Looking for good web- or desktop-based RSS reader that can handle older posts

September 5, 2008 9:26 PM

What options do I have for a good web- (preferred) or desktop(Windows)-based RSS reader that has good options for managing older posts within feeds?

I've been using Google Reader as my primary reader for as long as I can remember, but I'm getting fed up with its behaviour around auto-archiving posts after 1 month and not being able to mark older posts as unread.

I subscribe to approximately 100 feeds, some that are chatty (dozens of posts a day) and some that are pretty quiet (1 post every 1-2 weeks or less).

Every now and then I find a new blog to follow and when I subscribe to it I'd like to easily read previous posts as well. Google Reader retrieves older posts, but doesn't let me mark them as unread.

Also, it has the very annoying feature of marking as read anything older than 1 month. This is fine for a chatty feed, but I don't like this behaviour for quieter feeds.

I looked into FeedDemon/NewsGator but it seems to also be limited in handling older posts.

Are there any options for a decent solution that is more flexible for older posts?

posted by fsmontenegro to Computers & Internet (4 answers total)

Could you star the posts instead of marking them unread?

I haven't used bloglines in a long time, but it's worth checking to see what features they have.
posted by chrisamiller at 10:39 PM on September 5, 2008

For Google Reader:

- Go to "Settings"
- Go to "Preferences"
- Uncheck "In expanded view, mark items as read when you scroll past them"

You can use the "m" key to toggle the "Read/Unread" status of individual posts that arrive after you make this change. Posts that were already marked as read can not be toggled.

It's dumb for Google Reader to do this so poorly. I still love it because I can read my feeds from anywhere.
posted by DWRoelands at 6:11 AM on September 6, 2008

I don't think that works DW; I have always had that unchecked, and items that I set as unread, still get changed to read after some time (I guess it's a month; I've never really checked). I've used Bloglines in the past, which lets you set any items as unread. However, I like the format of Google Reader better. I feel there's more information fit into the page on GR. I usually just star things I want to read later; I unstar them after I read them. I usually just use the unread thing to mean something that has been posted recently (not necessarily that I've read it).
posted by bluefly at 7:14 AM on September 6, 2008

I use beta.bloglines.com, and it seems to allow posts to accumulate for as long as I let it.
posted by lukemeister at 8:27 PM on September 6, 2008