Version 4.1.0.9 Released

Just some minor tweaks but most importantly we took out the Google content at the top and bottom of each feed page.

Version 4.0.0.8 Released

We are pleased to announce the release of Version 4.0.0.8 of Feed Farmer! There are only a couple minor changes; you may not even notice them.

1. Repaired error message on startup: Settings Update Failed.
2. Removed Dlink URLs they are no longer active.
3. Repair defect in Browser View that can occur on exit.

RSS Billboard

Just created another RSS Reader application. This one is geared toward presentation of single items in a ticker-like fashion. Uses mostly parts from Feed Farmer.

Windows Update Immanent

We are working on a Windows 7 build of the software, which will go as Feed Farmer 2011.

Initially it will be a minimum-effort rebuild, to hook into the current editions of Common Feed List and Media Player interop.

Android Version Coming

If you have an Android phone, stay tuned; Feed Farmer is coming...

Required Update 3.0.0.6

Man is this a big fat update! Well worth your wait, I promise....

Changes

1. Browse View: Link enhancement via dlink. Sorry, you can't turn it off, nor would you want to!
2. Power Search View: added. Searches across 10+ sites in parallel, and gives you the results.
3. Browse View: added ability to save and restore open tab URLs between sessions.
4. Browse View: added configuration settings.
5. Gallery View: added. Responsible for image/* MIME type.
6. Playlist View: now responsible for enclosures audio/*.
7. Feed List View: Next Entry command now loops to the top of the list from the bottom.

Fixes

1. Browse View: links that were previously non-responsive (due to a New Window request) now generate a new tab according to the Blocker setting.
2. Rendering: Ironed out encoding issues; it is always UTF-16 now.
3. Enclosures View: detects previously-downloaded enclosures on startup.
4. Still more shutdown enhancements.
5. Playlist View: internal enhancements to address defects.
6. Enclosures View: enhancements to detecting status changes.
7. Feed List View: Next entry did not work for categorized result filters.

Still Upcoming

It is really close; sorry for the delay. I do have a day job like you.

I am frantically working on closing this release for Today or Tomorrow.

Upcoming

More stuff in the pipe for the next update; hopefully this week.

• Gallery View: new plugin that services enclosures with MIME image/*.
• Enclosures View: reworked to fit the new enclosure model. Enclosure status changes are now "broadcast" to the rest of the application.
• Playlist View: now services enclosures with MIME audio/*. This was previously in the Enclosures View.
• Playlist View: internal enhancements to address defects.
• Enclosures View: enhancements to detecting status changes.

And more I'm sure. Most of these are complete.

Required Update 3.0.0.5

Changes

1. Improve startup when the Common Feed List Platform is not present.
2. Automatically add this feed to your CFL on startup. Don't bother deleting it; it will get put back. After all, you want to know about updates, don't you?
3. Browse View: popup control is now present. Spawn windows as desired!
4. Continuing clean-up of shutdown errors.
5. Write a log file on unhandled application errors. Feel free to submit them.

Upcoming Enhancements

This post I would like to mention upcoming items of interest.

• Popup control. Right now all New Window requests are blocked without notifying you (sorry). Expect to see a UI that displays a list blocked popup links for you. Selected links spawn a new Tab Page.
• Auto-add this blog to your Feed List.
• Get the correct character encoding set on the Browse View Feed Tab. This manifests itself as "strange" characters appearing where there should be whitespace. The character encoding should be UTF-8.
• Getting "off the desktop". For those that don't want the main window visible all the time, allow control through the Task Tray icon and Task Tray notifications.

Required Update 3.0.0.4

Yet another required update.

Changes

1. More work internally to increase performance and use less memory.
2. Enclosures View: status update timer is always active, every 30 seconds.
3. Feed List View: enhance drawing when resized.

Required Update 3.0.0.3

More enhancements. Check with ClickOnce for upgrade.

The Enclosures View saw lots of activity in this update.

Changes

1. Added menu opacity.
2. Left-hand View: changed button click to rotate through views, instead of collapsing.
3. Feed List View: added Next command. This marks the current feed as read, and advances to the next one in the list.
4. Feed List View: Category and Subject Filters use the selected Unread/Read/All setting.
5. Feed List View: Added graphics for "Downloaded" and "Published" text.
6. Enclosures View: enhance performance when switching between Unread/Read/All views.
7. Enclosures View: correct handling of delete enclosures request from Playlist View.
8. Enclosures View: implement the Add Downloaded Items to Playlist setting.
9. Enclosures View: add notify to taskbar setting for Add Downloaded Items to Playlist.
10. Enclosures View: added Read/Unread item status to list view.

Required Update 3.0.0.2

This is a required update. ClickOnce will update your deployment when you launch.

Changes

1. Added ability to switch layout between 1- and 2-column views.
2. Enclosures: Added background processing. Keeps UI unlocked more.
3. Enclosures: Reduced update frequency while downloading status is active.
4. Enclosures: Feeds are sorted by Status, Feed, Title.
5. Clear Temp Files: Added command to delete all temporary generated HTML files.
6. Feed List View: Added filter name to description on the toolstrip.

Welcome To Feed Farmer

And for the approximately 900 who downloaded the previous version, Welcome Back!

We are back to avenge a lame 2-star rating on download.com!

This time around, we are taking advantage of the Microsoft Common Feed List (CFL) and its download engine, forsaking hundreds of lines of code bent towards the same purpose.

If you are already using the "Feeds" feature of IE 7, you are golden! Your feed list will come right up. If not, OPML interchange is a snap with IE.

Another new feature this time around is the use of ClickOnce deployment:

ClickOnce Deployment Page

The 2009 edition of FF is slim-and-trim and just as high-performance as the previous edition. Gone is all the useless configuration and clutter; there isn't even a Main Menu this time!

The Task Tray is also put to use in this edition; you can annoy yourself as much or as little as desired by Feed-related events.

There are also more ways to view your feeds, with Category and Subject/Author views, color-coded according to item count.

Navigating Feed Item links now uses Tabbed Browsing, keeping you in one place and organized. Currently all popups are cruelly terminated, to minimize bother.

And now, the bad news! There are ads. The hope is to offer an ad-free version at a modest amount; we shall see what the interest is.