Import
Move from Inoreader to Readbird
Inoreader exports your subscriptions as an OPML file and your starred articles as a JSON file. Readbird reads both: the feeds arrive in their folders, the starred articles land in the “Later” list.
How the move works
Two separate files, two separate steps. The OPML file holds your subscriptions and folders; the file starred.json holds the articles you starred. You can move either one or both — they do not depend on each other.
Feeds go to your Readbird feed list together with their folders. Starred articles go to the “Later” list, where they open in a clean reader, can be highlighted, annotated, read aloud and translated.
Leaving is just as open: the data export in Settings includes your subscriptions as an OPML file. Servers are in the EU, there are no ads, and every feature is free while Readbird is in beta.
What you need from Inoreader
In Inoreader’s export settings you can download your subscriptions as OPML and an archive of your account. The archive is a ZIP that holds subscriptions.xml (the same list as the OPML file) and starred.json (your starred articles). The menu names in Inoreader change from time to time, so look for the export or backup section in its preferences.
How to move the file
- Open Readbird, choose “Add content” and go to the “Move everything to Readbird” block.
- Subscriptions: pick the OPML file (or subscriptions.xml from the archive). You can also paste a link to an OPML file instead of uploading it.
- Starred articles: pick the ZIP archive as it is, or the starred.json file from it. Readbird finds the articles itself.
- Wait for the report. For feeds it shows how many were added, skipped and failed; for articles — how many links were found and imported.
What moves over from Inoreader and what does not
| What | Result | Details |
|---|---|---|
| Subscriptions (feeds) | Moves over | Every feed address from the OPML file. Feeds you are already subscribed to, and repeats inside the file, are skipped. |
| Folders | Partly | A feed lands in the folder it had. Readbird has no nested folders, so a subfolder is flattened to its own name; two subfolders with the same name get “Parent / Folder”. |
| Feed names you changed | Does not move | Readbird takes the feed’s own title. Renamed titles are not carried over. |
| Starred articles | Moves over | Link, title, author, a short excerpt, and a date. Articles without a usable web link are skipped and counted in the report. |
| Starred and read state | Moves over | A starred article arrives as a favourite; an article marked read arrives in the archive. |
| Tags and labels | Moves over | Your own tags and labels become labels. Inoreader’s built-in states are not labels. |
| Saved date | Partly | The export does not carry the date you starred an article. Readbird uses the time Inoreader fetched it, or its publication date. |
| Annotations | Partly | Read if the file has them. In a real export we checked, there were none, so do not count on it. |
| Article text | Does not move | The file has only a short excerpt. Readbird loads the full text from the original page when you open the article, if it is still online. |
Limits to know about
- One import adds up to 300 new feeds. If there are more, the report says how many are left; run the same file again for the rest.
- Adding feeds is limited to 300 per hour. At the limit the import stops, says how many are left, and continues from there when you load the same file an hour later.
- Starred articles: up to 20,000 new links per import; run the same file again and it continues where it stopped.
- The “Later” list loads up to 5,000 saved items. Annotations, if there are any, are capped at 200 per article.
- A link to an OPML file works only if it points to the file itself; Readbird fetches the first 512 KB. A bigger list has to be uploaded as a file.
Import
Questions about moving from Inoreader
Do I need the whole account archive?
Only for the starred articles. Subscriptions alone move with the OPML file. For both, load the OPML file and the archive one after the other.
Can I use this to move from Feedly or The Old Reader?
Subscriptions — yes: both export OPML, and Readbird reads any OPML file. Starred articles are read from the Google Reader JSON format, which The Old Reader and similar services also use; for Feedly there is no such file here.
What if a feed is already in my Readbird?
It is skipped, and if it had no folder yet, it gets the one from the file. Nothing is subscribed twice.
Does importing cost anything?
No. Import is free, and so is leaving: the data export in Settings gives you everything in Readbird, subscriptions included as OPML.
Switching
Bring your feeds over
Start with the import window, or simply add your first feed.