Manual Feed Refresh
-Next to the “Your Unread Items” heading on the main page, there is a link labeled “Refresh All - Feeds”. Clicking this link will reload the main page once the feeds have been refreshed. Depending on the - number and size of feeds, this may take a bit of time; each feed is refreshed individually. -
Automatic Refreshing
+Adding a Feed
+On the top menu bar, click the Feeds link, then click the Add Feed button. In + the field that is displayed, enter the + URL for the feed. Then click the + Save button; if all goes well, the application will subscribe to the feed and pull in all its + current items. +
If you do not have the feed’s direct link, you can enter the URL for the site that hosts the feed. In most + cases, the application should be able to find it and subscribe to it. +
Editing a Feed’s URL
+If the feed to which you are subscribed has moved, you can edit the URL of the feed. In this case, the + application will confirm that the new feed exists and will synchronize with its items. Depending on how the feed + was moved, this may result in items reappearing as new; however, bookmarked items will not be removed, and older + items will not be removed until they would otherwise have been pruned. +
Deleting a Feed
+On the Feeds page, below each feed’s title, there is a Delete link at the + end of the line. Once that is clicked, you will be prompted to confirm that you really mean to delete this feed; + if you confirm the deletion, the feed and all its items (including bookmarked items) will be deleted. +
Refreshing Feeds
+Feeds are pulled when their subscriptions are added; however, a one-time pull of feeds does not keep us up to + date on future posts. From within the application, feeds can be updated manually; there is also a way to set up + a job to regularly refresh feeds. +
Manual Refresh
+Next to the “Your Unread Items” heading on the main page, there is a link labeled + Refresh All Feeds. Clicking this link will reload the main page once the feeds have been + refreshed. Depending on the number and size of feeds, this may take a bit of time; each feed is refreshed + individually. +
Automatic Refresh Job (Linux / Mac)
The refresh
utility script will perform this refresh from the CLI. As it runs, it will list the
feeds as it processes them, and if it encounters any errors, that is noted as well. This process can be
automated via cron
on Linux or Mac systems. This is most easily implemented by writing a small
diff --git a/src/public/docs/index.php b/src/public/docs/index.php
index 1811c50..ba3bea1 100644
--- a/src/public/docs/index.php
+++ b/src/public/docs/index.php
@@ -7,11 +7,28 @@ Security::verifyUser($db, redirectIfAnonymous: false);
page_head('Documentation'); ?>
Documentation Home
=hx_get('./the-cli', 'About the CLI')?> provides orientation on Feed Reader Central’s command line - interface -
=hx_get('./security-modes', 'Configuring Security Modes')?> describes the three security modes and how to - manage each of them -
=hx_get('./refresh-feeds', 'Refresh Feeds')?> has instructions on how feeds can be refreshed on a schedule +
About the Application
+This application is designed to be a lightweight, near-zero dependency application that individuals can run + themselves. The idea that let to its creation was a desire to have a set of + RSS feeds which could be read from multiple devices on the same + home network; for example, if an item was read from a laptop, it would not show up as new if the feed were read + from a phone. The author had planned to write something similar when Google Reader shut down, and the + combination of those two ideas led to the application you are looking at now. +
Installation
+Steps to install this application are found in the Feed Reader Central source + code repository. It also describes some required configuration (mostly surrounding security modes; see the first + feature below for all the details on that) and some optional ways to change the application's behavior. +
Usage
+=hx_get('./security-modes', 'Security Modes')?> – Feed Reader Central can be as secure as you require it + to be. Learn about the modes available, their suitability for private networks or the open Internet, and how to + manage users in a multi-user instance. +
=hx_get('./feeds', 'Feeds')?> – Without feeds, this application is just a bunch of near-empty pages; + this page describes how to add and maintain feeds. +
=hx_get('./items', 'Items')?> – Read the items from feeds, bookmark them, search for text within them, + and more. +
=hx_get('./the-cli', 'Command Line Interface')?> (CLI) – Feed Reader Central provides several functions + that can be performed via its command line interface.
Items
+=hx_get('./', '〈〈 Documentation Home')?>
+ Before we look at all the different ways you can produce lists of items, we will take a quick look at how the
+ item page works. Within a list of items, this page can be accessed via the title of the item.
+ There are three different ways to view items across all your subscriptions.
+ The main page of the application (after logging on, if required) displays all currently unread items across all
+ subscribed feeds. The name of the feed is a link to view just that feed’s unread items.
+ If you have any bookmarked items, the Bookmarked link in the top menu bar will bring you to a
+ list of all those items. The name of the feed is a link to view just that feed’s bookmarked items.
+ The Search link in the top menu bar presents a box where search text can be entered; you can
+ also choose whether to search all items, or only those that have been bookmarked. The search applies to the
+ content of each item. Within the search results, there is an indicator displayed if the item is unread or
+ bookmarked, and the name of the feed is not linked.
+ Under the hood, this uses
+ SQLite’s FTS5,
+ so it is case-insensitive by default and provides some interesting ways to query your items.
+ Other than the unread and bookmarked links mentioned above, lists of items by feed are linked on the
+ Feeds page. Below each feed’s title, there are links for All,
+ Unread, and Bookmarked, along with a count of items that fit the status.
+ (If there are no items, the word is not linked.)
+ All lists of items are sorted by date, with the most recent items on top. Both the RSS and Atom specifications
+ provide both a published date and an updated date. When selecting a date for sorting, the application uses the
+ updated date if it is present; otherwise, it uses the published date. Some sites update their items more than
+ others; if the items seem to move around in the list after a refresh, this is likely the cause.
+Reading an Item
+
+
+ Viewing Items for All Feeds
+ Unread Items
+ Bookmarked Items
+ Searching for Items
+
+
+ election
would return items with the word “election” in them.
+ senat*
would return items with words like “Senator”, “senatorial”, or
+ “Senate” in them.
+ "election 2024"
(note the quotes) would return items that have the phrase
+ “Election 2024” in them; election 2024
would return items that have either
+ “election” or “2024” in them.
+ election AND 2024
is the same as above; AND
requires that both conditions be
+ satisfied. (OR
is also supported; both these must be uppercase.)
+ election NOT president*
would return items containing “election”, but only if they
+ did not have words like “president” or “presidential”.
+ Viewing Items by Feed
+ A Note on Sorting
+