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Sometimes even an easy-to-use application leaves some questions. But don't worry! We're here to help with a big bunch of tips commonly known as the "Frequently Asked Questions". If this FAQ does not help you, consider searching the entire web site for your topic of interest or asking in our help forum.

Google Reader Articles Synchronization:
Solving Issues running RSSOwl:
Install and Update questions:
General questions:

Unsubscribing from Google Reader

Google will stop the Google Reader service end of June. To unsubscribe from Google Reader follow these simple steps:

  • In RSSOwl select Tools | Unsubscribe from Google Reader
  • Read the warning message, this action can not be undone
  • Click unsubscribe
  • Wait until the operation has finished
You can also delete your google credentials (Preferences | Passwords), however you should only do so if you decided to delete all feeds from the Google Reader archive. Otherwise, if you ever want to reload one of the synchronized feeds, you would still be asked for the password. Once you have removed all those feeds, we suggest to restart once to let RSSOwl finish some last synchronizations and then you can remove the credentials.

Currently we are not planning to support another synchronization service. If this status changes, we will announce it in our blog.

Details on RSSOwls support for Google Reader articles synchronization

In order to benefit from a synchronization between RSSOwl and Google Reader, please download and install RSSOwl 2.1. To enable synchronization, follow these steps:

  • Import feeds from Google Reader using the import wizard (File | Import | Synchronize with Google Reader)
  • If needed, change clean up settings to set the number of news to download to a higher value (Properties | Clean Up | Maximum number of news to keep)
Any feed that is imported from Google Reader will synchronize read-state, labels and starred state automatically.

Note: A star in Google Reader maps to the sticky state in RSSOwl.

Note: If you are already subscribed to some of your feeds of your Google Reader account, you will have to re-import those feeds using the import wizard. You can use a news bin to keep all your previously downloaded news or delete the old feed to benefit from the synchronized one.

Advantages of using Google Reader articles synchronization in RSSOwl

The obvious advantage of enabling Google Reader in RSSOwl is keeping the articles read state, labels and starred state (sticky in RSSOwl) in sync between RSSOwl and your Google Reader account.

Another great advantage that is less obvious is using Google Reader in RSSOwl allows you to download and unlimited number of news from any feed even if the news is old enough to no longer be part of the feed. Simply configure the number of news to keep per feed (Properties | Clean Up | Maximum number of news to keep) to a high value (up to 1000) and RSSOwl will download all news until the limit is reached. Similar, even when you are on vacation for some weeks, as soon as RSSOwl loads the feed after you are back, you will not loose any article.

How and when are feeds and articles synchronized in 2 ways?

Whenever you reload a feed, RSSOwl will download new articles from Google Reader as well as to update already existing articles with all changes that where made in Google Reader. The number of articles being downloaded depends on your clean up settings (read on the next entry for details).

Whenever an article is changed in RSSOwl (this also includes news filters, not just user interaction), RSSOwl will inform Google Reader about the change a few seconds after the change is made. In addition, changes are pushed to Google Reader every few minutes to handle the case where you are working offline and then later come online. This ensures that pending updates are pushed to Google Reader properly.

When you quit or minimize RSSOwl, uncommitted items will be synchronized with Google Reader. If this fails (e.g. because the internet connection is already down), RSSOwl will remember the uncommitted items and try synchronizing them the next time you start RSSOwl.

You can find out more on the synchronization status from the related dialog (Tools | Synchronization Status).

How many articles are synchronized per feed?

Two settings control how many articles RSSOwl will download from Google Reader and they are both located in the Clean Up tab of a feeds properties (Edit | Properties). RSSOwl will never download more articles than defined by the setting Maximum number of news to keep. If this setting is not set, the default of articles to download will be 200. In addition, if you specify a Maximum Age of News in Days, RSSOwl will never download (or synchronize!) articles that are older than that.

Note: You can also set these options globally for all feeds by changing them in Tools | Preferences | Feeds | Clean Up. You can safely change these values after you have synchronized your subscriptions with Google Reader and RSSOwl will pick up the additional articles on the next reload as necessary.

Why is RSSOwl not synchronizing a particular feed with Google Reader?

Please run Tools | Clean Up to see if the feed shows up as being no longer synchronized with Google Reader. If the feed is still showing up in your Google Reader account then please make sure you subscribed to the feed with a decoded URL instead of an encoded URL (you can see this from the URL if it contains the % character or not. You can easily convert a URL to a decoded URL using an online service like here.

Why is RSSOwl not showing the same number of feeds I am subscribed to in Google Reader?

While articles get synchronized automatically, feeds are not. A new feed in Google Reader will only show up in RSSOwl when you import the feed using the Import wizard (Synchronize with Google Reader). Similar, any feed you subscribe to in RSSOwl will not be pushed to Google Reader. This feature will eventually be added in the future, but not for 2.1.

Why is Google Reader not showing the same number of feeds I am subscribed to in RSSOwl?

Same reasons as described here.

How can I automatically delete feeds I am no longer subscribed to in Google Reader?

Use the Clean Up wizard (Tools | Clean Up) and select the option Delete feeds you are no longer subscribed to in Google Reader.

RSSOwl creates a Label for the Folder an article is in, why?

This is a known issue that RSSOwl currently can not work around. Google Reader itself treats folders like labels. There is an easy solution to prevent RSSOwl from using these labels:

  • Open Tools | Preferences | Manage Labels
  • Delete all unwanted Labels RSSOwl added from Google Reader
RSSOwl will remember the labels you deleted and ignore them in subsequent synchronizations with Google Reader. Whenever you feel a specific label is missing from news, simply add it to the list of labels to make sure its not on the list of ignored labels.

I want a deeper integration with Google Reader

We know that Google Reader has more features like sharing news or liking a news. Currently RSSOwl only supports article synchronization and importing subscriptions.

Some older news seem to miss labels I assigned

It seems that older news from Google Reader sometimes tend to return without labels assigned. RSSOwl is using a specific service from Google Reader to receive the contents of an article and if Google Reader is not sending forth information about assigned labels, RSSOwl will not assign any. Another thing you should try is to explicitly add the label that is missing to RSSOwl. Since RSSOwl keeps track of deleted labels, it could also be the case that the label you are missing was previously deleted.

Performance of synchronization is really bad

Please note that performance will be worse the more articles RSSOwl has to synchronize with Google Reader. You can help RSSOwl by leaving the clean up settings to the default value of 200 articles to synchronize. You can use the archive to store news permanently as necessary.

Note: We are constantly working on improving the synchronization performance. There is lots of improvements we can still do. If you are using a beta of RSSOwl, note that only the final release will have the best performance.

What are the requirements to run RSSOwl?

In order to run RSSOwl, make sure that Java is installed. We recommend using version 6, but version 5 is sufficient too.

I am not sure if I use the latest RSSOwl version.

To make sure you run the latest version of RSSOwl you might check for an update (just click Help | Check for updates). By default RSSOwl automatically performs an update check after startup.
This setting may be changed (just unselect Tools | Preferences | View | Check for Program Updates after startup).

How do I update from previous versions?

Updating an existing RSSOwl is very easy! All settings and subscriptions are stored in your user-home directory in a folder called ".rssowl2" that is independent from RSSOwl's installation folder. We recommend using Help | Check for updates to update your version to the latest one. Otherwise, simply copy the new RSSOwl into the same folder of the old RSSOwl, overwriting it.

Why is the automatic update not working?

This can happen in rare situations but is easy to solve. Follow these instructions:

  • Exit RSSOwl
  • Start RSSOwl with the -clean argument (e.g. "rssowl.exe -clean" from the command line)
  • The update dialog should now show up

How do I update from RSSOwl 1 to RSSOwl 2?

There is no way of migrating all your data from the ancient RSSOwl 1 to RSSOwl 2, sorry. You can however easily rescue your list of subscriptions and folders to RSSOwl 2. This is not too bad because RSSOwl 1 was never able to store more than the news that where part of the feed (approx. 20-50). So, when you load the feeds in RSSOwl 2, you will likely see the same content.

Please follow ollow these instructions:

  • If RSSOwl 1 is already deleted, install it again from here
  • Start RSSOwl 1
  • Select File | Export | To OPML File
  • Save the rssowl.opml to a common location like your desktop
  • Close RSSOwl 1
  • Start RSSOwl 2
  • Select File | Import...
  • Select the OPML file you just exported and follow the instructions of the wizard
If you are unhappy with RSSOwl 2, you can always go back to RSSOwl 1. The profile folders being used for RSSOwl 1 and RSSOwl 2 are not the same. Simply start RSSOwl 1 and all your data is back where you left it!

How do I install RSSOwl into Eclipse?

Instructions for Eclipse 3.4.x:

  • Install Eclipse 3.4.2 or later if not yet done
  • Start Eclipse
  • Open the Menu Help and select Find and Install from the Software Updates item
  • In the dialog select Search for new features to install
  • Select New Remote Site
  • Choose any name for the site
  • Type in http://boreal.rssowl.org/update/eclipse/ as URL and press OK
  • Press the Finish button
  • You will now see a list of downloads available for RSSOwl 2
  • Expand the elements of the list and put a mark into the RSSOwl 2.0 for Eclipse checkbox
  • Press the Next button
  • Read through the license agreement if you want, and accept it below
  • Press the Next button followed by the Finish button
  • Eclipse is now downloading RSSOwl 2.0 and will ask for a restart when done
  • Restart Eclipse and find a new perspective RSSOwl
Instructions for Eclipse 3.5.x and later:
  • Install Eclipse 3.5.2 or later if not yet done
  • Start Eclipse
  • Open the Menu Help and select Install New Software
  • Type in http://boreal.rssowl.org/update/eclipse/ in the top input field and select Add
  • Choose any name for the site and press OK
  • Uncheck Group Items by Category if not yet done
  • You will now see a list of downloads available for RSSOwl 2
  • Expand the elements of the list and put a mark into the RSSOwl 2.0 for Eclipse checkbox
  • Press the Next button twice
  • Read through the license agreement if you want, and accept it below
  • Press the Next button followed by the Finish button
  • Eclipse is now downloading RSSOwl 2.0 and will ask for a restart when done
  • Restart Eclipse and find a new perspective RSSOwl

Can RSSOwl be installed silently and unattended?

Yes! Just append /S to the installation executable for a silent install.

How do I specify the location of the profile folder?

RSSOwl automatically creates a folder called .rssowl2 to store the application profile:

  • Windows 7: C:/Users/<your.name>/.rssowl2
  • Windows Vista: C:/Users/<your.name>/.rssowl2
  • Windows XP: C:/Documents and Settings/<your.name>/.rssowl2
  • Linux: <home.dir>/.rssowl2
  • Mac: <home.dir>/.rssowl2
To change the location of this profile, do as follows:
  • Close RSSOwl
  • Open config.ini from the folder configuration in the installation directory of RSSOwl
  • Adjust the value of osgi.instance.area.default to match with the desired location
  • Make sure to copy over existing profile data from the .rssowl2 folder to not loose your data
  • Adjust the value of osgi.configuration.area to match with the desired location
  • Save config.ini
  • Start RSSOwl
RSSOwl is now using the specified location for its profile. You can even set the location to be a USB key or other external drive.

Is it possible to install RSSOwl with a preset list of feeds?

Yes! You can point RSSOwl to a OPML file that it should import on the first startup. Just start RSSOwl like this: rssowl -vmargs -Dimport=<OPML File>. Refer to this FAQ entry how to start RSSOwl with a parameter like that. You can create such an OPML file by selecting File | Export from RSSOwl itself. It is even possible to include settings, labels and news filters.

Is there any log to find out about issues while running RSSOwl?

You can export the log file from Help | Export Logfile. In case of a serious error, where RSSOwl would not even start, you can find the log file in the filesystem here:

  • Windows 7: C:/Users/<your.name>/.rssowl2/.metadata/.log
  • Windows Vista: C:/Users/<your.name>/.rssowl2/.metadata/.log
  • Windows XP: C:/Documents and Settings/<your.name>/.rssowl2/.metadata/.log
  • Linux: <home.dir>/.rssowl2/.metadata/.log
  • Mac: <home.dir>/.rssowl2/.metadata/.log

General Advise before reading on

Many issues can be solved easily by running the clean up operation (Tools | Clean-Up). It will list some recommended operations and ask you for a restart to optimize your profile. If you continue to see issues after running the clean-up operation, read on in this FAQ.

RSSOwl stopped working. What shall I do?

Note: We recommend to download and install RSSOwl 2.1. This new release provides a way to automatically recover from errors. The text below just describes the manual steps involved to recover from an error, you can safely ignore it if you run with RSSOwl 2.1.

This entry will help you in case RSSOwl refuses to start up or you see errors showing up while using RSSOwl. You can help the developers making RSSOwl more reliable by letting them know about the issues you see. Make sure to attach the error log that you can find here.

All the data of RSSOwl lives in a single database. Under certain circumstances, this database can get into a state where RSSOwl is no longer able to properly function. These circumstances usually are a computer crash or a power-cut. We built RSSOwl to be reliable even in these extrem situations, but we can not guarantee reliability in all situations.

Luckily, RSSOwl is creating backups of its database at frequent times. As such, you are able to recover your data from one of these backups.

Please follow these instructions:

At first, please shutdown any running instance of RSSOwl and then open the RSSOwl profile directory:

  • Windows 7: C:/Users/<your.name>/.rssowl2
  • Windows Vista: C:/Users/<your.name>/.rssowl2
  • Windows XP: C:/Documents and Settings/<your.name>/.rssowl2
  • Linux: <home.dir>/.rssowl2
  • Mac: <home.dir>/.rssowl2
Note: On Linux and Mac you might not be able to see the .rssowl2 folder using the explorer. Instead, please use a terminal and type:
 
cd ~/.rssowl2
From here, open the folder .metadata\.plugins\org.rssowl.core. The RSSOwl database is called rssowl.db and should be one of the files in that directory. Now, make sure to backup the rssowl.db before making any changes. For instance, copy the file to your Desktop.

RSSOwl performs frequent backups of its database. Please sort the backups by modification date to find the most recent one. Usually the most recent backups contain .onlinebak in their names, while the older ones contain .backup.

You should start with the most recent backup by looking at the modified date and repeat the steps below for each backup until RSSOwl is working again. Usually the most recent backup should bring RSSOwl back into a working state.

Rename the chosen backup to rssowl.db and start RSSOwl with a special startup parameter that will indicate the changes you made:
-vmargs -Drssowl.reindex=true -Xmx1024m
Please refer to this FAQ entry how to start RSSOwl with parameters like that.

In case none of the backups result in a working RSSOwl, you can still recover your list of subscriptions, saved searches, news bins, labels, news filters and settings by importing either backup.opml or backup_weekly.opml from the profile directory. The former is a daily backup while the latter is a backup from up to seven days in the past. To import the OPML file, follow these instructions:
  • Note: All your previous downloaded news will be lost as a result
  • Copy backup.opml and backup_weekly.opml to your Desktop
  • Delete the .rssowl2 folder
  • Start RSSOwl
  • From the Welcome Wizard, select Import Feeds from a File or Website
  • Select one of the OPML files to import
  • Click Next
  • Click Next
  • Select all Import Options
  • Finish and Restart
If RSSOwl still fails to work properly, consider opening a bug report at http://dev.rssowl.org. Make sure to attach the error log that you can find here.

Once RSSOwl works again, make sure to start it as before without the extra startup parameters.

RSSOwl consumes too much memory. What can I do?

There are two solutions to the out of memory problem. First, you can simply allow RSSOwl to use more memory and so it will be less likely that you see the problem again. And second, you can change RSSOwl's settings to perform better and use less memory.

Please follow these steps to assign more memory to RSSOwl:

  • Close RSSOwl
  • Open RSSOwl.ini in the installation directory of RSSOwl
  • Find the line -Xmx192m
  • This line configures RSSOwl to use a maximum of 192MB of memory
  • Change the line to a higher value, e.g. -Xmx512m
  • Start RSSOwl
And second, if RSSOwl is consuming too much memory and suddenly crashes while using it, here are some tricks how to optimize RSSOwl for minimal memory use:
  • Frequently run the Clean-Up wizard with the options enabled to improve application performance and search performance (Tools | Clean Up)
  • Configure Clean-Up options to delete old news (Tools | Preferences | Feeds | Clean Up)
  • Limit the number of opened tabs (Tools | Preferences | View)
  • Configure your news filters to match on specific feeds instead of folders
  • Enable filters to only show relevant news (View | Filter News)
  • Use newspaper or headlines layout with pagination (View | Layout)
  • Make use of Saved Searches (see below)
  • Always have the latest version of Java installed
The clever use of saved searches can be the key to a fast RSSOwl especially when you have thousands of news and feeds:
  • Create a saved search per feed or folder you are often reading
  • Configure the search to only match on new, unread and updated news
  • Use the saved searches as usual to read your news
This makes RSSOwl perform good even if you are one of those that wants to keep every news ever downloaded in RSSOwl.

RSSOwl fails to create a Browser for reading news (Linux)!

Note: Beginning with RSSOwl 2.1, a new logic was implemented to find a browser to use within RSSOwl. The steps are as follows:

  • First try the OS configured browser if present
  • Second, use the browser that is specified from the -Dorg.eclipse.swt.browser.XULRunnerPath argument if provided
  • Third, try to use the browser that is bundled with RSSOwl
If the error persists even with RSSOwl 2.1, follow these instructions to manually install a browser to use with RSSOwl:
This error can be seen on Linux where RSSOwl tries to create an embedded Browser for reading news, but fails. RSSOwl is relying on a proper XULRunner version to be installed. Please make sure to have XULRunner 1.9.2.x installed on your system. RSSOwl can not use XULRunner 2 and above. XULRunner 2 was first introduced with Firefox 4 in 2011. Instructions:
  • Download XULRunner 1.9 Runtime
  • Extract it to any directory that RSSOwl can read
  • Add a new startup property to rssowl named -Dorg.eclipse.swt.browser.XULRunnerPath=[XULRunner Runtime Directory]
  • Start RSSOwl and it will pick up the browser from the provided location
Please refer to this FAQ entry how to start RSSOwl with parameters like that.

How can I get the best performance out of RSSOwl?

If RSSOwl is running slow for you or RSSOwl suddenly stopped working because your computer was running low on memory, here are some Tips and Tricks that will likely help you.

  • Always have the latest version of Java installed
  • Frequently run the Clean-Up wizard with the options enabled to improve application performance and search performance (Tools | Clean Up)
  • Configure Clean-Up options to delete old news (Tools | Preferences | Feeds | Clean Up)
  • Limit the number of opened tabs (Tools | Preferences | View)
  • Configure your news filters to match on specific feeds instead of folders
  • Enable filters to only show relevant news (View | Filter News)
  • Use newspaper or headlines layout with pagination (View | Layout)
  • Make use of Saved Searches (see below)
The clever use of saved searches can be the key to a fast RSSOwl especially when you have thousands of news and feeds:
  • Create a saved search per feed or folder you are often reading
  • Configure the search to only match on new, unread and updated news
  • Use the saved searches as usual to read your news
This makes RSSOwl perform good even if you are one of those that wants to keep every news ever downloaded in RSSOwl.

Why is the profile folder consuming so much disk space?

All your subscriptions and news entries are stored into a database in the profile folder. The more subscriptions and news you have, the larger the database will get. In addition, RSSOwl performs frequent backups of your database. Here are some simple ways to reduce the profile folder size:

  • Configure Clean-Up options to delete news automatically (Tools | Preferences | Feeds | Clean Up)
  • Frequently run the Clean-Up wizard with the options enabled to improve application performance and search performance (Tools | Clean Up)
  • Since 2.0.7: Reduce the number of backups (Tools | Preferences | Backups)
It is important to frequently run the Clean-Up wizard as this is the only method to reduce the size of the database after deleting subscriptions and news.

The embedded browser is not showing any content for a news, why?

If RSSOwl is showing no content for any news you select or the embedded browser is showing an error, then maybe your firewall is blocking RSSOwl from using the embedded browser to display the content. Try turning off your firewall for a moment (while not being connected to the internet) to see if its working then. If the firewall is the reason, configure it to allow connections to 127.0.0.1 on port 8795. This is what RSSOwl uses to retrieve content from. Adding this exception is not causing any harm.

RSSOwl behaves weird with GTK 2.18 (like Ubuntu and Fedora 12)

Please make sure that you are running RSSOwl 2.0.5 or later.

How can I run RSSOwl on Windows 64 Bits?

Just run RSSOwl like you would do on Windows 32 Bits, there is no need for an extra download. The Java Virtual machine that is necessary to run RSSOwl and any other Java application can run both 32 and 64 Bit applications.

RSSOwl is not using the language if selected, why?

If your operating system language is different from the language you want RSSOwl to use in, you have to tell RSSOwl to use a specific language. In order to do so, start RSSOwl with an additional parameter -nl followed by the two letter language code, for example: -nl de for german. Refer to this FAQ entry how to start RSSOwl with a parameter like that.

Some words in RSSOwl are wrong or not translated in my version

The translations of RSSOwl are provided by the community and there is lots of work involved. However, some words might be missing from the translation or translated wrong. In this case, you can help us out correcting the translation. Please read on in our wiki if you can help us.

I found a bug or would like to suggest an enhancement. Where can I report it?

We use our Forum to track suggestions and bug reports. Please report anything to http://dev.rssowl.org.

Is there any tutorial available?

Yes! Just select Help | Tutorial or press F1. You can also take a look at the Overview page on this web site that describes many of the features in RSSOwl.

Can I use RSSOwl in my language?

Yes! RSSOwl is translated into different languages. You can either download a translated version from our downloads page or install additional languages into your RSSOwl (Tools | Language | Download Additional Languages). If your language is not supported yet, you can help us.

How can I start RSSOwl with specific parameters?

At some point you might want to start RSSOwl with a specific parameter to control some specific behavior or restore to a previous backup. Please follow this advise depending on the operating system you are running RSSOwl on:

Windows

  • On Windows XP: Go to Start and select Run
  • On Windows 7/Vista: Press WindowsKey+R
  • Enter the file path and file name of RSSOwl followed by the parameters
  • Use quotation marks if the file path contains blanks
  • For example: "C:\Program Files\RSSOwl\RSSOwl.exe" -noSplash
  • Click OK
Linux
  • Open a Terminal
  • Browse to the RSSOwl installation directory
  • Execute the RSSOwl launcher and simply pass the arguments after
Mac
  • Open a Terminal
  • Browse to the RSSOwl installation directory
  • Type open -n ./RSSOwl.app --args followed by the arguments
  • For example: open -n ./RSSOwl.app --args -noSplash

What are the supported arguments of the launcher of RSSOwl?

Refer to this FAQ entry how to start RSSOwl with a parameter like the following.

  • -nosplash will hide the splash screen on startup
  • -data <path> denotes the directory to use for storing the profile
  • -vm <javaVM> specifies the Java VM to be used
  • -vmargs <arguments> where arguments can be any of the following:
  • -DdisableUpdate=true will disable the integrated update feature
  • -DdisableNotifierTransparency will disable transparency for the notifier
  • -DmultiInstance allows to run more than one instance of RSSOwl at the same time
  • -Dportable makes RSSOwl more portable by disabling caches of the embedded browser
  • -DcsvSeparator allows to specify the character that should be used as CSV separator
  • -Dimport=<OPML file> will import the given OPML file on first startup of RSSOwl
  • -DconTimeout=<millies> the connection timeout when loading feeds in millies
  • -DmaxReloadJobs=<number> the number of concurrent connections to load feeds
  • -DnoFolderLimit will always show all news of a folder instead of limiting to 500
  • -DnoXulrunner will disable the use of XULRunner even if it was registered in the OS
  • -DdisableStopWords will avoid ignoring stop words for fulltext searches
  • -Dlocalhost=<IP> will use the provided IP to display the content of news
  • -Dport=<Port> will use the provided port to display the content of news
  • -DenableNtlmProxy will enable support for NTLM proxy
  • -Duser.timezone=<zone> will use the provided Timezone for the dates of news
  • -DaddonSites=<URL>|<URL>|<URL>|... will look for addons on the provided sites
  • -DshortDateFormat=<format> the format used to render dates in the news table
  • -DlongDateFormat=<format> the format used to render dates in the article
  • -DshortTimeFormat=<format> the format used to render times in the article

How do I disable the splash-screen on startup?

Just pass -noSplash to the rssowl launcher. Example: rssowl.exe -noSplash on windows. Refer to this FAQ entry how to start RSSOwl with a parameter like that.

What are the steps to use Mozilla as Browser in RSSOwl?

Note that using Mozilla as Browser in RSSOwl lacks quite some features over using Internet Explorer. If your only concern against using IE is it's vulnerability against JavaScript, then you should know that beginning with Milestone 9, JavaScript is disabled by default.

Note that you can only use the rendering engine of Mozilla inside RSSOwl. Any other feature of Mozilla or Firefox can not be used from within RSSOwl. Download XULRunner for your operating system:

Then follow these short instructions on how to complete the installation after the download. Make sure to restart RSSOwl. It will use XULRunner from now on automatically until you uninstall it again.

RSSOwl 2.1 disables support for XULRunner 1.9.x due to some issues. If you still want to use XULRunner 1.9.x on Windows, follow these steps:
  • Download and Install RSSOwl 2.0.6
  • Update from within RSSOwl to version 2.1.x (Help | Find Updates)
  • Install XULRunner 1.9.x and register it as described above

This is a known issue called hotlink protection and there is a workaround at least on Windows when using XULRunner:

  • Setup RSSOwl to use XULRunner
  • Open Tools | Preferences | Browser and enable to use embedded browser
  • Open a Browser Tab in RSSOwl and type about:config
  • Type network.http.sendRefererHeader in the filter bar
  • Change the value to 0

Ctrl+C stops working when I use Mozilla as Browser!

This is a known issue. To solve it, you have to remove the keybinding for Copy in Tools | Preferences | Overview | Keys.

Is it risky to use the Internet Explorer in RSSOwl?

RSSOwl helps making the embedded Internet Explorer more secure by disabling JavaScript by default. You can change this in Tools | Preferences | Browser. You can also globally disable to load media content for news (Tools | Preferences | Feeds | Reading).

What key bindings does the notifier support?

The notification window showing incoming news supports the following key bindings provided it has the keyboard focus:

  • Arrow Keys to navigate between pages
  • Page Up and Page Down to navigate between pages
  • Home key to navigate to first page
  • End key to navigate to last page
  • Space key to mark a page as read and open next page
  • Escape to close the notifier
  • Enter to restore RSSOwl
  • Ctrl+Click on a link to open it in the browser
  • Mouse-Wheel to navigate between pages

How can I bring back the Internet Explorer as Browser in RSSOwl on Windows?

Execute xulrunner.exe --unregister-global from the command line. If that does not work, you can force to use Internet Explorer by starting RSSOwl with the parameter -vmargs -DnoXulrunner.

I am hearing annoying click sounds while using RSSOwl

Here are the steps to turn off the click sounds when using RSSOwl:

  • Click Start | Control Panel | Sounds and Audio Devices
  • Click the Sounds tab
  • Scroll down the list under Program Events. Under the Windows Explorer section, highlight Start Navigation
  • Under the Sounds box, select (None) and OK to close the Control Panel

RSSOwl refuses to open my feed on startup!

Beginning with RSSOwl 2.0.4, the behavior of feeds that open on startup has changed slightly in case you have disabled tabs in preferences. There is a conflicting option that is enabled by default that will reopen the last opened feed on startup. If tabs are not enabled, then only one tab can be displayed at the same time. To ensure your selected feed opens on startup, do as follows:

  • Click Tools | Preferences | View
  • Uncheck Reopen last opened feeds on startup and click OK
  • Open the properties of the feed you want to open on startup and enable Open on startup

Can links open external in the background?

If the browser supports a startup parameter to open links in the background, you can simply append it after the path for the browser executable in preferences. For Firefox, you can do this:

  • Start Firefox
  • In the address field, type about:config and press enter
  • Set the option browser.tabs.loadDivertedInBackground to true

Is it possible to use RSSOwl on a different PC and keep my settings and articles?

Yes! Simply run File | Export and select all your feeds, labels, filters and preferences. On the other PC, start RSSOwl and select File | Import to import everything back.

In order to also keep your articles synchronized between different PCs, you should configure Google Reader Synchronization.

Is it possible to import subscriptions from Google Reader?

Yes! Simply run File | Import and select to import from Google Reader.

Which newsfeed formats are supported?

RSSOwl is supporting RSS versions 0.91, 0.92 and 2.0, RDF version 1.0, Atom Syndication Format 0.3, 1.0 and OPML.

What are the steps to install an add-on to RSSOwl?

  • Select Tools | Add-ons | Find Add-ons
  • Select the Add-ons you want to install from the Dialog
  • Follow the instructions of the installation wizard

What are the steps to uninstall an add-on from RSSOwl?

Uninstalling add-ons in RSSOwl is a 2-step process. At first, the add-on has to be disabled before it can be uninstalled. A disabled add-on can always be enabled again later if you think that you want the add-on back. To disable an add-on:

  • Select Tools | Add-ons | Manage Add-ons
  • Select the Add-on you want to uninstall from the tree on the left
  • Select Disable from the right hand side
  • Follow the advise to restart RSSOwl
Now, to uninstall the add-on from your computer:
  • Select Tools | Add-ons | Manage Add-ons
  • Select Show Disabled Features from the top toolbar of the dialog to make your previously disabled add-on show up
  • Select Uninstall from the right hand side
  • Follow the advise to restart RSSOwl

Can I read my newsgroups in RSSOwl?

With a separate add-on you can read any newsgroup inside RSSOwl as if the newsgroup was a normal feed. To install the add-on select Tools | Add-ons | Find Add-ons and choose the Simple Newsgroup Support from the list. To add a new newsgroup, simply create a new bookmark and use the following format for the Link: news://server/groupname (e.g. news://news.eclipse.org/eclipse.platform.swt).

How can I search for more news feeds?

Use the Import Wizard (Tools | Find more Feeds) to either search for feeds by keyword or from a web site of your interest.

Is it possible to read Newsfeeds from a source that needs authentification?

If RSSOwl attemps to open a newsfeed from a site that is protected with a username and password it opens a dialog for you to authenticate. After a successfull authentification the newsfeed is displayed. You can manage stored passwords from Tools | Preferences | Passwords and even assign a master password to protect them.

Is it possible have different authentification for the same feed?

Yes. However, you need to let RSSOwl know. The following is an example for how to achieve this with the RSS feed of a GMail account. We want to subscribe to the GMail account with 2 different accounts:

  • Make sure to delete any existing saved passwords for gmail.google.com
  • Subscribe to https://gmail.google.com/gmail/feed/atom#1
  • When prompted for a password, cancel
  • Subscribe to https://gmail.google.com/gmail/feed/atom#2
  • When prompted for a password, cancel
  • Open Tools | Preferences | Passwords
  • Add passwords for the two added feeds
  • Delete the entry for gmail.google.com if existing
  • Reload both feeds
The key things to do as you can see from the example are:
  • You need to make the feeds different by appending some characters to the URL that cause no harm
  • You need to provide different username and password per feed

Is it possible to use a proxy server with RSSOwl?

Yes! Configure the proxy in Tools | Preferences | Overview | Network Connections.

Is it possible to use a NTLM proxy server with RSSOwl?

Yes!

  • Start RSSOwl with the parameter -vmargs -DenableNtlmProxy
  • Configure the proxy in Tools | Preferences | Overview | Network Connections
  • Use the following format for the username: DOMAIN\Username
  • RSSOwl will then extract the domain from the username for NTLM authentication
Refer to this FAQ entry how to start RSSOwl with a parameter.

Why am I asked for proxy credentials on each startup?

RSSOwl checks for updates on each startup. This eventually brings up a dialog asking for proxy credentials. You can disable the automatic update check setting a startup parameter -vmargs -DdisableUpdate=true. Refer to this FAQ entry how to start RSSOwl with a parameter.

Is it possible to convert an article to PDF?

Yes! Just select the article and select PrintFriendly from the list of share providers (News | Share News).

Is it possible to filter out media content from news?

Yes! You can configure this globally (Tools | Preferences | Feeds | Display) or per feed (Edit | Properties | Display).

What are the steps to show Flash content on Linux?

The Browser looks for plug-ins in ~/.mozilla/plugins and <nativeBrowserDir>/plugins. If a plug-in is installed anywhere else then MOZ_PLUGIN_PATH must be set in order to find it, see http://www.eclipse.org/swt/faq.php#mozillaplugins.

Why do I see duplicate news or old news marked as updated or missing news?

Note: Beginning with RSSOwl 2.1 this feature can be turned off (Tools | Preferences | Feeds | Reading | Mark Duplicate News as Read).

Whenever a feed gets reloaded, RSSOwl has to compare the news that are part of the feed with the news that where downloaded from a previous reload to find out:

  • if there is any new news to store locally
  • if any of the local news has been updated
The following algorithm is then used to find out if any of the news in the feed are identical to news that have been downloaded before. This algorithm defines if a news is showing up as new, updated or not at all:
  1. Compare the <guid> value: News are identical if this value is identical. If not, the News is not considered to be the same if the isPermaLink value is set to true
  2. Compare the <link> value: News are identical if this value is identical. If not, the News is not considered to be the same.
  3. Compare the <title> value: News are identical if this value is identical. If not, the News is not considered to be the same.
And finally, to find out if a local existing news has been updated, RSSOwl only compares the title of the news because normally authors tend to append a little word to the title (e.g. Updated) to highlight the update. If the title of a news is identical to the local version but the content is different, RSSOwl will not indicate this as an update.

Why is RSSOwl 2.0 consuming more memory compared to 1.x?

RSSOwl 2.0 uses a couple of technologies that make it possible to add new features very easily and allows one to manage, search and read news in a way that is far beyond what RSSOwl 1.x supports.

Please refer to this FAQ entry how to improve RSSOwl for best performance.

If you are subscribed to more than 200 feeds, you will notice that RSSOwl 2.0 performs a lot better compared to RSSOwl 1.x

Why is RSSOwl 2.0 15 MB in size compared to 5 MB for RSSOwl 1.x?

Because RSSOwl 2.0 is at least three times cooler than any previous version ;-).

Is it possible to contact the developers?

Either contact Benjamin, or visit us in our IRC Channel #rssowl at irc.freenode.net. Also consider visiting our public forums to ask questions.

Is there instructions on how to build RSSOwl from source?

Yes!

I have a question that is not answered in this FAQ. What can I do?

Consider starting the RSSOwl Tutorial from Help | Tutorial that will help you getting started with RSSOwl. You can also use our public forums to ask questions. Otherwise, either contact Benjamin, or visit us in our IRC Channel #rssowl at irc.freenode.net.