RSS Feeds for Library Generated links not working

brightds · March 1, 2023

Hi all --

I have been trying to establish RSS feeds for searches made through my university library website. It looks like I'm encountering the same issues as these:

https://forums.zotero.org/discussion/99175/unable-to-refresh-or-add-rss-feed/p1
https://forums.zotero.org/discussion/93844/cant-add-new-rss-feeds-not-working-in-latest-beta-version-on-mac/p1

This is an example of a feed I am trying to link:
https://rss-ebscohost-com.ezproxy.libraries.wright.edu/AlertSyndicationService/Syndication.asmx/GetFeed?guid=9251253

Here is the debug code:
D1739546152

When I aim to set up the link, the title will not populate, and I cannot save it.

I have tried to follow the guidance found throughout these discussion threads (though hard to know if I'm doing it right). I have also called tech support at my university (Wright State U), as well as our University Library tech support. They have essentially told me that Zotero is "not supported" at our university and while they have offered ideas, no solutions.

I would really like to solve this so that I can have the convenience of customized RSS feeds for my workflow.

Thanks for any help.

adomasven · March 2, 2023

Accessing websites behind proxies requires associated credentials. Browsers store them in cookies when you authenticate with a university proxy. While technically implementing support for RSS feeds behind custom proxies could be possible, it's an extremely niche scenario that you likely won't find in any dedicated RSS readers, let alone something like Zotero, where RSS support is all things considered a secondary feature.

brightds · March 2, 2023

OK -- thanks for the response.

dstillman · March 2, 2023

@brightds: You actually can add that feed with an unproxied URL:

https://rss.ebscohost.com/AlertSyndicationService/Syndication.asmx/GetFeed?guid=9251253

And you can save from it, but you'll only get basic metadata — Title, Creator, Abstract — and a useless snapshot for a login page, so I wouldn't recommend saving that way.

You could, however, just double-click on the feed items to open them in your browser, where you're logged into the proxy, and save from there using the Zotero Connector.

(And to be clear, you mostly won't run into this. Most providers don't work like EBSCO where you need to be authenticated just to see a database record.)