Delayed reading: OpenSource alternative



Recently, I discovered the convenience of deferred reading - when an interested article on the network can be read at any time, sitting comfortably with your favorite device on the couch / beach / under a lone tree on the path leading to the base camp at the foot of Everest. And although there are enough proprietary solutions for this (Instapaper, Pocket, Readability), the soul persistently demanded OpenSource. And now what decision I came up with after exploring the possible options.



Catalog


As the directory for the articles, I use the Wallabag application (formerly Poshe, the project’s Github page here ), which allows you to quickly and easily save the selected content with the original formatting, tables and pictures (but nevertheless neatly cut advertising and extra elements) for read it online or on a mobile device. The application is designed to be deployed on its own server, however, you can register for free on the friendly project site Framabagand start using the already installed and configured instance. For testing, I opened an account there, but I liked the application so much that now I am thinking about moving to my equipment. The installation process on your server is described in detail here .


Saving Articles


I pick up articles in the catalog using the extension for Firefox , which also supports the mobile version of the browser. You can still drag texts from active tabs using the Java-Script string stored in bookmarks:

javascript:if(top['bookmarklet-url@wallabag.org']){top['bookmarklet-url@wallabag.org'];}else{(function(){var url = location.href || url;window.open('http://ссылка_на_инстанс_wallabag/?action=add&url=' + btoa(url),'_self');})();void(0);}

An extension for Chrome and an application for iOS and Windows Phone are also available .


Reading


Wallabag submits the list of articles as an RSS feed, so it’s convenient to use your favorite RSS aggregator for deferred reading. To do this, a token is generated in the directory settings and the appeared link to the “Unread feed” is fed to the RSS application. For reading on Android I use:





  • FeedEx (Android 4.0.3+) for smartphone and tablet;
  • Sparse rss (Android 1.5+) for Nook Simple Touch, scrolling with the dpad up and down buttons (buttons on the right side of the screen in ZeroLab Nooter firmware ).


Both programs have an open-source license, they can download articles together with pictures for further offline reading and synchronize the feed at a set time interval. An official application for Android exists , but it is developing slowly and so far does not know how to add new links, load images, and generally requires Android 2.2 (Nook Simple Touch disappears).


Cons of the decision:


  • more time required for tuning than using proprietary solutions;
  • when reading an article via RSS on a mobile device, it’s not possible to mark it as “read” in the Wallabag catalog, while visiting the web interface you have to add a daw on this article.


Pros:


  • convenient and effective tool for deferred reading, including offline;
  • the ability to export articles to ePub (individual texts and the entire catalog at once);
  • support for multiple users - one instance for the whole family and friends;
  • the ability to migrate your profile from other deferred reading services (Instapaper and others like them) and export your Wallabag directory to json;
  • Favorites, search, topics and tags in the web interface;
  • the ability to delay reading on older versions of Android;
  • open source, free;
  • privacy (in case of using your own server).


Instead of a conclusion


Alexander Zinoviev talked about learning: "When a person stops learning, he enters the stage of aging." I hope this short article will help you, Khabrovsk citizen, to read, learn and learn something new easier, more effective and more convenient, staying young and full of energy for things that are really important for longer.




PS:


1) Dear pred8or, it tells you how to configure the Wallabag instance to save images locally: you need to fix the line in the configuration file (inc / poche / config.inc.php):
define ('DOWNLOAD_PICTURES', TRUE);

2) The Honorable subvillion shares in the comments information about another alternative - Astatum .




PPS: A few screenshots:




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