Dev Feed Curator

Streamline your developer link blogging workflow. Fetch RSS feeds, auto-categorize posts by technology, and publish directly to WordPress—all from VS Code. Perfect for curating tech content like the "Dew Drop" series.

Features

• 📡 RSS Feed Parsing - Fetches and parses RSS/Atom feeds with robust error handling
• 🔐 NewsBlur API Integration - Optionally use NewsBlur API for authenticated access to get more than 25 items
• 🏷️ Smart Categorization - Automatically categorizes posts by technology (JavaScript, Python, DevOps, etc.)
• 🌳 Tree View Integration - Displays categorized posts in VS Code sidebar with expandable categories
• 📄 Export Functionality - Generates HTML and Markdown files with professional templates
• 🚀 WordPress Publishing - Direct publishing to WordPress blogs via REST API with secure credential storage and duplicate prevention
• 🏷️ Automatic Tag Detection - Intelligent extraction of technology tags from blog post content
• ⚙️ Configurable Settings - Customizable RSS feed URLs, refresh intervals, and date filtering
• 🔄 Optional Auto-refresh - Configurable automatic feed updates (disabled by default for on-demand usage)
• 📚 Book Recommendations - Includes "The Geek Shelf" section with rotating book recommendations

What's New in 3.0.0

• 🎨 New Brand Identity - Rebranded to "Dev Feed Curator" with a modern, professional icon and clearer messaging
• ✍️ New Writing Category - Added dedicated "Writing" category for content writing, blogging, grammar, and editing posts
• ⚠️ Breaking Changes - Command names updated to reflect new branding (see release notes)
• 📝 Updated Documentation - Comprehensive documentation refresh throughout the project

Screenshots

Dev Blog Posts Panel

The "Dev Blog Posts" view in the Explorer panel showing categorized blog posts with context menu options for exporting and managing feeds.

Visual Editor

The built-in TinyMCE WYSIWYG editor for visually editing blog post content before publishing to WordPress.

Installation

From VS Code Marketplace

1. Open VS Code
2. Go to Extensions view (Ctrl+Shift+X)
3. Search for "Dev Feed Curator"
4. Click Install

From VSIX Package

1. Download the .vsix file from the releases
2. Open VS Code
3. Go to Extensions view (Ctrl+Shift+X)
4. Click the three dots menu and select "Install from VSIX..."
5. Select the downloaded .vsix file

Usage

Getting Started

1. After installation, the "Dev Blog Posts" view will appear in the Explorer panel sidebar
2. The extension comes pre-configured with a default RSS feed
3. Click the refresh button in the view header to load posts (no automatic refresh on startup)
4. Posts are automatically categorized and displayed in a tree structure
5. Optional: Enable auto-refresh in settings if you want automatic updates

Setting Up Your RSS Feed

Via Explorer Panel:

1. Click the edit icon (pencil) in the "Dev Blog Posts" view header
2. Enter your RSS feed URL when prompted

Via Command Palette:

1. Open Command Palette (Ctrl+Shift+P)
2. Run "Dev Feed Curator: Set RSS Feed"
3. Enter your RSS feed URL when prompted

Click the refresh button to load new content after updating the feed URL.

Manual vs Automatic Refresh

By default, the extension uses manual refresh for better performance and control:

• Manual Mode (default): Click the refresh button when you want to check for new posts
• Automatic Mode (optional): Enable "Auto Refresh" in settings for periodic updates

Manual refresh is recommended for most users as it prevents unnecessary network requests and provides better control over when data is updated.

NewsBlur API Integration (Optional)

For enhanced functionality, you can configure NewsBlur API access to retrieve more than 25 items:

1. Enable NewsBlur API: Set rssBlogCategorizer.useNewsblurApi to true in settings
2. Set Username: Configure your NewsBlur username in rssBlogCategorizer.newsblurUsername
3. Set Credentials: Use Command Palette → "Dev Feed Curator: Set NewsBlur Credentials" to securely store your password

Benefits of NewsBlur API:

• Access more than 25 feed items (RSS feeds are typically limited to 25)
• More reliable access to popular feeds
• Better handling of feed redirects and updates
• Date filtering based on when you shared items in NewsBlur (shared_date) rather than original publication date

Exporting Posts

Via Explorer Panel:

1. Click "Export as Markdown" or "Export as HTML" from the "Dev Blog Posts" view menu

Via Command Palette:

1. Open Command Palette (Ctrl+Shift+P)
2. Run "Dev Feed Curator: Export as Markdown" or "Dev Feed Curator: Export as HTML"

Export Process:

1. Choose your save location (filename is auto-generated from the blog post title)
2. The exported file will include:
   • Auto-generated "Dew Drop" title with incremental numbering
   • Categorized posts with author attribution
   • "The Geek Shelf" section with book recommendations

Default Filename: Files are automatically named using the blog post title, for example:

• Dew_Drop_October_11_2025_4517.html
• Dew_Drop_October_11_2025_4517.md

WYSIWYG Editor

After exporting to HTML, you can optionally edit your blog post content using the built-in WYSIWYG editor:

Opening the Editor:

1. From Export: After HTML export, click "Open in Editor" when prompted
2. From HTML File: Open any HTML file and click the edit icon (📝) in the toolbar
3. Command Palette: Use "Dev Feed Curator: Open in WYSIWYG Editor"

Editor Features:

• Rich Text Editing: Full WYSIWYG editing with TinyMCE
• Formatting Tools: Bold, italic, colors, alignment, lists, links, images
• Keyboard Shortcuts: Ctrl+S (Cmd+S on Mac) to save
• VS Code Integration: Respects your VS Code theme and settings

Note on Spellcheck: Advanced spellcheck features (red underlines, suggestions) are not currently available as TinyMCE removed the free spellcheck plugin in version 6.0. The editor relies on your browser's native spellcheck functionality. Enhanced spellcheck is not on the roadmap due to this limitation.

Workflow:

1. Edit your content visually in the WYSIWYG editor
2. Click "Save" to update the HTML file
3. Click "Save & Publish" to save and proceed to WordPress publishing
4. Click "Cancel" to close without saving (with confirmation if changes exist)

Publishing to WordPress

After exporting to HTML, you can publish directly to your WordPress blog:

Prerequisites:

1. Configure WordPress Settings: Set your blog URL and username in settings
2. Set Credentials: Use Command Palette → "Dev Feed Curator: Set WordPress Credentials" to securely store your login

Publishing Process:

1. Export to HTML first using the export functionality above
2. Open the HTML file in VS Code editor
3. Click the WordPress publish button in the editor toolbar (cloud upload icon)
   • Or use Command Palette → "Dev Feed Curator: Publish to WordPress"
   • Only the content inside <body> tags is published (excludes <html>, <head>, etc.)
4. Choose categories: Use default categories (configurable in settings), customize for this post, or publish without categories
5. Review auto-detected tags: The extension automatically detects technology tags from content - use detected tags, customize them, or skip
6. Choose publish status: Publish immediately or save as draft
7. Confirmation: The extension will confirm successful publication with the post ID, assigned categories, and tag count

Publication Tracking:

Starting with version 2.2.0, the extension automatically tracks publication status to prevent duplicates:

• Metadata Embedding: All exported HTML and Markdown files include publication metadata comments
• Duplicate Detection: When publishing, the extension checks if content has already been published to WordPress
• Automatic Updates: After successful publishing, the file metadata is updated with the WordPress post ID and publication date
• User Confirmation: If duplicate publication is detected, you'll be prompted to confirm before proceeding

For more details, see Publication Tracking Documentation.

WordPress Setup Requirements:

• WordPress site with REST API enabled (enabled by default in WordPress 4.7+)
• WordPress user account with publishing permissions
• Application Password for secure authentication (recommended for WordPress 5.6+)

Automatic Tag Detection:

The extension automatically analyzes your blog post content and detects relevant technology tags including:

• Frameworks & Platforms: .NET, ASP.NET Core, Blazor, React, Node.js, Uno Platform
• Programming Languages: C#, JavaScript, TypeScript, Python, Go, Swift, Kotlin
• Cloud & DevOps: Azure, AWS, Docker, Kubernetes, TeamCity
• AI & ML: ChatGPT, Copilot, Claude, Gemini, Perplexity
• Mobile & IoT: Android, iOS, Raspberry Pi
• Databases: SQL Server, MySQL, PostgreSQL
• Tools: Visual Studio, VS Code, Android Studio, Playwright
• And 50+ more technology keywords

The system intelligently matches content against a comprehensive technology keyword database and presents detected tags for your review before publishing.

Security Notes:

• WordPress credentials are stored securely using VS Code's built-in SecretStorage
• Passwords are never stored in plain text or configuration files
• Use WordPress Application Passwords for enhanced security when available

Configuration

Access settings via File > Preferences > Settings and search for "Dev Feed Curator":

• Feed URL: Single RSS feed URL to monitor
• Record Count: Number of records to retrieve (10-500)
• Minimum DateTime: Filter posts by publication date (UTC format)
• Enable Auto Refresh: Turn on automatic feed updates (disabled by default)
• Refresh Interval: Auto-refresh interval in minutes (when auto-refresh is enabled)
• Use NewsBlur API: Enable NewsBlur API integration for enhanced functionality
• NewsBlur Username: Your NewsBlur account username (password stored securely)
• WordPress Blog URL: Your WordPress blog URL (e.g., https://yourblog.com)
• WordPress Username: Your WordPress account username (password stored securely)
• WordPress Categories: Default categories to assign to published posts (e.g., "Daily Links", "Development")
• Open Links in New Tab: Control whether exported links open in a new browser tab (disabled by default)
• Enable Post Filtering Buffer: Enable buffer time when filtering posts by date (enabled by default)
• Post Filtering Buffer Minutes: Number of minutes to add as buffer when filtering posts (default: 5 minutes, range: 0-60)

Note: Tags are automatically detected from content and don't require configuration - the system analyzes your blog post and suggests relevant technology tags during publishing.

Smart Date Filtering

The extension uses intelligent date filtering to ensure you get the most relevant recent posts:

1. Automatic Mode (default): Uses the publication date of the latest "Dew Drop" post from alvinashcraft.com
2. Fallback: If unavailable, filters to posts from the last 24 hours (UTC)
3. Manual Override: Set a custom UTC datetime in settings
4. Buffer Time: Optional configurable buffer (default 5 minutes) added to avoid edge cases with timing differences

Date Filtering Logic:

• Minimum: Posts newer than the last Dew Drop date (plus optional buffer)
• Future Posts: All future-dated posts are now included (no future date filtering)
• Purpose: Captures shared stories and posts with proper timezone handling

Example UTC formats:

• 2025-01-01T00:00:00Z (midnight UTC)
• 2025-09-27T12:00:00.000Z (with milliseconds)

Category Customization

You can customize how posts are categorized by editing the categories.json file in your extension directory. Posts are automatically sorted into categories based on keywords in their titles.

See CATEGORIES.md for detailed configuration instructions.

Available Commands

All commands are accessible through the Command Palette (Ctrl+Shift+P) or the extension's tree view interface.

Documentation

• Publication Tracking - Detailed guide to publication metadata and duplicate prevention
• Development Roadmap - Planned features and upcoming enhancements
• Development Guide - Development setup, building, and contribution information

Development

Interested in contributing or building from source? See DEVELOPMENT.md for detailed development setup, building instructions, testing guidelines, and contribution information.

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.

Author

Alvin Ashcraft

• Website: alvinashcraft.com
• GitHub: @alvinashcraft

Built for the developer community to streamline blog content curation and designed to work seamlessly with the "Dew Drop" series workflow.