Stay Up-to-Date with Your Favorite Aftenposten Authors: Why I Created a Custom RSS Feed Service
By Anders Olsen Sandvik on
Why This Service?
As an avid reader of Aftenposten, I often found myself wanting to follow specific authors consistently, like Frode Thuen, Hedvig Montgomery, Joacim Lund, and Kaveh Rashidi. But Aftenposten doesn’t offer an easy way to subscribe to all articles from a single author. I realized that I needed a better way to have an overview of the articles I hadn’t read yet. That’s what led me to create this service.
What is RSS, and Why Should You Care?
Before diving into how this service works, let’s take a step back and explain RSS for those unfamiliar with it.
RSS (Really Simple Syndication) is a web feed that allows you to automatically receive updates from your favorite websites in one place. Instead of manually visiting sites, you can subscribe to RSS feeds and get updates in a reader, like Feedbin, which I personally use. It’s a great way to keep track of content without missing anything or being overwhelmed by email notifications.
The Problem with Following Authors on Aftenposten
Aftenposten, like many news websites, offers a ton of content. But if you’re interested in following specific authors rather than the site’s entire news stream, there’s no built-in way to do that. Even if you visit an author’s page regularly, it’s easy to miss articles or forget which ones you’ve already read.
This problem led me to build a tool that scrapes Aftenposten’s author pages and generates an RSS feed for each author I want to follow.
How the Service Works
The tool is hosted at https://aprss.surge.sh/, and it currently supports four authors:
- Frode Thuen
- Hedvig Montgomery
- Joacim Lund
- Kaveh Rashidi
Here’s how it works:
- The script scrapes the author’s page on Aftenposten, which lists all articles they’ve written.
- It then generates an RSS feed that lists all these articles. The feed can be added to any RSS reader.
- You can subscribe to the RSS feed for each author and get updates directly in your reader, where you can see which articles you haven’t read yet.
Who Can Use This Service?
Although the service was originally designed with more technical users in mind, it’s straightforward enough for anyone familiar with RSS to use. Even if you’ve never used RSS before, it’s easy to get started. Simply pick a reader like Feedbin or Feedly, add the RSS feed URL for the author you want to follow, and you’re set.
What’s Next?
For now, the service covers the four authors I’m most interested in, but I’m open to expanding it. If there are other Aftenposten authors you’d like to follow, feel free to reach out. I might add them if there’s interest! As for additional features, I’m open to ideas, but the current setup meets the need of keeping track of unread articles effectively.
Why Use RSS in 2024?
In a world dominated by social media and algorithm-driven news feeds, RSS remains one of the best ways to take control of the content you consume. There’s no noise, no unwanted recommendations—just the articles from the authors you care about. For me, that’s the main appeal of this project: a simple, no-frills way to stay updated with the writers I value most.