Create Full-Text Feeds

...or try it with one of the feeds below:

Schnews Medialens

About

This is a free software project to help people extract and read full-text web content. It can extract content from a standard HTML page and return a 1-item feed or it can transform an existing feed into a full-text feed. It is being developed as part of the Five Filters project to promote alternative, non-corporate media.

Bookmark and Share

Bookmarklet

To easily transform partial-feeds you encounter (or convert any content on a page into a 1-item feed), drag the link below to your browser's bookmarks toolbar. Then whenever you'd like a full-text feed, click the bookmarklet.

Drag this: Full-Text RSS

API

To extract content from a web page or to transform an existing partial feed to full text, pass the URL (encoded) in the querystring to the following URL:

If you have an API key, add that to the querystring:

Web Service Limits: Free and Paid Access

We have imposed certain limits to keep the service running smoothly and to avoid abuse:

Free$10/month
RSS feeds processed no limit no limit
RSS items per feed 4 1-10
Cache time 20 minutes 10 minutes
Link to fivefilters.org Yes No

As this service is part of a project to promote independent media, the free service will include a link to a featured article, as well as this website, at the bottom of every feed item. The current featured article is Into the Abyss from the excellent Medialens website.

If you don't like the limits associated with the free service, you can either download the source code and host it yourself (see below) or buy an API key for $10 a month and continue to use the hosted solution here on fivefilters.org.

FiveFilters.org API Key
hosted service — $10/month

Hosted or Self-hosted: What's Right for Me?

Unlike most web services you'll encounter online, we want our users to be free to examine and run the code behind FiveFilters.org however they like. As such, in addition to our hosted option, we also give you the option of self-hosting.

Using the hosted service is the easiest option as you don't have to set anything up or worry about code. It also means you do not have to worry about staying up to date—we maintain the code and any changes we make will automatically be made available to you.

If, however, you have your own hosting account or manage your own server, the self-hosted option means you can run the code and manage everything yourself without relying on us. It also gives developers the opportunity to examine the code and make changes.

Source Code and Technologies

Source code available on launchpad.net.

The application uses PHP, Readability, SimplePie and FeedWriter. Readability is the magic algorithm that identifies and extracts the content.

System Requirements

PHP 5.2 or above is required. The code has been tested on Windows and Linux using the Apache web server. If you're a Windows user, you can try it on your own machine using WampServer. We have also tested the code with paid hosting services NearlyFreeSpeech.NET and Dreamhost. It should also work with other web hosts.

The instructions below will install the code in a folder called 'full-text-rss'. The instructions have been tested on a NearlyFreeSpeech account but should work on other hosts which offer shell access and have the Bazaar client installed.

Download and Installation

Current version: 1.5 — 2010-05-30 — Changelog

The software can be downloaded completely free through launchpad.net using a Bazaar client (see below). However, many people have been in touch to say either that they're unable to follow the instructions, unwilling to install the Bazaar application required for the download, or simply want an easier way to download. For those of you who'd like a simpler solution, you can now buy a zip package with the source code for $10 - you will receive an email with download instructions automatically. The zip file contains a readme file with instructions for uploading the code to your web host via FTP. Buying the zip package will also mean you will receive free updates when we make minor changes and notification when a major update is released.

Full-Text RSS v1.5
zip package — $10

Installation with the Bazaar client

  1. Log in to your host using SSH
  2. Change to the directory where you want Full-Text RSS installed
  3. Enter bzr co http://bazaar.launchpad.net/~keyvan/fivefilters/content-only/ full-text-rss
  4. Now enter chmod 777 full-text-rss/cache/
  5. That's it! Try accessing the full-text-rss folder through your web browser, you should see the form asking for a URL.
  6. (Optional) If you'd like to customise the software, rename config-sample.php to config.php and edit the file.

If you'd like to create a feed without going through the form first, you can simply pass the URL in the query string to makefulltextfeed.php (see the API section above).

Support

We're happy to help activists/anarchists/progressives set this up on their servers. For anyone else, please email for paid support.

If you simply want someone to install the code on your server or hosting account, we can do it for a one-off $80 installation fee - pay here.

Bug reports and questions welcome.

License


This web application is licensed under the AGPL version 3 — which basically means if you use the code to offer the same or similar service for your users, you are also required to share the code with your users so they can do the same themselves. (More on why this is important.)

The libraries used by the application are licensed as follows...

The Full-Text RSS service has turned out to be very popular. We would love to continue working on it but will need users to support the development. Please donate if you can. This project currently relies on financial support from individual donors, API key holders and a web hosting reviews site.

Author

Created by Keyvan Minoukadeh for the Five Filters project.
Email: keyvan (at) keyvan.net