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https://github.com/ghazi-git/rss-feed-tracker

Manage your RSS Feeds from the extension popup
https://github.com/ghazi-git/rss-feed-tracker

chrome-extension rss-feed-reader

Last synced: 7 days ago
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Manage your RSS Feeds from the extension popup

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README 

          
# RSS Feed Tracker



Manage your RSS Feeds from the extension popup.



[![Available in chrome webstore icon](https://developer.chrome.com/static/docs/webstore/branding/image/tbyBjqi7Zu733AAKA5n4.png)](https://chromewebstore.google.com/detail/rss-feed-tracker/bkhbcilgeakfdfpjmikgplahfphcglnf)



## Features



- Manage RSS feeds locally. No account required. Your data stays on your device.

- Back up and restore all the extension data (feeds, folders, posts, bookmarks and settings). Details of the backup

  format can be found [below](#backup-format).

- Export and import feeds as OPML.

- Organize feeds into folders with drag and drop support.

- Search for posts already fetched by the extension.

- Support for RSS, Atom and JSON feeds.

- Support for keyboard navigation. The list of shortcuts is [below](#keyboard-navigation).

- Light and dark themes.



### Nice Extras



- Pick up where you left off if the popup closes accidentally.

- Mark posts as read by clicking them (with a setting to allow clicks to open the post instead).

- Middle and right-click to open a post.

- The back/forward mouse buttons work just like in the browser tabs. Or, use the keyboard shortcuts instead

  `ctrl+alt+left`/`ctrl+alt+right`.

- `ctrl+f` to filter recent posts and `ctrl+shift+f` to search all posts.

- Hover over a link to view the URL at the bottom of the extension popup (Chrome does not do this for links

  in the extension popup).

- An icon with a link to the comments URL is added to the bottom of the post when a comments link is available. This

  is pretty handy for feeds like 'Hacker News'.

- Posts are grouped by feed when viewing all posts under a folder (with a setting to disable posts grouping).

- Automatically check for feeds in the current tab when adding a feed.

- Turn off auto-updates for specific feeds.

- Bookmark posts.



## Limitations



- No Sync with other devices. Make sure to create extension backups regularly from the "Preferences" tab.

- Cannot view the full post in the extension. I think it's best to view posts on the author's website and the extension

  popup isn't the place for reading articles anyway.

- No notifications. I don't like notifications.



## Why create this extension



I used Feeder's Chrome extension for years. I was mostly happy with it, especially that it didn't require a login.

But, there were some small issues that kept nagging at me and minor improvements that I wanted to add. So, I thought:

why not create my own extension. And, this is the extension I'm using instead.



## Backup format



The backup is a zip file containing the following JSON files:



- `manifest.json` contains the backup metadata:

  - `backupVersion` set to `1`. Will be incremented only when there is a breaking change.

  - `extensionName`

  - `extensionVersion` the extension version when the backup was generated.

  - `createdAt` when was the backup generated.

  - `preferences` the user preferences

    - `uiTheme` `"light"` or `"dark"` or `null` (i.e. follow system theme).

    - `defaultFeedUpdateFrequency` the default value in milliseconds for the 'Update Frequency' field when creating

      a new feed.

    - `clickPostToToggleUnread` when set to `true`, clicking a post marks it as unread. When set to `false`, clicking

      a post opens the post in a new tab.

    - `orderPostsBy` posts in a feed, under a folder, under bookmarks or in search, can be ordered by `publishedAt`

      or `fetchedAt`. `publishedAt` is the time when the post was published according to the feed. `fetchedAt` is when

      the post was fetched by the extension from the feed.

    - `groupFolderPosts` can be `true` or `false`. If `true` and when displaying posts inside a folder, posts for

      feed X will be shown first, then posts for feed Y, ... This grouping will be done for each page of posts.

  - `backupFiles`

    - `feeds_folders` the filename containing the feeds and folders data. Usually set to `nodes.json`.

    - `posts` an array of filenames (0 or more) containing the feed posts. Each file contains at most 20K posts.

      Usually named `posts_xxxx.json`.



- `nodes.json` contains an array of feeds and folders. Each object has the following properties

  - `id` auto-incremented integer.

  - `type` can be `"feed"` or `"folder"`.

  - `name` name of the feed or folder.

  - `unreadCount` the number of unread posts inside the feed or folder.

  - `parentId` ID of the parent folder containing this feed or folder. Can be `null` only for the root folder.

  - `sortOrder` a number that allows sorting feeds and folders within the same parent folder

  - `createdAt` when was the feed or folder created.

  - `feed` set to `null` for folders. Contains the following properties when `type="feed"`

    - `url` feed URL

    - `favicon` URL of the feed icon. can be `null`.

    - `updateFrequency`frequency of feed updates in milliseconds. Can be `null` meaning that the feed will not be

      updated automatically (user can still do that manually).

    - `lastRunAt` last time the feed has run. Represented as an integer (milliseconds since epoch). Can be `null`.

    - `nextRunAt` next time the feed will run. Equal to `lastRunAt + updateFrequency`. Represented as an integer

      (milliseconds since epoch). Equals to `null` when `updateFrequency` is `null`.



- `posts_xxxx.json` contains an array of feed posts. Each post has the following properties

  - `feedId` feed ID

  - `guid` string representing the unique identifier for the post. Provided by the feed.

  - `title` title of the post

  - `url` URL of the post

  - `commentsURL` URL pointing to the comments of the post. Only RSS feeds can provide a comments URL (Atom and

    JSON feeds do not).

  - `unread` can be `1` (unread) or `0` (read)

  - `bookmarked` can be `1` (bookmarked) or `0` (not bookmarked)

  - `publishedAt` time the post was published according to the feed. Represented as an integer (milliseconds since epoch).

  - `fetchedAt` time the post was fetched by the extension. Represented as an integer (milliseconds since epoch).



## Keyboard Navigation



Tabbing through the UI elements and using arrows allow you to do almost everything. Still, some of the following

shortcuts might prove useful:



- `ctrl+shift+s` to open/close the extension popup (can be configured from `chrome://extensions/shortcuts`)

- Top-header shortcuts

  - `ctrl+l` go to the "Library" page

  - `ctrl+b` go to the "Bookmarks" page

  - `ctrl+p` go to the "Preferences" page

- Filter/Search posts

  - `ctrl+f` go to the filter posts page. Enabled in feed/folder/bookmarks/search pages

  - `ctrl+shift+f` go to the search posts page. Enabled in feed/folder/bookmarks/filter pages

  - `escape` exit from filter/search page and go back to the previous page

- Back/forward navigation (the same as the browser back/forward buttons)

  - `ctrl+alt+left` go back

  - `ctrl+alt+right` go forward

- Page Header Navigation (under "Library")

  - `ctrl+t` toggle the feed/folder title dropdown

  - `ctrl+m` mark all posts in the current feed/folder as read

  - `ctrl+u` go to the unread posts page of the current feed/folder

  - `ctrl+a` go to all posts page of the current feed/folder

  - `backspace` go to the previous page (same as clicking the back button that is rendered in the extension UI)

- Navigating the folders/feeds hierarchy

  - `up`/`down` move up/down in the folder/feed list

  - `right`/`enter` when a folder/feed is focused, go to that folder/feed page

  - `left` go to the parent folder page

  - `t` toggle the three-dot menu of the focused feed/folder

  - `m` mark as read all posts of the focused feed/folder.

  - `u` go to the unread posts page of the focused feed/folder

  - `a` go to the all posts page of the focused feed/folder

- Posts page

  - `up`/`down` move up/down in the posts list

  - `left` go to the parent folder page

  - `l` load more posts

  - `enter` opens the link in a new tab or toggles the unread status of the post depending on the user preferences

  - `ctrl+enter` opens the link in a new tab

  - `shift+enter` opens the link in a new window

  - `ctrl+shift+enter` open the focused post in a new incognito window and move to that window

  - `ctrl+c` copy the link of the focused post

  - `k` open the comments link (if any) of the focused post in a new tab and move to that tab

  - `ctrl+k` open the comments link (if any) of the focused post in a new tab but keep the focus on the extension popup

  - `shift+k` open the comments link (if any) of the focused post in a new window and move to that window

  - `ctrl+shift+k` open the comments link (if any) of the focused post in a new incognito window and move to that window

  - `b` bookmark or remove the bookmark of the focused post

  - `m` mark the focused post as read or unread



## Running the project locally



1. Install dependencies:



```bash

npm install

```



2. Start development server:



```bash

npm run dev

```



3. Open Chrome and navigate to `chrome://extensions/`, enable "Developer mode" and load the unpacked extension from the

   `dist` directory.



## Project Structure



- `src/popup/index.html` - Extension popup UI.

- `src/background/index.ts` - Extension service worker. Includes message handlers for managing extension data (stored

  in indexedDB), feed polling for new posts, caching,

- `src/offscreen/index.html` - Handles feeds export, backup/restore and search.

- `manifest.config.js` - Chrome extension manifest configuration.



## Release Process



- [optional] Set env variable

  `GITHUB_TOKEN` ([generate token](https://github.com/settings/tokens/new?scopes=repo&description=extension-github-release))

- Run `npm run release` which includes:

  - Pull the latest changes `git pull`.

  - Check for linting issues `npm run lint`.

  - Set the new version in `package.json`

  - Add the version and date to the changelog `## [] - ` and keep `## [Unreleased]` at the top.

  - Commit the changes and create a git tag `v`.

  - Push the local commit and tag to GitHub.

  - Create the GitHub release, done automatically if the `GITHUB_TOKEN` env variable is set. Otherwise, a new release

    page is opened in the browser with fields prepopulated. The release notes are copied from the changelog.

- Package the extension with `npm run build`.

- Upload the packaged extension to the Chrome web store.



## License



This project is [GPLv3 licensed](LICENSE).