OPML Editor support:

Using the OPML Editor to manage RSS subscription lists

A picture named subscriptionLists.gif It seems so obvious it might not need to be said, but you can use the OPML Editor to edit subscription lists for aggregators like FeedDemon, Bloglines, Radio UserLand, basically any program that can read and write OPML files.

There may be compatibility problems as developers haven't had a single place to test their OPML files, but hopefully the OPML Editor, like Notepad, SimpleText, or Emacs, will help to unify the OPML that aggregators read and write.

To the right is a screen shot showing the OPML Editor viewing a subscription list produced by Radio UserLand 8.0.

I'm interested in learning how well the editor works with the OPML produced by other aggregators.

The OPML Editor understands RSS

Perhaps a little-known fact is that you can link to RSS 2.0 feeds from any headline in an outline, and when you expand the headline, the items from the feed will display underneath the name of the feed. Here's a screen shot that illustrates.

How to link to a RSS feed

You can get a group of RSS feeds into the OPML editor by reading an OPML subscription list.

To do so, copy the URLof the list to the clipboard, and choose Open URL from the File menu. Paste the URL and click on OK. A window opens like the one to the right. Then you can use the usual outline selection commands to copy the feeds you're interested in. Move them around as you would any other outline text.

You can also link to a single RSS feed, the same way you'd link to an OPML file: right-click the headline, choose Add Link, and enter the URL into the dialog that appears.

More about linking and inclusion is in the Basic Outlining tutorial.

# Posted by Dave Winer on 6/18/05; 8:16:29 AM - --