News Feed Application

A modern, bilingual news aggregator that brings together the latest articles from multiple sources in one convenient place. The application automatically fetches news from RSS feeds, displays them in an easy-to-read format, and lets you organize your reading with customizable tabs.

Features

• Bilingual Interface: Switch between French and English with a single click
• Multiple News Sources: Aggregates articles from various news outlets
• Smart Organization: Create custom tabs to organize news by topic, region, or interest
• Real-time Updates: Automatically refreshes news every 5 minutes (can be disabled)
• Advanced Filtering: Filter by language, category, date, or search keywords
• Responsive Design: Works beautifully on desktop and tablet devices
• Local Caching: Articles are cached locally for faster loading

News Sources

The application comes pre-configured with the following sources:

English Sources:

• CBC Montreal
• Montreal Gazette

French Sources:

• Radio-Canada En-bref
• La Presse
• Le Devoir
• Journal de Montréal

You can easily add, remove, or modify sources through the Settings page.

Installation (Docker)

The easiest way to run this application is using Docker. Make sure you have Docker and Docker Compose V2 installed on your system.

Quick Start

1. Clone or download this repository

2. Configure environment variables:

   cp .env.example .env

   Edit the .env file and set the HOST variable:

   • For local development: HOST=localhost (default)
   • For production: Set HOST to your domain name (e.g., HOST=news.example.com)

   If you need to allow multiple hosts, use ALLOWED_HOSTS instead (comma-separated):

   ALLOWED_HOSTS=news.example.com,www.example.com
   

3. Build and start the application:

   ./build.sh

   Or manually:

   docker compose up -d --build

4. Access the application: Open your web browser and navigate to:

   http://localhost:3072
   

   (Or use your configured domain if you set HOST to a domain name)

That's it! The application is now running.

Production Deployment (Recommended)

It is strongly recommended to run the application behind a reverse proxy (nginx) with SSL/TLS encryption. This helps avoid CORS issues and security problems when fetching RSS feeds from external sources.

1. Set up nginx reverse proxy:

   • Use the provided nginx.example.conf as a template
   • Configure it with your domain name
   • Place it in your nginx sites-available directory and symlink to sites-enabled

2. Enable SSL/TLS with Let's Encrypt:

   • Follow the Let's Encrypt documentation to obtain a free SSL certificate
   • Update your nginx configuration to use the SSL certificates
   • The example configuration includes commented SSL settings to guide you

3. Update your .env file:

   • Set HOST to your actual domain name (e.g., HOST=news.example.com)
   • This ensures Vite allows requests from your domain

This setup ensures secure communication and prevents issues when fetching RSS feeds from various sources.

Managing the Application

View logs:

docker compose logs -f newsfeed

Stop the application:

docker compose down

Restart the application:

docker compose restart

Rebuild after making changes:

docker compose up -d --build

Using the Application

For detailed instructions on all features and options, see the User Guide.

Troubleshooting

Port already in use: If port 3072 is already in use, you can change it in docker-compose.yml:

ports:
  - "YOUR_PORT:3072"

Application won't start:

• Check that Docker is running: docker ps
• View logs: docker compose logs newsfeed
• Try rebuilding: docker compose down && docker compose up -d --build

Can't access the application:

• Make sure the container is running: docker compose ps
• Check that port 3072 is not blocked by a firewall
• Try accessing via http://127.0.0.1:3072

Technical Notes

• The application runs on port 3072 by default
• All data (tabs, sources, preferences) is stored in your browser's local storage
• RSS feeds are fetched through a backend proxy to handle CORS restrictions
• The application automatically handles character encoding for international content

Support

For issues or questions, please check the application logs using:

docker compose logs -f newsfeed