River4 Resources

Welcome to the River4 Resources Page! This page contains links to videos and information on setting up and using the River4 feed reader by Dave Winer.

What is a “river of news” feed reader?

Dave Winer describes it as a display of items in reverse-chronological order. If you use Twitter or Facebook, this is the same way that tweets or news are presented.

What are the benefits of using a feed reader?

• You decide the sources for your news and information
• See the most recent news first
• Organize your sources in different groups (or rivers)
• Create rivers for any information source that has a feed
  • Blogs
  • News sites
  • Music
  • Videos
  • Bargains
  • Auction items
  • Search results
  • ….

Why should you use the River4 feed reader?

• River4 is open source – free!
• You can use it locally on your PC or Mac
• You can run it as a web service
• You can make your rivers accessible to anyone on a web site or subdomain of a website

Where are some examples of rivers being published on the Web?

Here are several to show what you can do with River4:

• Full Blast News
• TechBlast
• PodCatch
• MLB River
• DukeRiver
• Dave Winer’s Rivers
• Basic river website from a River4 installation

How can I get started with River4

1. Do-it-yourself

Use my free seven-video course on how to set up the River4 feed reader on a local PC, how to setup River4 to run on a hosted service and how to interact with the River4 feed reader on a hosted service.

• Lesson 1 – River4 Windows Setup
• Lesson 2 – Adding Feeds to River4
• Lesson 3 – Exploring the River4 Console App
• Lesson 4 – River4/Amazon S3/Heroku Setup
• Lesson 5 – Keeping River4 Running on Heroku
• Lesson 6 – Using Fargo to Create OPML Files for River 4
• Lesson 7 – Using River4 Console App with Heroku
• Bonus Lesson – River4 Mac Setup (by Dave Winer)

If you like following a written list of instructions, the River4 blog has instructions for setting up River4 on a Mac, setting up for a PC is similar.

More resources:

• River4 source code
• River4 blog
• River4 mailing list

2. Get some help

If you would like to have River4 set up for you on a hosted service, contact me! For just $50 if you have your own domain name ($70 if you need a domain name), you’ll get the following:

• Complete setup with no work on your part
• All account information
• User instructions to help you make the most of River4!

Contact me at andy@andysylvester.com if you are interested!

Wrapup

What are you waiting for? Get started with River4 today!

Questions: Contact me at andy@andysylvester.com