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Newsroom Panel

The Newsroom Panel probably has the most functionality of all the Desktop Sidebar panels. It allows you to receive published RSS feeds (refered to as "channels") from websites or create them using the HTML Parsing Tool. You can view each channel individually, group them together, or view a "Newspaper" showing the headlines from all the channels. The Newsroom panel also has the capability to Import and Export preconfigured channels.

To access the Options of the Newsroom Panel follow these instructions:

• Right mouse click on the Newsroom Panel and select Panel Properties.
  
  
  Channels Tab
  In this tab there is a list of the RSS Channels you are currently subscribed to.
  • The Add Button allows you to Enter an RSS newsfeed URL, HTML page URL, Select new Channel from KilpFarm, or add a Channel from Desktop Sidebar's Most Popular NewsFeeds, Syndic8.com, MoreOver, or Internet.com Directories.
  After selecting a Channel to add you its Properties Window will open to let you set its properties:
  • Caption is the Channel Name that is displayed.
  • Homepage is where the Channel will link to.
  • Newsfeed URL is the RSS source used for the Channel.
  • Show first XX headlines allows you to set the maximum number of headlines to display at once.
  • Enabling Show RSS item description will display the description of the RSS item.
  • Encoding allows you to select the specific encoding type. Auto is the suggested setting.
  • Enabling Right to left will display the text from the right to the left in the panel.
  • To set a custom Refresh rate disable the Use default option and enter the number of minutes between refreshing. It is suggested that you do not set the refresh rate below 30 minutes as it may flood the newsfeed's server. This could lead to the server blocking your IP or ISP.
  • The Edit Button allows you to Edit the Preferences for the Selected Channel.
  • The Remove Button will remove the Selected Channel from the Channels listing.
  • The Other Button give you three (3) options:
  • Sort will Sort the Channels alphabetically.
  • Import Channels allows you to import a DSC file holding preconfigured list of Desktop Sidebar Channels to your panel.
  • Export Channels will create a DSC file holding the Selected Channel(s). (Hold the CTRL button to select more than one (1) channel.)
  • The KilpFarm link will bring you to Klip Farm's main website to find additional RSS newsfeeds.
  
  
  View Tab
  This tab allows you to configure the way that RSS channels are displayed in the Newsroom Panel.
  • Enabling Display channels separately will display the headlines for each Channel source separately.
  • Enabling the Slideshow Option will allow the Newsroom Panel to display all of the headlines automatically.
  The next two (2) options will only apply if the Slideshow is Enabled.
  • Enabling Scroll to next headline after XX second(s) instructs the panel to scroll down to a new headline after the set number of seconds.
  • Switch to next channel after XX second(s) instructs the panel to display a new channel's headlines after the set number of seconds.
  • Enabling Show new headlines in different color will display new headlines in a different color defined by the current skin.
  • Show new headlines for XX minute(s) defines how long a headline is to be considered "new".
  • Enabling Hide read headlines will only display the headlines that you haven't read yet.
  • Enabling Hide old headlines will hide headlines after a set number of hours.
  Note: This option is not available for all channels.
  The next option only applies if Hide old headlines is Enabled.
  • Mark as old headline older than XX hour(s) instructs the panel to consider a headline as old after the set number of hours.
  • Enabling Show article text in the details window will show the Text of the selected article in the Details Window; if disabled it will only provide a link to the source site.
  • Enabling Show Toolbar will display the Next Channel, Previous Channel, Next Unread Headline, Scroll Up, Scroll Down, Mark All As Visited, Newspaper View, and Refresh buttons in a toolbar at the top of the panel.
  • Enabling Show progressbar will display a progress bar to indicate the progress of downloading new headlines.
  • Default refresh rate: XX minute(s) defines the default refresh rate to refresh the newsfeed headlines.
  
  
  Integration Tab
  When Desktop Sidebar is integrated with Internet Explorer you can automatically add RSS newsfeeds to your Newsroom panel or convert HTML websites into valid channels to be displayed in the Newsroom Panel.
  • Enabling Make Sidebar default klip file viewer will automatically display all new KlipFarm klips in the Newsroom Panel.
  • Enabling Integrate with Internet Explorer will add an Orange XML button to the toolbar buttons and create an option to Subscribe in Desktop Sidebar to the context menu and explorer tools menu.
  
  
  Rules Tab
  This tab allows you to create rules to Hide or Highlight particular headlines or Show an Alerts, Activate the Panel, or Play a Sound when new headline is downloaded.
  • You will see a list of all the configured rules. Only marked rules will be activated.
  • The Add button allows you to Create a predefined rule or Configure a new one.
  • Add a new rule... will open the Rule window for you to configure a new Rule.
  In the rule properties you need to set the conditions, actions, and Name of your rule.
  • Set condition(s) for your rule:
  • Where the headline contains specific word
  • Where the headline does not contain specific word
  • Where the headline is specific word
  • Where the headline is not specific word
  • Where the headline is from the specified channel
  • Where the headline is not from the specified channel
  • Where news contains specific word
  • Where news does not contain specific word
  
  
  • Set Action(s):
  • Enabling Delete it will delete the headline.
  • Display an alert will display a standard alert.
  • Display an alert with custom message will display an alert with a message defined by you.
  • Play a sound will play a sound defined by you.
  • Start application will run a program defined by you.
  • Activate panel will activate the Newsroom Panel.
  • Stop processing more rules will prevent the remaining rules from being checked.
  • Mark it will mark the headline with a new background color defined by the current skin.
  
  
  • Rule description:
  • If there is an underlined word in the description click on it to define what sound, message, or program to use.
  
  
  • Rule name:
  • Enter the Name of the Rule. It is helpful to describe what the panel does in its name.
  
  The following are preconfigured rules that you may add and modify to fit your needs.
  • Activate panel after downloading a new headline
  • Activate channel after downloading a new headline
  • Show alert after downloading a new headline
  • Play a sound after downloading a new headline
  • Remove noise - Customize this feed
  • Remove noise - neowin.net
  • Mark headlines about Longhorn
  
  
  • The Edit button will open the Rules window for you to edit the selected rule's configuration.
  • The Remove button will delete the selected rule.

If enabled, you may control the Newsroom Panel using the Toolbar buttons:

Descriptions listed in Order of Appearance from Left to Right:
• The Previous Button will move to the Previous Channel.
• The Next Button will move to the Next Channel.
• The Next Unread Button will move to the next Unread Channel.
• The Up Button will scroll up in the current channels headlines.
• The Down Button will scroll up in the current channels headlines.
• The Mark All As Visited Button will Mark all of the Current Headlines as Visited.
• The Newspaper Button will open the Newspaper View.
• The Refresh Button will refresh all the Channel's Headlines.

Right mouse clicking will give you a large number of commands:

There are four (4) different Newsroom Command Sections in the menu:
• View Commands
• Open will Open the selected headline in a new internet browser window.
• Newspaper will Open the Newspaper View of all the Channels.


• Channel listings
• All will Disable the Show each channel separatly option and show All headlines from All channels in the Newsroom Panel.
• Each of the Channels will be listed with the number of Headlines. Selecting one of these Channels will Enable the Show each channel separatly option and move to show the selected channel in the panel.


• Toolbar Commands
• Refresh will refresh all the Channel's Headlines.
• Previous will move to the Previous Channel.
• Next will move to the Next Channel.
• Mark as Visited will Mark the Current Headline as Visited.
• Mark Channel as Visited will Mark all of the Headlines in the Current Channel as Visited.
• Mark All as Visited will Mark all of the Current Headlines as Visited.


• Display Options
• Scrollbar will Toggle the Scrollbar on and off.
• Slideshow will Toggle the Slideshow option on and off.
• Hide Read will Toggle the Hide read headlines option on and off.
• Remove will remove the current channel from the panel.

To control the panel without menus or buttons:

• Clicking on a headline will open the source website for that headline in a new Internet Browser window.
• Hovering over a headline will open a details window showing the headline text if Show article text in the details window is enabled. If disabled the headline and a link to the source website will be displayed in the details window.

As mentioned earlier there is a powerful parsing tool that you may use to convert an HTML website into a valid Desktop Sidebar channel. The following is a description of the tool and how to use it.

• When subscribe to a HTML source a couple of popup windows will open and download information from syndication websites to check if there is a similar RSS newsfeed already available.
• After the check a new window will open asking for your Subscribe Method.
• If a similar feed is found you may select it from the Subscribe to similar channel drop down list.
• You may also select Convert HTML to headlines with regular expressions. This is the method to choose if you would like to make a Desktop Sidebar channel from the HTML source. To setup the Channel properly you need to press the Configure button and set the HTML to Channel Configuration.
• To start configuring go to the Preview Tab and find a headline that you would like to have displayed in the panel.
• Copy the headline text, Enter it as the Sample headline, and click Find.
• When it finds the text Highlight the HTML code pertaining to the Headline text and HTML link reference and click Create expression. This should automatically enter the necessary code for the Regular Expression, Headline Title, and Headline Link.
• If you would only like to retrieve headlines from a particular area on the source website enter the Text that is just before and after the headlines in the Start after text and Stop after text areas.
• Click the Generate headlines button. This will display all of the headlines found on the website that will be downloaded as per your configuration in the Generated headlines window.
• Finally, click OK to close the Convert HTML to headlines window.
• Select Display as Web Page to simply display the website in the Newsroom panel.