Help with creating a reading/archive workflow - Suggestions?

#1

hey MPUers,

I am trying to find a better workflow for reading/archive/research. Currently all RSS feeds are in Feedly, articles I want to read later are sent to Pocket. Articles in Pocket that I want to keep long term are sent to DevonThink. I have trouble with this last part, I feel like something is getting lost in the process.

Is there a better way to do this? Would the incorporation of Craft help or complicate the situation?

Example Topics to give some ideas. I have a bunch of links (article or youtube) for setting up a new Synology, or a new UniFi network, itā€™s not always tech. Sometimes, itā€™s types of fruits or vegetables I am researching in terms of gardening time, fertilizer, pruning seasons, etc. (I am trying to give you the variety of topics that come up)

Anyone else have these use case scenarios? This is just for stuff from RSSā€¦I havenā€™t even touched ā€œwritingā€ yet LOL. I am still keeping that in Drafts and Ulysses for now.

#2

Itā€™s sounding good to me, honestly. Whatā€™s troubling you about the last part? Are you building on a successful use of DevonThink or trying something new with this?

As an experiment, you might consider what it would be like to only use Pocket (finding old articles from its archives) or to save articles straight to DT from RSS and read them in DT. Iā€™m not saying you should do either one, but when I think about those extremes it helps me understand what each software might do for me in this workflow.

#3

ā€œArticles in Pocket that I want to keep long term are sent to DevonThink. I have trouble with this last part, I feel like something is getting lost in the process.ā€

Could it be that paywalled articles which Pocket can retrieve are getting cut off in DT? You might consider Instapaper instead, as it can send the full text of an article, not just a link. Also, Instapaper can export all your highlights from a given page and export that together as well, something Pocket canā€™t do. (At least not the last time I looked.)

#4

I tried using the Archives feature in Pocket and found it very limiting. Savings articles straight to DT from RSS was too much and didnā€™t offer that clean look from Pocket. Just to elaborate on why the DT-RSS combo was too much. There are about 25-30 RSS Feeds that I follow in Feedly, I utilize Feedly in the sense of itā€™s just a placeholder and I filter out what I want to read and save to Pocket. Pocket gives that clean no-ad look.

@luhmann I think at times I forget DT exists in the sense of usability. It turns into my ā€œdump and archive digital cabinetā€. I used to write in DT and present from DT (that was never a good experience) Later, I had a struggle with my writing (for a while I would export my writing to DT as a ā€˜final resting placeā€™). Ultimately, I just decided that since I write in Ulysses (I write my sermons and talks for church service), I would just leave and organize in Ulysses. The drawback to this is I lose out on any type of connections between sermons.

#5

Sounds like you would be better off using Obsidian or Roam Research, both of which are designed to maintain links between ideas.

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#6

This is my fear. :joy: Adding another app into my work life.

#7

I use Pocket (with context based tags) and archive when read. If I want to keep an article longer-term, I clip it from Pocket to Evernote as a simplified article before archiving.

#8

My actual workflow for reading stuff from the internet is:

  1. Input: RSS feeds (in Reeder with backend Inoreader) + anything form the web (Safari and everything that has a share sheet) I want to read later / process / keep.
  2. Reading later queue: Read Later with Reeder (Reeder read later "serviceā€); it allows tagging so things may get tagged.
  3. Read things: when read they may
  • be converted in a text file with nb to later be processed in the Obsidian Vault (which iā€™ve not decided if I will index in Devonthink)
  • be stored in Raindrop.io as a permanent archive (previously used pinboard but wanted to change after increase in price andā€¦ well just wanted to test something new)
  • be discarded.
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#9

I use DEVONthink as my RSS reader and leave all read articles in that dedicated RSS database. The items are small enough to just keep.

I wish I could adjust the look of feeds when reading in DTTG because the text is really small, hoping this feature is added soon.

#10

But what do you do if the site changes and no longer has the article anymore?
(Iā€™m assuming you have just the URL link in DT)

#11

Thatā€™s why I convert to text file: a ā€œhard copyā€ on my machine, searchable and light weight

#12

Great to see nb mentioned here! Could you expand on how you use Obsidian Vault, and what it provides over what nb can do?

#13

well, the main advantage of Obsidian is the GUI, and the link suggestion (unlinked mentions) feature.

I can work my way around command line but Iā€™m not so expert.

Apart from that, when I started using nb it did not support wikilinks, if I recall correctly (it is very actively developed tho, and itā€™s a great little utility).

I should mention that Obsidian is a recent addition to the workflow. And to edit / interact with notes I use emacs with markdown mode and deft on the Mac and 1writer on iOS.

Iā€™ve started to use Obsidian to see if it helps with connecting things, and if it makes easier to add to the vault the articles I convert to plain text with nb on top of ā€œhand writtenā€ notes.

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#14

Thanks for sharing that!

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#15

I had a very similar workflow. Feedly ā†’ Pocket ā†’ DT. The problem was getting the articles from Pocket to DT.
Now I accomplish this via Instapaper
Feedly ā†’ Instapaper ā†’ DT
Instapaper has a nice RSS feature . The cleaned up articles appear as PDF in DT as an RSS Feed.
I then process the articles and summarize/take notes in Obsidian with links into DT
This process is working well for me.

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