BottomFeeder User's Guide Version 4.5 March 31, 2008

© 2008, Richard A. Demers

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Introduction  |   |- Notice  |   |- Related Documents  |   |- New Features  |   |- Credits  | BottomFeeder  |- Main Window  |   |- Views  |   |   |- Tree View  |   |   |- Item List View  |   |   |- Item Zoom View  |   |   |- Newspaper View  |   |- Panes  |   |   |- Tree Pane  |   |   |   |- Tree Icons  |   |   |   |- Folders  |   |   |   |- Feeds  |   |   |- Item List Pane  |   |   |- Item Pane  |   |   |- Status Line  |   |- Main Menu  |   |   |- File Menu  |   |   |- System Menu  |   |   |- Browse Menu  |   |   |- Stylesheets Menu  |   |   |- Feeds Menu  |   |   |- Items Menu

|   |   |- Network Menu  |   |   |- View Menu  |   |   |- Plugins Menu  |   |   |- Help Menu  |   |- Toolbars  |   |   |- Main Toolbar  |   |   |- Item Toolbar  |   |- Keyboard Shortcuts  |   |   |- Tree Pane Shortcuts  |   |   |- Item List Pane Shortcuts  |   |   |- Item Pane Shortcuts  |   |   |- Other Shortcuts  |- Auxiliary Windows  |   |- About  |   |- Add Feed  |   |- Amazon Feed Builder  |   |- BottomFeeder Search  |   |- Bug Report  |   |- Comment Poster  |   |   |- File Menu  |   |   |- View Menu  |   |   |- Help Menu  |   |   |- Toolbar  |   |- Del.icio.us Tagger  |   |- Enclosure Manager  |   |- Enclosure Manager Settings  |   |- Exception  |   |- Feed Auto-Discovery

|   |- Feed Maintenance  |   |- Feed Properties  |   |- Filter Definitions  |   |- Internet Feed Builder  |   |- Internet Search  |   |- Item Properties  |   |- Named Font Selector  |   |- News Feed Builder  |   |- Restore Host File  |   |- Runtime Errors Report  |   |- Save to Host File  |   |- Search Wizard  |   |- Settings Window  |   |   |- Browsing Settings  |   |   |- Caching Settings  |   |   |- Del.Icio.Us Settings  |   |   |- Feed Settings  |   |   |- Memory Settings  |   |   |- Network Settings  |   |   |- Newspaper Settings  |   |   |- Unix/Linux Settings  |   |   |- User Interface Settings  |   |   |- User Settings  |   |- Slim Mode  |   |- Tear Off  |   |- Upgrade Manager  |   |- Workspace (continued)

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Introduction

Congratulations on selecting BottomFeeder as your Internet aggregator. It's a great way to keep up with whatever is happening in rapidly changing websites that publish feeds. BottomFeeder is more than "yet another RSS reader;" it is a tool to help you make the Internet better serve your needs. If you are familiar with Internet browsers and e-mail readers, you will be right at home with BottomFeeder.

Oh, if you're curious about the name BottomFeeder, think about what bottom feeders, such as crabs, eat - whatever falls to the bottom of the sea from all the fish swimming above them. Not a pretty picture, but they sure taste good!

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BottomFeeder has been released as an Open Source program, under the Artistic License. When you download it, you agree to abide by this license.

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• Quick Start Guide -- a brief introduction to BottomFeeder for new users.
• Tutorial -- explains why you need a tool like BottomFeeder, and helps you learn how to do specific tasks using BottomFeeder.
• Technology Guide -- provides detailed technical information about BottomFeeder.

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• Cincom VisualWorks Smalltalk is a super-productive and elegant programming language, development environment and tool set for rapidly producing reliable software. Smalltalk makes it possible for small teams to quickly explore new ideas and build high quality open-source products like BottomFeeder.
• James Robertson, the Cincom, Inc. Smalltalk "evangalist", works with sales, engineering, and marketing to drive the direction of the VisualWorks and ObjectStudio products. He is responsible for initiating the BottomFeeder project and for much of the coding of BottomFeeder.
• Dave Murphy, a Smalltalk programmer, is responsible for the XML parsing, the identification of feed types, and the graphical user interfaces of BottomFeeder.
• Holger Kleinsorgen, a Smalltalk programmer, is responsible for the TwoFlower browser. This Smalltalk program was used in earlier versions of BottomFeeder to display HTML web pages.
• Michael Lucas-Smith, a Smalltalk programmer, is responsible for the WithStyle browser. This Smalltalk program is now used by BottomFeeder to display HTML web pages.
• Rich Demers, a software architect and occasional Smalltalk programmer, is responsible for writing BottomFeeder documents, for minor bits of coding, and for lots of usability testing.
• Denis Johson provided new logo artwork.
• Martin Kobetic, Bob Westergaard, Michael Lucas-Smith, Troy Brumley, Mark Derricutt, Eric Winger, and many others have helped with code, suggestions, and testing.

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BottomFeeder Main Window

• A Tree View.
• An Item List View.
• An Item Zoom View.
• A Newspaper View.

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Tree View

The Tree View shows a tree of folders and their feeds in the left pane, a table of items from a selected folder or feed at top-right, and selected items at bottom-right.

To see this view, select the View > Show all items command.

Window Controls

• Main Menu - menus of commands to BottomFeeder.
• Main Toolbar - displays the icons of frequently used commands to BottomFeeder.
• Tree pane - a tree view of your folders and their contents.
• Item Toolbar - displays the icons of commands for working with the item displayed in the current tab page of the Item pane.
• Item List pane - displays the date, title and category of items from the folder or feed selected in the Tree pane.
• Item pane - displays the contents of the items selected the Item List pane. Each tabbed page contains a description of an item, but it may be a link to a web page, or even the complete item. If it is a link and you click it, a separate browser window opens to show you the linked web page.
• Status output area - displays the current status of BottomFeeder operations.

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Item List View

The Item List View shows a table of items at top and selected items at the bottom. This view is used to show all items in all feeds that meet a specific criteria.

To see this view, select:

• The View > Show new items command.
• The View > Show alerts command.
• The View > Show flagged command.
• The View > Show permanent command.
• The View > Show hidden command.
• The View > Show related items command.
• The Items > Search BottomFeeder command.

Window Controls

• Main Menu - menus of commands to BottomFeeder.
• Main Toolbar - displays the icons of frequently used commands to BottomFeeder.
• Item Toolbar - displays the icons of commands for working with the item displayed in the current tab page of the Item pane.
• Item List pane - displays the feed title and the date, title and category of items from one or more feeds.
• Item pane - displays the contents of selected items in tabbed pages. Each tabbed page contains a description of an item, but it may be a link to a web page, or even the complete item. If it is a link and you click it, a separate browser window opens to show you the linked web page.
• Status output area - displays the current status of BottomFeeder operations.

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Item Zoom View

This view expands the Item pane to include the entire view area. This provides more area for viewing the contents of items.

To obtain a zoomed view, use the Toggle zoom item tool. You can also use the ctrl-n and ctrl-p shortcut keys to go to the next or previous new item.

Window Controls

• Main Menu - menus of commands to BottomFeeder.
• Main Toolbar - displays the icons of frequently used commands to BottomFeeder.
• Tree pane - a tree view of your folders and their contents.
• Item Toolbar - displays the icons of commands for working with the item displayed in the current tab page of the Item pane.
• Item pane - displays the contents of the selected item; a description of the item, a link to a web page, or even the complete item. If it is a link and you click it, a separate browser window opens to show you the linked web page.
• Status output area - displays the current status of BottomFeeder operations.

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Newspaper View

This view shows a newspaper-like summary of multiple items from one or more feeds. The advantage of using this view is that you only have to scroll down to see additional items; you don't have to individually select items from a list. If you subscribe to a lot of feeds, this can be a real convenience.

To obtain a newspaper view, select a feed or folder in the Tree pane, and BottomFeeder shows you its new items; or if there are no new items, it shows the top five items (new or old) instead.

For each item, the newspaper view shows:

• The title, date and category of the item.
• A link to the full story. Click it to launch a browser on the full item.
• A summary of the Item.

Window Controls

• Main Menu - menus of commands to BottomFeeder.
• Main Toolbar - displays the icons of frequently used commands to BottomFeeder.
• Tree pane - a tree view of your folders and their contents.
• Item Toolbar - displays the icons of commands for working with the item displayed in the current tab page of the Item pane. This toolbar is disabled because there is no way to select an item in the newspaper view.
• Item pane - displays the contents of the items of the selected feed or folder.
• Status output area - displays the current status of BottomFeeder operations.

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• The feeds from various web sites to which you subscribe. BottomFeeder automatically updates these feeds every N minutes. N defaults to 60 minutes; to change it, go to the Settings - Network window and change the Update frequency setting.
• The feeds produced by "build feed" requests you perform on Internet web sites such as Feedster and Google. BottomFeeder rebuilds these feeds as part of its feed update cycle.
• The feeds produced by searches you perform on the items in your subscribed feeds. BottomFeeder updates these feeds from the current content of your subscribed feeds whenever you select the feed.

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BottomFeeder helps you to keep track of which feeds have new items that you have not yet read. In the Tree pane, it displays a Red Feed Icon or a Red Bell Feed Icon for feeds with new items, and in the Item List pane, it displays the titles of new items in bold red text.

Clicking on an item in the Item List pane tells BottomFeeder that you have read it; that it is to be considered old. BottomFeeder immediately changes its title to normal black text. When all items of a feed are old, BottomFeeder displays a Blue Feed Icon or a Blue Bell Feed Icon for the feed.

You can tell BottomFeeder that all items of a feed are old. In the Tree pane, select the feed and click the Mark feed > Mark all feed items old command of its popup menu. You can also select an item and click the Mark all feed items old tool. If you decide you want the item to contine to be identified as new, click the Mark item as new tool.

BottomFeeder changes the color of a feed's icon according to the following rules:

• It shows a red icon for a feed with any new items.
• It shows a red icon for a feed that is newly loaded from its website.
• It shows a blue icon for a feed with no new items - all old items.
• It changes the color of a feed icon as soon as the new/old status of the items in the feed changes - any new (red) or all old (blue).
• It shows a black icon for a feed that has not been updated by its website for more than N days. N defaults to 30 days; to change it, go to the Settings - Feeds window, checkmark the Keep track of feeds without updates? setting, and change the Days to mark a feed bad setting.
• It shows a black icon for a feed if you select the Mark feed >Mark Feed Inactive feed popup menu option.

You can ask BottomFeeder to alert you to the arrival of new items in a subscribed feed. Select the feed and click the Alerts > Add Feed Alert command of its popup menu. BottomFeeder changes the feed's icon to a Red Bell Feed Icon or a Blue Bell Feed Icon. When feeds are updated by new items, and there is an alert on at least one of them, BottomFeeder enables the View > Show Alerts command and the View All Alerts tool.

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• You can expand or collapse a folder by clicking the + or - icon.
• You can move a folder to a different folder in the tree by drag-and-drop.
• You can left-click the folder to select it. BottomFeeder presents all items of all feeds in the folder in the Item List pane.

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• You can select a feed by clicking it. BottomFeeder displays the feed title in the window header and in the current tab of the Item pane, and it presents the items of the feed in the Item List pane.
• You can browse the home page of the website that generates the feed by double-clicking the feed. BottomFeeder opens a separate browser window.
• You can move a feed to a different folder in the tree by drag-and-drop.

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Item List Pane

When you select a feed in the Tree view, BottomFeeder presents the items in the feed in the Item List pane of the Main window. The Item List pane is a table of item dates, item titles and item categories. You can sort items in ascending or descending sequence by any column - just toggle the header bars above each column.

When BottomFeeder presents a Item List view, the name of the feed that contains each item is presented in a feed title column of the table.

BottomFeeder helps you to keep track of the items you have already read. If an item is new, BottomFeeder displays it in bold red text. When you select the item, BottomFeeder considers it to be old and displays it in normal black text.

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Item Pane

When you select an item in the Item List pane, BottomFeeder presents the item in the current tab page of the bottom-right pane of the Main window. Often this is a description of the item, but it may be a link to a web page, or even the complete item. If it is a link and you click it, a separate browser window opens to show you the linked web page.

Pane Controls

Item tabs - BottomFeeder presents items in tabbed pages. The label of each tab is the name of the item's feed. You can have as many tabbed pages as you want, but only one of them is highighted as the current page. When you right-click within a tab, the following pop-up menu is presented:

Item pages - BottomFeeder present items in tab pages. When you right-click within an item, the following pop-up menu is presented:

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BottomFeeder tells you its operational status in the bottom line of the Main window. Between the times that it is updating the feeds, it tells you how many minutes until the next update. During updates, it tells you which feed is being updated and what percent of the updates are done. In the status area, you can find and select text, and copy text to the clipboard through its popup menu.

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Main Toolbar

The Main Toolbar is located below the Main Menu. It provides single-click execution of a number of frequently used BottomFeeder tools. All of these tools are also available through the Main Menu or through one or more popup menus. Toolbar icons are enabled only when they can be validly used; for example, when a feed has been selected.

Tool Icon	Action
	Toggle between the full BottomFeeder Main window and the Ticker window.
	Add a new feed to the selected folder.
	Check for upgrades and plug-ins to BottomFeeder.
	View all new items in all folders.
	View all alerts; that is, all new items in feeds with notifiers.
	View all folders in the Tree pane.
	Open a new tab page in the Item pane. BottomFeeder creates a new page, copies the contents of the currently selected page to it, and highlights the new tab as the current tab.
	Mark all items in the selected folder or feed as old.
	Mark all items in the selected folder or feed as old.
	Restores to a feed items previously deleted but not yet replaced by new items.
	Stop the downloading of a webpage by the BottomFeeder browser.
	Pause or resume the updating of feeds. When feeds are being updated, BottomFeeder routinely checks the update process to make sure it completes its work. If that process unexpectedly terminates, BottomFeeder tries to restart it. However, if the update process appears to stall you can use this tool to restart it.
	Toggle whether BottomFeeder is online or offline.
	Exit BottomFeeder.

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Item Toolbar

The Item Toolbar is located above the Item List pane or the Item pane, depending on which view is in use. It provides single-click execution of a number of frequently used BottomFeeder tools related to individual items. Toolbar icons are enabled only when they can be validly used; for example, when an item has been selected.

Tool Icon	Action
	Switch to the Item Zoom View for the currently selected item.
	Print the item as presented in the current tab page of the Item pane. BottomFeeder opens a Print window so you can specify how you want it printed.
	Save the item as a local file. BottomFeeder opens a Save As window so you can specify the path, name, and type of the file.
	Send a comment on the selected item. BottomFeeder presents the Comment Poster window in which you can enter a comment. This option is enabled only for feeds that accept item comments.
	Send the item as an E-mail message. BottomFeeder opens the New Mail window with the title of the item as the subject of the message. You can further edit the message. BottomFeeder does not support gmail as an smtp server or any mail server that uses ttls).
	Flag (or unflag) the item as one requiring your further consideration. To see all items that you have flagged, in all of your feeds, select the View > Show flagged menu option.
	Toggle the persistence of the item in the feed's item cache. In the Item List, BottomFeeder indicates that an item is persistent by displaying its title in italics. The item is not replaced when the feed is updated to include new items. If an item is both persistent and deleted, it remains available in the feed's item cache, but visible only when viewing hidden items.
	Post an entry to a blog for the item. BottomFeeder presents the BlogPoster window, in which you can add a blog entry. This tool is enabled only if the BottomLine plug-in has been installed. BottomFeeder copies any text that has been selected in the item to the blog entry.
	Add tags to the item in your account in the del.icio.us social bookmarking service, along with your own keywords. BottomFeeder opens the Del.icio.us Tagger window.
	Delete the item from the feed. BottomFeeder removes the item from the Item List. You can also delete a selected item by pressing the delete key. Deleted items remain available in the feed's item cache until they are replaced by the arrival of new items. Use the Filters > Restore all deleted items selection in the feed popup menu to restore all the available deleted items of a feed. Use the Filters > View hidden items command in the feed menu to see all the available deleted items (and filtered items) of a feed.
	Remove tags to the item in your account in the del.icio.us social bookmarking service. BottomFeeder opens the Del.icio.us Tagger window.
	Mark the item as new. BottomFeeder displays it in bold red text.
	Open a browser window. BottomFeeder opens a browser on the web page associated with the item.

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When focus is in the Item List pane:

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When focus is in the Item pane:

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BottomFeeder's Auxiliary Windows

Most of the time you are using BottomFeeder, you interact with the views and panes of its Main window; however, auxiliary Windows appear for many supporting functions.

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About Window

Open this window by selecting the Help > About command.

You can find out about the BottomFeeder program and its compnents in this window.

Window Controls

• details area - displays detailed information about BottomFeeder.
• OK button - click to close this window.

When you right-click within the details area, the following pop-up menu is presented:

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Add Feed Window

Open this window by selecting the Add Feed... command in the folder popup menu or the Add Feed... tool.

You can add feeds to a folder in this window.

Window Controls

• Feed address input area - enter the addresses (URL's) of one or more feeds, separated by carriage returns, in this area.
• OK button - click to add the feeds and close this window. BottomFeeder immediately gets the feed files at the specified addresses.
• Cancel button - click to close this window without adding any feeds.

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Amazon Feed Builder Window

Open this window by selecting the Feeds > Amazon Feed Builder... command in the main menu.

You can define a feed that you want from Amazon.com with this window. BottomFeeder adds the new feed to your My Feeds folder.

Every update cycle, BottomFeeder sends the query that defines your feed to Amazon, which generates a feed file on-the-fly.

Window Controls

• Search for: radio buttons - specify the type of entry to be searched: books, DVD's, or CD's.
• Search modifier: list - select the type of entry to be searched: Keyword, Author or Power (see below).
• Sort by: radio buttons - specify how results are to be sorted: by publication date or by sales records.
• Search String input area - specify key words Amazon is to use in building your feed; for example, a word that should appear in book titles.
• What is a Power search? button - click to browse an Amazon webpage that explains how to do what they call "power" searches.
• Search by category: list - select a category of entries in Amazon. Note that this selection is instead of a search specified by the other controls in this window.
• Add Feed button - click to add the generated feed to the My Feeds folder.
• Cancel button - click to cancel this process and close this window.

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BottomFeeder Search Window

Open this dialog window by selecting the Items > Search BottomFeeder... command.

You can search for a text string in the feeds BottomFeeder has already saved in your local system. The results of the search are presented in a new tab page of an Item List view.

Window Controls

• Search for input area - the text string you want to find.
• In dropdown menu - select one of the following to specify where to search:
  • Titles - in titles of feed items.
  • Categories - in categories of feed items.
  • Bodies - in contents of feed items.
  • Titles and bodies - in titles and contents of feed items.
  • Titles, bodies and categories - in titles, contents and categories of feed items.
• Find by feed name check box - check if you want to turn off all other search options, search for the first feed name that matches, and select it if found.
• Search Backwards check box - check if you want to search backwards from the position of the last text string found.
• Regex check box - check if the Search for input area contains a Regular Expression.
• Save as Feed check box - check if you want to save the results of the search as a separate feed. If so, the new feed is added to the Searches folder.
• Find Next button - BottomFeeder searches for the text string in the specified locations, or it resumes the search.
• Close button - BottomFeeder closes the search window.

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Bug Report Window

Open this dialog window by selecting the Help > Bug Report command.

You can report bugs you find in the operation of BottomFeeder.

Window Controls

• Email Address input area - your incoming email address.
• Email Password input area - the password expected by your outgoing email server (as in your mail client).
• Email Server input area - the IP address or name of your outgoing SMTP mail server (as in your mail client).
• CC Yourself? check box - check if you want a Carbon Copy of the bug report e-mailed to you.
• Bug Description Text input area - your description of the bug.
• Attach the Error Log? check box- check if you want the error log attached to the bug report.
• Delete Error Log after sending? check box - check if you want to delete the error log.
• Mail it button - BottomFeeder sends a message containing the Bug Report to the BottomFeeder development team.
• Cancel button - BottomFeeder closes this window.

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Comment Poster Window

Some feeds allow you to send comments to the website that publishes the feed. BottomFeeder supports two types of comments:

1. Feed comments. Select a feed in the BottomFeeder Tree pane and click on the Feedback > Send comment on feed... command in the feed's popup menu. For example, the feed may allow you to query the website that publishes the feed. If a response to the comment is returned by the website it is displayed in a new tab page of the Item pane. An example of a response could be the results of a query.
2. Item comments. Select an item in the BottomFeeder Item List pane and click on the Send comment on item... tool in the item toolbar. This allows you to send a comment about the item to the website that publishes the feed. If a response to the comment is returned by the website, it is displayed in a new tab page of the Item pane. An example of a response could be your comment appended to the original item.

To identify yourself in your comments, change the Comment user name setting in the BottomFeeder User Interface Settings window.

Window Controls

• Subject input area - specify the subject of your comment. This is simple text; use no markups.
• Comment input area - enter your comment here. See Editing for the ways in which you can format a comment for presentation.
• Status output area - specifies the status of your blog site
• Status output area - specifies the status of your comment when you have posted it to the feed's server.

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Commenting Toolbar

 

This toolbar is located below the menus. It provides single-click execution of a number of frequently used commenting tools. All of these tools are also available through the Main Menu or through one or more popup menus. Toolbar icons are enabled only when they can be validly used.

Tool Icon	Action
	Preview. Opens the Preview window with your comment formatted as you specified.
	Post. Sends your comment to the feed's server to post it with the item you are commenting on.
	Help. Opens the Markup Help window, which provides help for wiki-style markups.

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Del.icio.us Tagger Window

Open this window by selecting the Add del.icio.us tags... tool in the item toolbar.

Use the Del.icio.us tagger to add or remove tags to a selected item at the Del.icio.us social bookmarking website.

Window Controls

• Description input area - a description of your list of tags.
• Tag input area - enter new tag words separated by spaces. Enclose tags consisting of multiple words in quotes.
• Tags list area - lists the tags you have defined.
• Add Tag button - press to add a new tag to the list.
• Remove Tag button - press to remove the selected tags from the list.
• Send button - press to send your tags to the Del.icio.us website.

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Enclosure Manager Window

Open this window by selecting the Plugins > Enclosure Manager command.

Use the Enclosure Manager to find out about the enclosures that are available in the items of various feeds that BottomFeeder handles for you.

Window Controls

• Saved Enclosures list area - a list of enclosures that have been received by BottomFeeder in the items of various feeds. This is a multi-selection list.
• Remove selection button - press to remove the selected enclosures from the list and from your system.
• Exit button - press to close this window.