# Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Common questions and answers about eilmeldung.

---

## Table of Contents

- [General Questions](#general-questions)
- [Features & Capabilities](#features--capabilities)
- [Configuration & Customization](#configuration--customization)
- [Troubleshooting](#troubleshooting)

---

## General Questions

### Which providers are supported?

See [news_flash_gtk for all supported providers](https://gitlab.com/news-flash/news_flash_gtk).

### What does "eilmeldung" mean?

*eilmeldung* is German for *breaking news*.

### Do I need a Nerd Font?

Yes, you need a [Nerd Font](https://github.com/ryanoasis/nerd-fonts) compatible font/terminal for icons to display correctly. Without it, some icons may appear as boxes or question marks.

---

## Features & Capabilities

### Can I call an external program with the URL/title of the current article?

Yes! You can define *custom share targets* which accept commands or URLs. For instance, in the configuration file:

```toml
share_targets = [
  'hackernews https://news.ycombinator.com/submitlink?u={url}&t={title}', # opens webbrowser
  'sendmail ./sendmail.sh me@eilmeldung.org "{title}" "{url}"', # passes title and URL to shell script
  # more share targets
]
```

In `eilmeldung`, select an article and share it with `share hackernews` or `share sendmail` (use TAB for autocompletion). Of course, you can also define key bindings for this:

```toml
[input_config.mappings]
"S h" = ["share hackernews"]
"S m" = ["share sendmail"]
```

See [Share Target Configuration](configuration.md#share-target-configuration) for details and examples.

### Can I open enclosures? Can I open a video/audio/image enclosure in a custom program?

Yes, you can: the command `openenclosure` call the command given in the option `enclosure_command`, which you can customize. If you want different commands depending on the type, you can further customize, for instance:

```toml
audio_enclosure_command = "vlc {url}"
video_enclosure_command = "mpv {url}"
image_enclosure_command = "firefox {url}"
```

See [Opening Enclosures](configuration.md#opening-enclosures) for more information.

### Does eilmeldung support smart folders?

Yes, by using queries in the feed list. For example:

```toml
feed_list = [
  'query: "Important Today" #important unread today', 
  # ... all other entries you want to have in the feed list
]
```

Creates an entry *Important Today* in the feed list which lists all unread articles with the tag `#important` from today. 

See [Article Queries](queries.md) and [Feed List Configuration](configuration.md#feed-list-configuration) for more.

### How can I save articles for reading later?

You can define a tag for this:

```
:tagadd readlater red
```

Then define a keybinding to quickly tag an article:

```toml
[input_config.mappings]
"R" = ["tag readlater"]
# or if you want to navigate to the next unread article after tagging
"R" = ["tag readlater", "nextunread"]
```

And finally create a query in the feed list for quick access:

```toml
feed_list = [
  'query: "Read Later" #readlater unread',
  # ... all other entries you want to have in the feed list
]
```

### Can I sync what the feed list and article list show (all/unread/marked)?

There is no dedicated setting for this but this can be achieved by using the same value for `article_scope` and `feed_list_scope` and remapping the keybindings for changing the scope:

```toml
[input_config.mappings]
"1" = ["in feeds show all",    "in articles show all"]
"2" = ["in feeds show unread", "in articles show unread"]
"3" = ["in feeds show marked", "in articles show marked"]
```

With this the article list and feed list always have the same scope.

### Can I sort the feeds and categories?

Yes, *yank* the element you want to move (`c y`), move to the position you want to insert the element and press `c p` to insert *after* and `c P` to insert before the selected element.

### Can I automatically sync on startup/every n minutes?

Yes, in your `config.toml` add `sync` to your `startup_commands` (`startup_commands=["sync"]`). To automatically sync every `10` minutes, set `sync_every_minutes=10`.

### Can I automatically select the article list on startup?

Yes, in your `config.toml` add `focus articles` to your `startup_commands` (`startup_commands=["articles"]`).

### How can I expand all categories with unread articles?

Use the command `expandcategories unread`. Call with `all` to expand all categories and `marked` to expand all categories with marked articles. Create a keybinding for quick action or add it `startup_commands`.

### Can I sync/refresh without starting eilmeldung? 

Yes, use `--sync`. See [CLI Arguments](cli_args.md). This even outputs sync statistics for further shell shenanigans.

### What is the difference between `filter` and `filtersticky`? My filter/query is reset/not applied when changing the entry in the feed tree?

`filter` (keymap `=`) applies the filter to the current article list. When chaning the selection in the feed tree, the filter ist *not applied automatically* (press `+ +` to re-apply, command `filterapply`).

Use `filtersticky` to create a filter which is *always applied* automatically. You can reset the filter with `+ r` (command `filterclear`).

### Can I mark all articles above or below the selected article as read/unread/marked/unmarked?

Yes! The commands `read`, `unread`, `mark` and `unmark` accept `above` or `below` as scopes. There are default key mappings: `0 r` and `$ r` for marking all articles above/below (and including) the selected article as read. The same works for `u` (unread), `m` (mark) and `v` (unmark).

### Can I select more articles and then execute an operation on them?

Yes! In `eilmeldung` this is called `flag`ging: Press `f` to flag one or more articles and then any command is executed on all flagged articles (e.g. `r` for marking them as read). Of course, `m` (mark), `t` (tag), `o` (open in browser) all work as expected.
To *unflag* press `d` (*delete* flag) and to *invert the flag state*  press `i`. The upper-case variants flag/unflag *all articles* in the article list. And you can even flag all articles *above*/*below* by prepending `0` or `$`.

For experts: `flag`/`unflag`/`invertflag` are commands just like `read`, `tag`, etc. You can `flag` by a *query* e.g. `flag unread` flags all unread articles. And: `flagged` is a query key which matches flagged articles.

Customize your workflow!

If you want to learn more, checkout [Key Bindings](keybindings.md#flagging-articles) and [Commands](commands.md#article-actions)

---

### Can I open links/images in articles? Can eilmeldung display images in articles?

Yes, `eilmeldung` supports *hints*:

![Image showing several link/image hints in the article content display of eilmeldung](images/hints.png)

Press `; ;` (command `hintopen`) and enter the letter before the icons to open the link/image in your webbrowser. You can also share links/images with `; s`  or copy it to the clipboard with `; y` (command `hintshare`). 



## Configuration & Customization

### Can I adjust the layout and panel sizes?

Yes! Have a look at the section *Layout* in [Configuration](configuration.md#layout-configuration).

You can control:
- Feed list width when focused
- Article list width and height when focused
- Article content height when focused

This allows you to create static layouts (all panels same size) or dynamic layouts (focused panel gets more space).

### Is there a light color palette?

The default color palette is dark. For a light palette using ANSI 16 colors, see [this example file](../examples/light-ansi-palette.toml) and insert it into your `config.toml`.

You can also customize all colors individually. See [Theme Configuration](configuration.md#theme-configuration).

### Can I change how read/unread articles/items look like?

Yes, use [Component Style Modifiers](configuration.md#component-style-modifiers). For instance:

```toml
unread = { fg = "highlight" mods = ["italic"] } # shows unread items in italic with the highlight color
read = { fg = "muted" mods = ["dim"] } # shows read items dim with muted color
```


### Can I configure login information via the configuration file?

Yes! Check out *Automatic Login* in [Configuration](configuration.md#automatic-login).

This allows you to:
- Skip the interactive login process
- Store credentials securely using password managers
- Automate setup for multiple instances

**Important**: Use the `cmd:` prefix to call a password manager instead of storing passwords in plain text:

```toml
[login_setup]
password = "cmd:pass my-passwords/eilmeldung"
```

### How do I find the right login settings?

Run `eilmeldung --print-login-data` to see the configuration needed for your setup. This will guide you through the login process and output the configuration at the end.

See [Finding the Right Settings](configuration.md#finding-the-right-settings) for details.

### Can I import/export an OPML file from the command line?

Yes, use `--import-opml` and `--export-opml`. See [CLI Arguments](cli_args.md) for details.

### Do I always have to focus a panel to move/execute a command there?

No, the `in <panel> <command>` executes the command in the panel (`feeds`, `articles`, `content`). For instance, to move down in the feed list, the command is `in feeds down`; use this for customizing your key bindings!

### Can I have a larger thumbnail display?

Thumbnail size is determined by the following settings:

```toml
thumbnail_width = "14 length"
thumbnail_height = "5 length"
```

These two are dimensions (see [configuration](configuration.md)) and define the *width and height* of the thumbnail. Due to how images are displayed in the terminal, it is not possible to dynamically adapt the display to optimum space consumption. In other words, the image will always consume the defined width and height, leading to blank regions to either the title of the article on the right or a space to the content of the article. Increase these values to find a settings that suits you, e.g.:

```toml
thumbnail_width = "30%" # consumes 30% of the available horizontal space
thumbnail_height = "50%" # consumes 50% of the available vertical space
```
## How can I view/open images in articles?

Install an image viewer which can open links/URLs, like [feh](https://feh.finalrewind.org/). Then define a new share target for opening URL with `feh` in your `config.toml`
```toml
share_targets = [
  "feh feh \"{url}\"", 
  # your other share targets like clipboard etc.
]
```
Now you can open image links by sharing them with `feh`, e.g., by defining the following key binding:
```toml
[input_config.mappings]
"; i" = ["cmd hintshare feh"]
```
Then pressing `; i` and entering the hint pointing to the image opens `feh` with the URL.

---

## Troubleshooting

### Icons don't display correctly

Make sure you're using a [Nerd Font](https://github.com/ryanoasis/nerd-fonts) compatible font in your terminal. See [Installation](installation.md#important-nerd-fonts).

### How do I enable debug logging?

Run eilmeldung with debug logging to troubleshoot issues:

```bash
eilmeldung --log-level DEBUG --log-file ~/eilmeldung-debug.log
```

See [Command Line Arguments](cli_args.md) for more options.

---

## Still Have Questions?

- Check the full [Documentation](../README.md#documentation)
- Review the [Commands](commands.md) reference
- Read the [Configuration](configuration.md) guide
- Report issues at [GitHub](https://github.com/christo-auer/eilmeldung/issues)
