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Configuration of the overall NewsDart features is well documented in the online help. However, there is one area that deserves special attention, and that is the configuration of News Sources.
To be clear, when we say "configuration" we mean which news sources, and their categories show up for selection. Configuration does not mean the selection of news sources that are available to you. When editing any of the program files, you must make sure you are not currently running NewsDart, otherwise NewsDart will attempt to read your changes while you are making them and then fail to run properly. There are a few ways you can change the News Sources that are configured:
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METHOD 1
The primary mechanism that NewsDart gives you for configuring your own news sources, is through the "Custom URL" button on the News Sources screen. Once there you specify an Internet address (URL) that you want NewsDart to search.
From this example you can see that the Import button allows you to bring in the URL you are currently looking at into an open browser window. Furthermore, once added the sources can be turned on and off without having to delete them (by clicking on the check box).
This information is stored in a file named config.txt in the Data subdirectory of your main NewsDart install directory. You keyword selections and basic program settings are also stored in this file, so it is perfectly safe to exchange this config.txt file with others. We do not recommend that you modify this file directly though as entries are coded and the modifications could result in poor program opertion. Always use NewsDart to modify this file.
METHOD 2
NewsDart was designed so that the sources listed on the News Sources screen could be easily modified and then uploaded into the program. For each new source, up to thirteen categories can be defined (each of which represents a different web page). The sources listed on this screen are determined by the contents of the file named sources.txt in the Data subdirectory of your main NewsDart install directory.
Unlike the config.txt file, the sources.txt file can be easily modified using a standard text editor (Windows "notepad", or DOS "edit"). If you double click on the file under windows, your default editor should display the file (on most systems this is "notepad".
The first column represents the "selection status" of the source. If it is a "1", it means that the source will be scanned for stories, if it is a "0" it will not be scanned. Note that the name of a source is first specified on its own row in the second column, just prior to the categories being listed. Be sure that you have individual categories entered, as this is the only way to assign web addresses (URLs). The second column (for category rows) represents the order in which it will appear as a display item within the program, each category should have a unique number between 1 and 13. The third column represents the category "title", make sure there are no spaces in the name. If you would like spaces to be displayed in the catageory title, then put in an underscore instead "_" and the program will replace it with a space. The last column is the web address (URL) and can be directly copied in from your browser window. Make sure that the "http://" is included in the address. There should be spaces between columns, not commas or any other delimiter.
After saving your changes, you are now ready to use your modifications. If it appears that NewsDart is not picking up stories from a site that you selected, use the Custom sources option (Method 1) to make sure that NewsDart is actually able to read the news site (when you add a source using this method, it will verify that your web address is accurate).
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