FreeMyFeed - a simple way to subscribe to an authenticated feed

I'm involved in project with a username and password protected web site. The project web site (provided by BaseCamp) has an RSS feed which enables users easily to keep up with changes to the site. The snag is that the feed is authenticated, which means that my preferred feed reader (Google Reader) cannot display the feed. FreeMyFeed solves this problem, by providing an alternative URL for the BaseCamp RSS feed, which Google Reader can display. FreeMyFeed has a promising looking approach to privacy:

"Usernames, passwords, feed URLs and feeds are never stored on the server. Usernames, passwords and feed URLs are only parsed from the alternate URL to retrieve your RSS feed on the fly from the original source and then are discarded."

With thanks to Neil Smith of Knowledge Integration for telling me about this solution.

Comments

[Rachel Harris]

Hi Seb

That is interesting. I've been looking into online project management tools, and had a quick trial of Basecamp. I had looked at others, such as Convos. I really wanted something that has a history - and therefore likely to have a future! Basecamp has been around for a while, and seems very widely used, but I found it a bit on the cumbersome side? How has it worked out for you?

==

Rachel - to early to tell I am afraid, but by next year I'll have clearer idea.

Seb

[Stuart Sutherland]

Yes it's nifty isn't it? I've used FreeMyFeed to pull a private feed out of Twitter which I use to post quick updates on a project. The FriendFeed RSS can then deposit the Twitter feed into another password-protected location using a widget. Bish bosh!

Rachel, I'd heartily recommend Basecamp, having used it for 4 years to support numerous projects. Once you commit to using it as THE store for all project communication, and sign up for a cheap paid-for version, it quickly becomes vital and very efficient. No longer is the knowledge around a project stored in emails, heads and numerous to-do lists. Great to use with project partners and stakeholders and clients too. Huddle.net and Central Desktop are other decent contenders.

My entry into Basecamp was a desire to make sure that a project I was managing could manage without me while I took 4 weeks' paternity leave. That motivation to keep all project info visible and accessible convinced me of its value.