Click here for the latest version, 0.9.7.4904, uploaded on 10/28/2009.

If you are curious about motivation and prospects for JSNewsreader, please click here.

Instructions: Just run the jsnewsreader.exe file. New versions may be posted here at any time, without notice. This is very much a work in progress, though basic newsreading and binary file downloading and viewing are pretty solid, at least on my machines. Please note that this software comes with absolutely no warranty whatsoever, and has no significant documentation, help or support. Not every feature may be complete. Icons and most other visual aspects of the program are just placeholders, not expected to have any aesthetic value. This version of the newsreader has EurekaLog built-in, which is a run-time debugging tool that will pop up when an unexpected error occurs. Please choose the option to send error reports over the internet.

Please send feedback and comments to the author at feedback@jsnewsreader.com.

Thank you for your interest.

Introduction:

JSNewsreader is a newsreader designed for advanced, busy users, offering several features that make it unique and sophisticated compared to most other newsreaders. While the GUI paradigm is familiar there are a lot of features that will probably be new to many users. In addition to all the features every user expects, there are also several features that many users have long wanted but were unable to find in any other newsreader. Here is a small sampling of the unique features that make JSNewsreader a truly powerful newsreader:

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Multiple location synchronization: this feature is useful for those who read newsgroups from both work/school and home. When this option is activated, JSNewsreader will keep track of changes, such as reading messages, subscribing to newsgroups, adding another server, etc. and on shutdown will create a synchronization email, and sends this email to an email account that has been previously selected. Upon opening up JSNewsreader at the other location, JSNewsreader will read this email and update read messages, newsgroup subscriptions, server definitions, etc. This is very convenient if you read messages while at work and then want to pick up where you left off when you get home.
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Newsgroup Inbox: this feature is useful for those who post to a lot of newsgroups or tend to post to newsgroups they don't usually check. The newsgroup inbox presents a message pane that shows all replies to your posts no matter what newsgroups or servers to which you posted, like an email inbox. This inbox even tracks replies in cross-posted newsgroups and follow-up newsgroups. You can reply to posts from this pane or see the post in context in the containing newsgroup.
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Color coded senders: this feature lets you colorize all the posts from any particular sender. There is no limit on the number of senders you can colorize, nor on the colors you can choose. This makes it very easy to see posts from your favorite newsgroup participants or moderators.
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Newsgroup Folders: this feature lets you create a folder of newsgroups that you can view as if they were a single newsgroup. Folders can be nested to any level. Folders can contain any newsgroups from any servers. When viewing messages in a newsgroup folder, you can update headers, etc. as if they were in a single newsgroup. Thus you can check for new messages in all newsgroups in a folder with a single click, for example.
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Password protection: JSNewsreader is secure. You can optionally require a password to access the program. In addition, the message and multimedia database is protected using industrial-strength encryption as are all synchronization messages.
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Three-level plonking: Newsgroups can be polluted by trolls of various levels of idiocy that you might want to “Plonk” (hide from view). JSNewsreader offers three different levels of plonking or “killfile”. The weakest is a mere “Plonk”, which hides all messages from the chosen sender. The next level, “Super Plonk”, hides all posts, and all replies to these posts, from the chosen sender. The strongest level of plonk is the “Ultra Plonk”, which hides all messages, all replies to those posts, and every message that is in any thread branch started by the chosen sender.
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Named filters: every message pane can be filtered, using an easy to understand SQL-like language for filters that can be saved and retrieved by name.
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Multithreaded processes: JSNewsreader allows downloads, uploads and most GUI processes to occur in separate threads, allowing several different processes to occur simultaneously. For example, you can download three different binary attachments at the same time that you also send a post, download the newsgroup list for two different news servers and compose several replies, all at the same time. The upload and download queues allow you to specify how many threads are to upload or download simultaneously.
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Automatic multi-post binary attachment combination: when you download all the pieces of a multiple-post binary attachment, JSNewsreader will automatically combine all the pieces and save the attachment once all the pieces have been downloaded. Images will be saved to the images database, multimedia files to the multimedia database. [RAR,PAR, and PAR2 automatic recombining/repairing support to come.]

Additional features include an advanced message view pane that optionally re-wraps and colorizes newsgroup posts and optionally hides excessive over-quoting and signatures, automatic multiple-post binary attachment combination, a complete image and multimedia database and multiple slide-show, and a multi-threaded architecture that allows multiple processes to occur simultaneously.