OPML is a common format for moving subscriptions between feed readers. Beacon can import and export it, and export remains available if a subscription ends.
Importing
- Export an OPML file from your current reader, usually from its subscriptions or export settings. Feedbin and Inoreader save it with an .xml extension, which Beacon accepts too.
- In Beacon, go to Settings ▸ Data ▸ Import subscriptions.
- Pick the file.
Folders in the OPML become folders in Beacon, so your existing structure survives the move. Beacon has one level of folders, so a folder inside another is named after both, such as “News › Tech”.
Feeds you already follow aren’t added twice. Old feed:// addresses are updated to ordinary secure web addresses. When the import finishes, Beacon tells you how many feeds it added, how many you already had, and how many it skipped because the address was insecure or invalid.
Exporting
Settings ▸ Data ▸ Export subscriptions writes an OPML file containing every feed and folder. Export periodically for a backup, and before moving to another reader.
After importing
Some feeds in an old OPML will have died since you first followed them. Settings ▸ Feeds ▸ Feed health flags anything failing or gone quiet, which is the fastest way to tidy up an inherited list (see Refresh, feed health and tidying up).