inessential by Brent Simmons

Things you may not know about NetNewsWire 3.1 (part four: misc.)

This should be the last of the things-you-may-not-know-about-NetNewsWire posts. Whew. (Also see parts one, two, and three.) This one’s just misc. stuff, in misc. order.

Cancel refresh session

Cmd-. period cancels a refresh session.

Activity Window

See what’s going on: choose Window > Activity.

Tell Downloads window not to open

If you don’t want the Downloads window to open automatically: open Preferences, click on Downloading, click on Downloads Folder, then uncheck the box next to Open Downloads window when a download begins.

Return to News Items after closing a tab

If you want to always return to News Items after closing a tab (instead of going to the next tab in the list), you can. Preferences, Browsing, Behavior—check the box next to After closing a tab, return to news items.

You can customize the toolbar

Choose View > Customize Toolbar. I expect you to customize the toolbar—it’s set up for brand-new users. After a little while you’re not a brand-new user anymore. ;)

New NetNewsWire tips, styles, and scripts

There are some web pages (and feeds) for NetNewsWire tips, styles, and scripts.

There’s a Help book

People often forget that apps usually come with a Help book. See Help > NetNewsWire Help.

You can share a clippings folder as a feed

It’s easy. See the howto.

Styles menu is hide-able

If you’ve picked a style and don’t plan to change it any time, you can hide the styles popup menu: choose View > Hide Styles Menu. Fewer widgets is good. ;)

App updates checking

You can tell NetNewsWire to automatically check for updates: Preferences, General. Check the box next to Software Updates: Check once a day.

You can check manually at any time: NetNewsWire > Check for Updates...

You can undo closing a tab

If you accidentally close a tab you didn’t mean to close, you can Undo it. That tab will be reloaded.

You can empty the web cache

NetNewsWire has a web cache—just like Safari and other browsers—and you can empty it. Choose NetNewsWire > Empty Web Cache... (This is especially a good idea after a crash.)

You can provide feedback at any time

Choose NetNewsWire > Provide NetNewsWire Feedback. A web page opens where you can enter your feedback.

Sync news items status command

If you use NewsGator syncing, and for some reason you think news items status (read/unread/flagged status) is out-of-sync, choose File > Sync News Items Status.

The developer is on Twitter

And he sometimes mentions what he’s working on. ;)