Nick Bradbury

ANN: FeedStation 1.6 Beta 2

It must be beta week, because FeedStation 1.6 Beta 2 is now available - for free - to NewsGator Online and FeedDemon customers. Note that this is the exact same version of FeedStation that's included with FeedDemon 1.6 Beta 2, so there's no need to download it if you're testing the FeedDemon beta.

If you run into any problems while using the FeedStation beta, please let us know by posting in the FeedStation Beta forum on NewsGator's site.

For more details about FeedStation, please see this post in my blog.

ANN: FeedDemon 1.6 Beta 2

FeedDemon 1.6 Beta 2 is out, and it includes a bunch of bug fixes and additions. Despite the bug fixes, though, I want to remind everyone that this is a beta release, which means that it's not complete. As I mentioned in the beta 1 announcement, you really shouldn't download this unless you're prepared to run into some bugs.

If you do download beta 2, I hope you'll let us know about any bugs you find by reporting them in the FeedDemon Beta Forum on NewsGator's site (and please include the steps to reproduce the problem).

Download FeedDemon 1.6 Beta 2

PS: I recommend that you read the release notes before installing.

ANN: TopStyle Pro 3.12 BETA 2

TopStyle Pro 3.12 Beta 2 is now available to registered customers. Details on changes in this release may be found in the release notes. As always, just install beta 2 directly on top of the previous version, and your existing settings will be retained.

Feedback on TopStyle 3.12 Beta 2 should be posted in the TopStyle 3.12 BETA forum on NewsGator's site, so you'll need to register in NewsGator's forums to gain access. We had hoped we could simply copy forum members from my site to NewsGator's so that registration wouldn't be necessary, but unfortunately this turned out not to be possible.

 Download TopStyle 3.12 Beta 2

Note: This beta version will only install on systems that already have a purchased copy of TopStyle installed.

FeedDemon 1.6 Beta 2 NOT released!

Somehow BetaNews found a copy of FeedDemon 1.6 Beta 2 on my site and linked to it.

Unfortunately, this wasn't the final beta 2 build - it was just a private build I made for a few testers. As such, it's definitely not stable, so if you've installed it, I strongly recommend that you revert to beta 1. The real beta 2 will be out early next week.

Atom 1.0 Support

Now that Atom 1.0 is baked and ready to serve, it seems due time to talk about when NewsGator plans to support it in our aggregators. In a nutshell, we'll be supporting Atom 1.0 as soon as possible in all our products. Here's our timeline for Atom 1.0 support:

• FeedDemon: next week, with the release of FeedDemon 1.6 Beta 2
• NewsGator Online: within about a month
• NewsGator Outlook edition: in the next release
• NewsGator Enterprise Server for v1

BTW, the fact that NewsGator Online will support Atom 1.0 soon means that any product that synchronizes with NewsGator Online will automatically support Atom 1.0. Nice :)

Denver Post NewsHound

If you happen to live in Denver, you may have noticed a full-page ad in the Denver Post promoting NewsHound, a customizable RSS reader created specifically for the Denver Post by the folks at NewsGator. NewsHound - the first of our Media Platform applications - enables customers to easily read content from the DenverPost.com as well as other sites.

If you enjoy using a full-blown RSS reader like FeedDemon, then something like NewsHound probably isn't for you. But for non-techies, it's pretty slick since it was designed to be used without having to know anything about RSS.

Greg Reinacker has the details.

Feedback on the FeedDemon 1.6 BETA

Last week's release of FeedDemon 1.6 Beta 1 has resulted in a ton of feedback, and I'd like to thank those who have taken the time to give the beta a test drive. Due to some really bad timing on my part I needed to take some downtime towards the end of last week, so I'd also like to thank Jack Brewster for his heroic efforts in dealing with so many issues in my absence. Jack, I owe you one - again :)

Much of the feedback we've received has been related to a handful of problem areas in the beta, and I'd like to address a few of them here:

• As many people unfortunately discovered, we had some problems with the new activation system used by the beta. We do have a temporary fix for this available, and the fix will be rolled into a new beta later this week.
• Related to the above, it appears that a number of serial numbers are missing from our database, specifically ones generated for PayPal orders or generated manually by me for translators and others who deserved a free copy. This was my fault, so if you're affected by this problem, my apologies - I should have all the missing serials imported before the next beta is released.
• Also related to this, there appears to be some confusion as to why the FeedDemon beta requires a NewsGator account, which is understandable given our flip-flop regarding subscription. Please understand, though, that this requirement isn't part of some covert scheme to force you into a subscription model. Since FeedDemon is now a NewsGator product, the activation system used by the previous version of FeedDemon has been replaced with NewsGator's activation system - that's all.
• Although the new sync features are being well-received, we've received a few comments from users complaining that they don't wish to use them. As I mentioned in the beta announcement, you can continue to use FeedDemon without the sync features - we're not going to force you to use them, no matter how much we like them :)
• Right now my inbox is overflowing with beta questions and bug reports. As much as I appreciate the feedback, I really must ask that you use post your comments in the FeedDemon Beta Forum rather than email them to me.
• I'm going to be kinder about this than I probably should, but an over-zealous user of a competing product has been spamming our forums with FUD about FeedDemon. As a result, I've taken the very rare step of banning this person from our forums and deleting the offending messages (criticism is fine, spam is not). BTW, this is the same person who posted a slew of negative comments about FeedDemon in other peoples' blogs last week.

That's all for now - thanks again for giving the beta a spin, despite its still-buggy status.

ANN: FeedDemon 1.6 Beta 1

Okay, enough teasing: FeedDemon 1.6 Beta 1 is now available to existing FeedDemon customers.

But before you download it, let me warn you up front that this is even more of a beta than most of my betas - in other words, it's still buggy and incomplete. It's more than likely that you'll encounter problems while using beta 1, so please don't download it if you're expecting a finished product. If you're even the slightest bit uncomfortable using unfinished, pre-release software, you're better off skipping this beta and waiting for the final release of version 1.6.

...

You're still here? Good, because despite the beta warts I'm pretty excited about version 1.6, and I think you're going to like it, too. As the release notes illustrate, there are an awful lot of changes in this version, most of which were the result of your feature requests. But enough talk - here's the Q&A to help you get started:

Q: I'm using the trial version of FeedDemon. Can I use the beta?

A: Sorry, this beta is only available to those who have purchased FeedDemon.

Q: Should I install the beta in a different folder than my existing version?

A: Nope, the beta should be installed directly on top of your existing version.

Q: FeedDemon is asking me to activate it using my NewsGator Online account. What's that all about?

A: FeedDemon's new synchronization features use NewsGator Online, so an account is required to get started. Note that all existing FeedDemon customers get a FREE two-year Business Standard Plan, so you don't need to buy anything - just click the link at the bottom of FeedDemon's welcome screen to claim your free subscription, then activate FeedDemon using the login you just created. BTW, you don't have to use the sync features if you don't want to - I've designed version 1.6 to enable both "private" and "synchronized" folders, so you can continue to keep your feeds stuck on one computer if you like.

Q: How do I use the new synchronization features?

A: Synching is enabled on a per-folder basis. To enable synching for a specific folder, select Edit > Folder Properties and choose the option to sync the folder with NewsGator Online (as described in my teaser last week).

Q: How do I give feedback on the beta?

A: All feedback about the beta should be posted in the new FeedDemon Beta Forum. If you're posting a bug report, please be sure to include the exact steps to reproduce the problems (or, if you can't reproduce the bug, let us know that, too). Note that this forum is on NewGator's site, so you may need to register before posting.

Q: So where can I get the beta?

A: Right here.

Enjoy :)

FeedDemon 1.6 Teaser: You asked for it!

I hope that the last three teasers have shown that your feature requests are taken seriously. Every one of these big new features is the result of feedback from FeedDemon users. But FeedDemon 1.6 isn't all about big new features - there are a lot of smaller additions that also resulted from feedback, such as:

• Option to minimize FeedDemon to the system tray instead of closing it
• Ability to view a newspaper of all watches or news bins
• Watches now have an auto-purge option
• Option to disable resetting the feed URL on permanent redirect
• Surfer and Expando newspaper styles enable opening external links in a new browser tab
• "Channels" and "channel groups" renamed to "feeds" and "folders"
• Feed import enables re-creating OPML folder structure
• "Copy to news bin" added to favorites menu, enabling copying the current browser page to a news bin
• Support for Atom 0.8 enclosures
• FeedStation now retains a history of previously downloaded files

Now, one of the concerns I often hear when a new version is released is that the added features "bloat" it, making it more complex for new users. I've tried to do just the opposite with FeedDemon 1.6 - I've spent a lot of time simplifying FeedDemon, so it's cleaner and sleeker than the previous version. Oh, and did I mention that it's faster, too? :)

Rethinking FeedDemon by Subscription

Apparently a few people have an opinion as to whether FeedDemon should move to a subscription model :)

In all seriousness, your feedback has resulted in an awful lot of re-thinking within NewsGator, and I've personally been involved in several very thoughtful discussions about what to do. The end result? We've listened, and we're changing our plan.

We've heard loud and clear that you don't want FeedDemon to stop working after your subscription runs out. You believe that you purchased it, so it should continue to work. Period.

And we agree.

Because of comments posted here, we're going to change FeedDemon so that it does not stop working after your subscription runs out. You'll still be able to read your feeds and download new items. As many of you suggested, more than likely we'll disable features that rely on the subscription service (basically, synching and other pieces that tie into NewsGator's online services), but everything else will continue to work (forever, if you like).

Does this sound better to you?