
Posts: 1509
Joined: Wed May 25, 2005 6:29 pm
Location: Fergus Falls, Minnesota

Post by harvest_table »

Wow, I had no idea there were so many browser options out there. I'm using Internet Explorer. Like I said, this machine is quite a few years old -I'm running Windows XP.

I'd appreciate your help with setting up a newsreader, but now I'm curious whether I should upgrade to another browser first? How would it improve my computers performance for example>or maybe it wouldn't. You must like Firefox for a reason.....

Thanks Tex!
Love,
Joanna
User avatar
tex
Site Admin
Site Admin
Posts: 35065
Joined: Tue May 24, 2005 9:00 am
Location: Central Texas

Post by tex »

Hi Joanna,

Sorry for my tardy resoponse, I just got off work a little over half an hour ago--I've been working in the mornings, and late in the afternoons, in order to dodge the hottest part of the day.

I use Firefox because it's much smaller, faster, more efficient, and much less likely to have virus problems than IE, even though it will do anything IE will do, and more. I've got two newsreaders installed, a simple one, and one with more features, and they both work great. A new version of Firefox was released just two days ago, so I upgraded mine yesterday.

I don't know how to advise you on browsers. I guess I'm prejudiced, because I've tried IE several times, but I always come back to Firefox. If you think you might want to try it, it would be best to do it before you set up a newsreader. It will let you import all your old bookmarks, and so fourth.

On the other hand, if you want to stick with IE, I'll try out some of the newsreaders for it. Or, you can set up both of them, and use either one. Let me know what you would prefer to do.

Love,
Wayne
:cowboy:

It is suspected that some of the hardest material known to science can be found in the skulls of GI specialists who insist that diet has nothing to do with the treatment of microscopic colitis.
harvest_table
Rockhopper Penguin
Rockhopper Penguin
Posts: 1509
Joined: Wed May 25, 2005 6:29 pm
Location: Fergus Falls, Minnesota

Post by harvest_table »

Wayne,

I had an interesting experience downloading firefox, then Sage.

I'll PM you about what happened this weekend.

Love,
Joanna
Post Reply

Return to “Technical Assistance”