I really like the ability to subscribe to RSS feeds in DEVONthink, especially now that DEVONthink will allow me to convert the HTML article to a Formatted Note that I can edit and/or annotate. What I have always wanted for DEVONthink RSS feeds is the ability to add a reader service such as Instapaper/Readability/Pocket to view the full page of feeds that only provide an excerpt. Most dedicated RSS apps have this feature already, especially on iOS, and I would like to see it added to DEVONthink also.
Today I just discovered the next best thing-a site that will take the URL of a RSS feed that provides only an excerpt of the feed, and convert the feed to a full view of the article. The article will still appear in the user’s chosen style sheet in DEVONthink’s preferences, all without ads, and the service is free. The site is Full Text RSS Feed Builder and here is how it works.
For New feeds in DEVONthink:
Copy the URL to your RSS feed
Go to the Full Text RSS Feed Builder site and paste the URL into the site
Once Feed Builder has converted the feed, copy the URL and add it to DEVONthink as 'Data>New>Feed…
Paste the URL in the dialog
To edit existing feeds in DEVONthink:
Select an existing RSS feed in DEVONthink that you want to convert from an excerpt to a full view
Show the Info Pane for the feed
In the URL field of the info pane, change the beginning of the URL feed from 'http://www.yourRSSfeed… to ‘http://fulltextrssfeed.com/www.yourRSSfeed…’
As example, here is what the Macworld feed URL looks like in the Info pane:
Here is what the modified, full-view Macworld feed URL should look like (this is a good feed to test yourself, to see how the Full Text Feed Builder service works):
I’ve just started converting some of my feeds this morning and so far all my excerpt feeds are working fine with a full article view. I’m going to work with it a few days and if it continues to work as expected, I’ll be making them a donation. They also have a developer API coming soon-perhaps that is something that DTech wants to explore to build into DEVONthink?
* Edited to fix typo