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FeedWizard 1.0.2

Free A three-paned RSS reader which just provides the basics.
0 
Latest version:
1.0.2 See all
Developer:
Collect

FeedWizard is a three-paned RSS reader which just provides the basics: a list of feeds, a list of articles for the selected feed, and a view of the selected article. It can import and export OPML files, as well as add subscriptions individually and remove them individually or en masse.

A number of flaws become readily apparent in the use of this program. First, there is no notification if the user enters an invalid URL. The program simply displays "Fetching..." indefinitely just as it would if there were no Internet connection. When a feed is successfully added, the items in the feed are displayed from most to least recent in chunky blocks, but despite having ample space, the titles are concatenated in the middle with an ellipsis rather than wrapped to display more text. This abbreviated view also shows only the time posted, not the date. The third strike for FeedWizard is that, while the text of entries displays in the rightmost panel well enough, albeit with unadjustably small body text, any images in the entry are incompletely displayed and must be clicked on to display correctly.

The frequency of feed updates and old article deletions can be adjusted, but everything else about this program is too immovably inconvenient to be worth your while.

Review summary

Pros

  • Tracks unread and starred items
  • Provides indicator of unread items in dock icon
  • Can handle OPML files

Cons

  • Does not notify of failure to fetch feed
  • Uses ellipsis rather than text wrap when displaying feed item titles
  • Impossible to organize feeds

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