NewsBlur-viq/README.md

# NewsBlur

 * A visual feed reader with intelligence.
 * Live at [www.newsblur.com](http://www.newsblur.com).
 * Created by [Samuel Clay](http://www.samuelclay.com). 
 * Twitter: [@samuelclay](http://twitter.com/samuelclay) and 
   [@newsblur](http://twitter.com/newsblur).


## Features

 1. Shows the original site (you have to see it to believe it)
 2. Hides stories you don't want to read based on tags, keywords, authors, etc.
 3. Highlights stories you want to read, based on the same criteria.


## Technologies

### Server-side

 * [Django](http://www.djangoproject.com): Web framework written in Python, used 
   to serve all pages.
 * [Celery](http://ask.github.com/celery) & [RabbitMQ](http://www.rabbitmq.com): 
   Asynchronous queueing server, used to fetch and parse RSS feeds.
 * [MongoDB](http://www.mongodb.com), [Pymongo](http://www.mongodb.com/pymongo), & 
   [Mongoengine](http://www.github.com/hmarr/mongoengine): Non-relational database, 
   used to store stories, read stories, feed/page fetch histories, and proxied sites.
 * [PostgreSQL](http://www.postgresql.com): Relational database, used to store feeds, 
   subscriptions, and user accounts.

### Client-side and design

 * [jQuery](http://www.jquery.com): Cross-browser compliant JavaScript code. IE works without effort.
 * [Underscore.js](http://documentcloud.github.com/underscore/): Functional programming for JavaScript. 
   Indispensible.
 * Miscellaneous jQuery Plugins: Everything from resizable layouts, to progress 
   bars, sortables, date handling, colors, corners, JSON, animations. 
   [See the complete list](https://github.com/samuelclay/NewsBlur/tree/master/media/js).


## Installation Instructions

### Prerequisites

#### RDBMS (MySQL, PostgreSQL)

You will want to have your database setup before you begin installation. Fabric can install
both PostgreSQL and MongoDB for you, but only on Ubuntu. Mac OS X users will want to have
MySQL or PostgreSQL already installed. You can [download MySQL](http://dev.mysql.com/downloads/mysql/)
or [download PostgreSQL](http://www.postgresql.org/download/). Additionally,
if running as a development machine on Mac OS X, I would recommend using MySQL with 
[Sequel Pro](http://www.sequelpro.com/) as a GUI.

If you are installing MySQL, you will also need the MySQLDB python library:

    sudo easy_install mysql-python
    
#### Fabric 

Both Mac OS X and Linux require [Fabric](http://docs.fabfile.org/) to be installed. 
Many common tasks, such as installing dependencies, deploying servers, migrations,
and configurations are in `fabfile.py`.

    sudo easy_install fabric
    
On recent installations of Mac OS X using XCode 4, you may run into issues around the 
`ppc` architecture. To fix this, simply run:

    sudo ln -s /Developer/Platforms/iPhoneOS.platform/Developer/usr/libexec/gcc/darwin/ppc \
    /Developer/usr/libexec/gcc/darwin
    sudo ln -s /Developer/Platforms/iPhoneOS.platform/Developer/usr/libexec/gcc/darwin/ppc \
    /usr/libexec/gcc/darwin

Sym-linking the ppc architecture comes from this StackOverflow answer on 
"[assembler for architecture ppc not installed on Mac OS](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/5256397/)".

#### MongoDB

On top of MySQL/PostgreSQL, NewsBlur uses MongoDB to store non-relational data. You will want to 
[download MongoDB](http://www.mongodb.org/downloads). If you are on Ubuntu, the `setup_mongo` Fabric 
command will automatically do this for you, but Mac OS X needs to have it installed manually.

#### Numpy and Scipy

Not the easiest to get installed. If you are running Mac OS X, you have a few options:

 * Use the [Superpack by Chris Fonnesbeck](http://stronginference.com/scipy-superpack/)
 * Use MacPorts: `sudo port install py26-numpy py26-scipy`
 * Install from source (grueling): [http://www.scipy.org/Download](http://www.scipy.org/Download)
 
### Configure paths

In `fabfile.py` there are two paths that need to be configured. 

 * `env.paths.NEWSBLUR` is the relative path to the NewsBlur repository.
 * `env.paths.VENDOR` is the relative path to where all downloaded code should go.
 
In `local_settings.py` there are a few paths that need to be configured. Configure 
these after the installation below.

### Installing on Mac OS X

 1. Using Mac OS X as a development environment, you can run all three servers (app, db, task) 
    on the same system. You should have [Fabric](http://docs.fabfile.org/) installed to run 
    the `fabfile.py`. You should also have MySQL/PostgreSQL and MongoDB already installed.

        fab -R local setup_python
        fab -R local setup_imaging
        fab -R local setup_mongoengine
        fab -R local setup_forked_mongoengine
        fab -R local setup_repo_local_settings
    
    If any of the packages fail to install (`lxml`, for instance), look through `fabfile.py` 
    and check if there is a function that can be used to circumvent broken easy_install 
    processes. For example, lxml may need libxslt and libxml2 to be installed. This is 
    automated with the following Fabric command:

        fab -R local setup_libxml_code
        
 2. Configure MySQL/PostgreSQL by adding in a `newsblur` user and a `newsblur` database.
    Then load up the database with empty NewsBlur tables and bootstrap the database:
    
        ./manage.py syncdb --all
        ./manage.py migrate --fake
        ./manage.py loaddata config/fixtures/bootstrap.json
        
    If you don't create a user during `syncdb`, the `bootstrap.json` file will create a 
    newsblur user with no password.

 3. Run the development server. At this point, all dependencies should be installed and no
    additional configuration is needed. If you find that something is not working at this
    point, please email the resulting output to Samuel Clay at 
    [samuel@ofbrooklyn.com](samuel@ofbrooklyn.com).
 
        ./manage.py runserver
 
    
### Installing on Linux / Ubuntu

If you are on Ubuntu, you can simple use [Fabric](http://docs.fabfile.org/) to install 
NewsBlur and its many components. NewsBlur is designed to run on three separate servers: 
an app server, a db server, and assorted task servers. To install everything on a single 
machine, read through `fabfile.py` and setup all three servers without repeating the 
`setup_common` steps.

### Finishing Installation

You must perform a few tasks to tie all of the various systems together.

 1. First, copy local_settings.py and fill in your OAuth keys, S3 keys, database names (if not `newsblur`),
task server/broker address (RabbitMQ), and paths:

    cp local_settings.py.template local_settings.py

 2. Create the `newsblur` database in both MongoDB and MySQL/PostgreSQL

    #### MySQL/PostgreSQL
    
        ./manage.py syncdb
        
    #### MongoDB
    
        

#### App server

    fab -R local setup_app
   
#### Database server

    fab -R local setup_db
   
#### Task server

    fab -R local setup_task


## Keeping NewsBlur Running

These commands keep NewsBlur fresh and updated. While on a development server, these 
commands do not need to be run more than once. However, you will probably want to run
the `refresh_feeds` command regularly so you have new stories to test with and read.

### Fetching feeds

If you just want to fetch feeds once, you can use the `refresh_feeds` management command:

    ./manage.py refresh_feeds --all
    
You can also fetch the feeds for a specific user:

    ./manage.py refresh_feeds --user=newsblur --force

### Feedback

To populate the feedback table on the homepage, use the `collect_feedback` management 
command every few minutes:

    ./manage.py collect_feedback

### Statistics

To populate the statistics graphs on the homepage, use the `collect_stats` management 
command every few minutes:

    ./manage.py collect_stats


## Roadmap

### Recently completed ###

 * River of News - completed
 * Starred stories - completed

### Summer 2011 ###
 
 * iPhone app
 * Mobile web app - [http://www.newsblur.com/m](http://www.newsblur.com/m)
 
### Fall 2011 ###

 * Social features
 * Implicit sorting in River of News


## Author

 * Created by [Samuel Clay](http://www.samuelclay.com).
 * Email address: <samuel@ofbrooklyn.com>
 * [@samuelclay](http://twitter.com/samuelclay) on Twitter.
 

## License

NewsBlur is licensed under the MIT License. (See LICENSE)