How to create a feed for feed-less websites
June 21, 2013 9:12 AM Subscribe
How can I track changes/updates to a webpage when it doesn't have an rss feed?
Is there a way to create a feed that will track all the changes to a website that doesn't have dedicated feed to subscribe to? I saw this blog post about how Google Reader did have a function for this but I don't think it exists anymore (see here: http://googlereader.blogspot.com/2010/01/follow-changes-to-any-website.html).
For example, I want to be able to subscribe to all the news updates by Auburn University's College of Arch, Design and Construction. The site is here: http://www.cadc.auburn.edu/Pages/news.aspx. But Feedly says they don't have a feed to subscribe to and I'm not surprised. But is there a way to track new changes instead of refreshing the URL daily? I'll be on the look out for news items from many sites and checking each one by one is way too time consuming.
Also, say that I want to subscribe to all new articles in the Atlantic Focus: Sustainability section. When I paste http://www.theatlanticcities.com/special-report/focus-sustainability/ into Feedly's add content however, my only option is to subscribe to everything the Atlantic puts out--not what I want.
Suggestions? I'm currently using Feedly.
Is there a way to create a feed that will track all the changes to a website that doesn't have dedicated feed to subscribe to? I saw this blog post about how Google Reader did have a function for this but I don't think it exists anymore (see here: http://googlereader.blogspot.com/2010/01/follow-changes-to-any-website.html).
For example, I want to be able to subscribe to all the news updates by Auburn University's College of Arch, Design and Construction. The site is here: http://www.cadc.auburn.edu/Pages/news.aspx. But Feedly says they don't have a feed to subscribe to and I'm not surprised. But is there a way to track new changes instead of refreshing the URL daily? I'll be on the look out for news items from many sites and checking each one by one is way too time consuming.
Also, say that I want to subscribe to all new articles in the Atlantic Focus: Sustainability section. When I paste http://www.theatlanticcities.com/special-report/focus-sustainability/ into Feedly's add content however, my only option is to subscribe to everything the Atlantic puts out--not what I want.
Suggestions? I'm currently using Feedly.
I use Page2RSS and it works great. A+
posted by mattbucher at 9:33 AM on June 21, 2013
posted by mattbucher at 9:33 AM on June 21, 2013
Response by poster: Hey, thanks for the mention of Page2RSS. I started to use it, but after adding just a handful of links, ran into the 'Rate Limited' error. I did some searching and there's no clear answer on whether this is a daily/weekly/monthly limitation to adding feeds. I've got a lot of sites to add that frustratingly enough, don't have feeds.
So I've run into a dead end on Page2RSS. I also came across some recent posts that are saying Page2RSS is checking pages fairly infrequently which worries me as well. If you have anymore suggestions, I'd love to hear them.
posted by bluelight at 9:58 AM on June 21, 2013
So I've run into a dead end on Page2RSS. I also came across some recent posts that are saying Page2RSS is checking pages fairly infrequently which worries me as well. If you have anymore suggestions, I'd love to hear them.
posted by bluelight at 9:58 AM on June 21, 2013
Firefox had this built in at one time - active bookmarks or something like that. I don't know if it is still there as I have not looked recently but it is probably worth checking into.
posted by COD at 11:15 AM on June 21, 2013
posted by COD at 11:15 AM on June 21, 2013
You can do this with Yahoo Pipes. Old Instructions here, I don't know if these instructions still work since I don't use Pipes.
posted by Arbac at 11:35 AM on June 21, 2013
posted by Arbac at 11:35 AM on June 21, 2013
Best answer: I've used Update Scanner for Firefox or Page Monitor for Chrome. It doesn't work on mobile and it can give a lot of alerts when the page changes advertising or things like that. But you can customize how often to scan and it can scan many pages at once for you.
posted by caesura at 3:36 PM on June 21, 2013
posted by caesura at 3:36 PM on June 21, 2013
Firefox had this built in at one time
Live Bookmarks are supported by RSS. It doesn't create an update feature when that is not provided. (It's no longer on the home screen by default, so follow this tutorial.) FYI.
posted by dhartung at 6:50 PM on June 21, 2013
Live Bookmarks are supported by RSS. It doesn't create an update feature when that is not provided. (It's no longer on the home screen by default, so follow this tutorial.) FYI.
posted by dhartung at 6:50 PM on June 21, 2013
Dead easy way to filter feeds for keywords before it gets to your reader: Feedsifter.com. Not sure about the refresh rate.
Firefox add-on Alertbox can track changes on a specific area of a website, so even if the banners or whatever else changes, you won't get alerted. You can customize the refresh rate to minutes or days. You can also specify that you want to be alerted only when that area contains certain text or numbers. Sometimes I use it to track prices, so that if the price goes down to a number that I specify, it alerts me. It makes timewasting on the internet more efficient. :)
posted by jyorraku at 8:40 PM on June 21, 2013
Firefox add-on Alertbox can track changes on a specific area of a website, so even if the banners or whatever else changes, you won't get alerted. You can customize the refresh rate to minutes or days. You can also specify that you want to be alerted only when that area contains certain text or numbers. Sometimes I use it to track prices, so that if the price goes down to a number that I specify, it alerts me. It makes timewasting on the internet more efficient. :)
posted by jyorraku at 8:40 PM on June 21, 2013
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by brocrastinator at 9:30 AM on June 21, 2013