Getting started with RSSOwl
Author: Benjamin Pasero, Berlin
Description: RSSOwl is a RSS & RDF newsreader written in Java using SWT as fast graphic library. Features: read RSS / RDF newsfeeds in a comfortable tabfolder, save newsfeeds in categorys, export to PDF / HTML / OPML, view news in internal browser. Languages: en, de, fr, es, gl, it, dk, nl.
Keywords: RSS, RDF, RSSOwl, Java, SWT, rss-reader, feed-reader, rssfeed, RSS-Feed, feedreader, newsfeed, feed, reader, News, newsreader, PDF, OPML, HTML, export, import, proxy, base64, authentification, https, Linux, Mac, Windows, aggregator, aggregate, search, fulltext-search, fulltext, tray, icon, systemtray, owl, internal browser, browser, Rich, site, summary, syndication, Really, simple, german, english, spanish, french, galician, danish, italian, dublin, core, 0.91, 0.92, 1.0, 2.0, Outline, Processor, Markup, Language, print, Eule

ABOUT RSSOwl | QUICK START | ELEMENTS | HOW-TO'S | TIPS AND TRICKS | RESOURCES

## RSSOwl Tips and Tricks

#### Drag and Drop in RSSOwl

RSSOwl is supporting Drag and Drop for various operations. Use it to move favorites and categories from one category to another one. You may also move an opened tab that displays a newsfeed into the favorites tree to create a new favorite from the newsfeed.

#### Refreshments

By default, automatic reloading of newsfeeds is disabled. That's because refreshing data for top-level categories that contain large numbers of subcategories, feeds, and subscriptions can be a lengthy process. To save time, you may wish to set automatic update intervals only for the feeds you use most often, reloading large subscriptions and other large collections only periodically. To set update intervals, right-click a newsfeed in RSS Favorites, choose Edit, and choose an interval in Auto Reload settings.

#### Quickly close Tabs in the TabFolder

The easiest way to have a Tab closed is a double-click on the Tab you want to have closed. Other close operations may be performed with having a key pressed while double-clicking:
Double-click with pressed Ctrl / Command Key: Perform "Close Others"
Double-click with pressed Shift Key: Perform "Close All Except Feeds"

#### Obtaining newsfeeds from protected sources

If you use RSSOwl to access a password-protected newsfeed from a site that is protected with a username and password it opens a dialog for you to authenticate. After a successfull authentification the newsfeed is displayed.
If you don't want to enter username and password each time, simply add a favorite with the syntax: "http://username:password@yourfavorite.com/rss.xml".
RSSOwl automaticly recognizes the username / password and authenticates to the site.
Be careful: the username and password are saved plain text in your default configuration file, "user.xml" (stored at the root of your installation directory).

#### Load a newsfeed on startup

There are several ways to have RSSOwl open newsfeeds on startup:

- Right-click on any favorite, choose edit and select "Open on startup" in Misc settings. Any favorites with this option selected will open after startup automatically.
- Select "Re-Open last opened feeds on startup" in "Tools > Preferences > Workbench". This will automatically reopen the feeds that where opened after exit on startup.
- The application is accepting one argument. If the parameter is a valid URL or an existing local file, RSSOwl will open it as newsfeed. For example:
  "java -jar rssowl.jar http://www.myrss.com/rss.xml" or
  "rssowl http://www.myrss.com/rss.xml" on Windows

If you use a script to start RSSOwl, please edit it and add the parameter.

#### Howto make RSSOwl show the Windows XP skins

Please note that RSSOwl automatically trys to enable the WinXP skin for RSSOwl. If you use WindowsXP and the skin did not change, try the following:
In order for an application to show the Windows XP skins, there must be a manifest file located in the same place as the executable that launches the application (the executable will be java.exe or javaw.exe).
The name of the manifest file must match the name of the executable, for example javaw.exe.manifest.
Open the "rssowl.jar" with any compression tool, that supports the Java Archive format. Copy both manifest-files from the "usr" folder to the folder of the executing JVM (must be the same directory, where java.exe or javaw.exe is in).
Execute RSSOwl. The WindowsXP Look & Feel should now be displayed.

#### Howto specify a JVM to be used by rssowl.exe

To specify the Java Virtul Machine that should be used to execute RSSOwl, use the optional parameter "-vm=".
For example "rssowl -vm=C:/j2sdk_1_4_1". The exe will then look into the folder "bin" searching for the "javaw.exe".

#### How to use the context-menus on Mac

Normally the only way to open the various context-menus in RSSOwl is with using the right mouse-button. As the Mac mouse has only one button, please hold the Ctrl-Key pressed while clicking with the mouse-button and the desired context-menu will open.

COPYRIGHT © 2004 THE RSSOwl DEVELOPMENT TEAM