The twOpml Tool 

This is the app release of the Twitter Subscription Lists project.

It runs as a Tool in the OPML Editor, on Mac or Windows.

It generates OPML subscription lists from your Twitter followers, in a form that can be read into a feed reader app, such as Google Reader or River2.

The feeds do not have cloud elements, so they are not real-time. That's coming later in the process.

Once installed, you can use it as a web app, or choose a command from the Tools menu in the OPML Editor.

Update: Lifehacker just ran a review of the server app.

Questions and comments 

If you have questions or problems -- and even if everything works great, please post a comment at the bottom of this page. It helps to know if things are working, and if there are problems I want to help you get the app running, especially immediately after it's released. Thanks! Dave

How to Install 

If you haven't already done so, download and install the OPML Editor.

Choose Tool Catalog from the Misc Menu, and click on the Install link next to twOpml.

Confirm that you want to install when the dialog appears.

After it's installed this page is displayed in the web browser.

Running as a web app 

It works exactly the same on your machine as it does on my server except the addresses are different.

To get the OPML for the fictitious user cluelessnewbie, click this link.

http://127.0.0.1:5337/twOpml/get?user=cluelessnewbie

Note that link points to the server running on your machine on port 5337. Obviously it only works if you have the OPML Editor running (its server runs by default on port 5337).

To get the OPML for any user, just replace the user parameter.

Examples: Danny Sullivan. The Gillmor Gang. Scoble. Marshall Kirkpatrick. Jay Rosen. Gruber. Om. Loic. Doc Searls. Anil Dash.

The folder option, as described in the web app, work equally well here.

Why does it take so long to get the OPML? 

This app is built on the Twitter API which has several implications.

The first time you fetch the OPML for a user it may take a bit of time because it has to make a series of calls to Twitter to get the information. Twitter returns followers in batches of 100. So if you follow 3000 people, it must make 30 calls, each of which takes a few seconds. For users with lots of followers, it adds up.

Unless you have been specifically whitelisted by Twitter, you will eventually hit a rate-limit and Twitter will stop responding for a while. When that happens, wait a while and then try again. Or request to be whitelisted. The gnomes at Twitter are friendly, and seem to say yes as long as your intentions are good.

There is a cache that lasts for one hour, so if you make a change, following or unfollowing, it will take some time before it's reflected in the OPML.

Your OPMLs are cached in a folder 

We also store a copy of each OPML file you generate in the twOpml folder in the OPML application folder. This can save you some time. It also keeps a calendar-structured archive in a sub-folder.

Running from the Tools menu 

You can also generate OPML for a Twitter user as follows:

1. Bring the OPML Editor app to the front.

2. Choose the Get OPML command from the TwOpml sub-menu of the Tools menu.

3. Enter the name of the user and click OK. (It defaults to friendsOfDave.)

4. The browser displays the OPML.