Troubleshooting

Parsing Errors

This error indicates that the URL you entered for the feed doesn't return valid XML. Usually this will be because you entered the URL for the subscription page and not the feed XML. Occasionally a previously functioning feed will begin to generate this error. This is often because the feed has been moved without notice by the publisher to a different URL, and the old URL now points to an HTML page telling you where it moved to. The easiest way to troubleshoot these types of errors is to use the new Test Feed URL button available from the feed setup page overflow menu.

In rare cases the URL may still point to the correct feed location, but the XML provided by the feed server is corrupt. Again, the Test Feed URL button is the best way to troubleshoot this situation. If you find this to be the case you may wish to contact the feed publisher. Very rarely this can be caused by corruption by your cellular carrier data network, your ISP (on WiFi), or a WiFi router you are connected to, but in these cases you are likely to see parsing errors for every feed you try. Even more rarely a corrupted BlackBerry 10 OS on your device may be at fault. In this case only an OS reload or upgrade can fix the problem.

Blank/Unreadable Article Pages

Sometimes when you try to view an article in QuickView, the page appears blank or is formatted such that it is unreadable. This can be caused by the web server being confused about the type of browser you are using. It may help to change the UserAgent string to another mobile device/browser, or failing that, a desktop one. If you have already selected an alternate UserAgent string, try removing it.

Articles Formatted for Desktop Browsers

It can be difficult to read some feed articles since they are formatted for desktop rather than mobile browsers. Often though there are mobile-friendly versions of the articles, the trick is figuring out how to see them. There are a few strategies that may allow you to see mobile-friendly pages even when the feed is offering only desktop version URLs.

1. Use URL Substitution. Many web sites will send a mobile version of an article page if you change the "www" in the domain name to "m" instead. In some cases more sophisticated substitutions may be required, but even so this method is often more successful than the next one. Although changing "www" to "m" often works, there are no hard and fast rules so you will need to experiment.
2. Change the UserAgent string for QuickView. Both the BlackBerry 10 Browser and multiFEED's QuickView are WebKit-based, and as such are capable of displaying pages identically to desktop WebKit browsers. For this reason many publishers automatically send the desktop version of the page to any WebKit browser, including mobile ones. Try changing the QuickView UserAgent string to an older or less-capable mobile device, such as an older iPhone, and the site may serve up a page formatted for mobile.
3. Change the feed URL itself. A few feeds have different feed URLS for desktop and mobile readers. You may be able to find such alternate feeds on the site RSS subscription page or with a search engine.

Unfortunately there is not always a solution. For instance, FoxNews.com has a mobile version of their web page (http://www.foxnews.mobi), and all articles are posted to both URLs, but there is absolutely no discernible relationship between the two URLs for the same article on the two sites. Since the FoxNews RSS feed only contains the desktop article URLs, and there doesn't appear to be a mobile-specific version of the feed, multiFEED cannot be configured to view the mobile version of FoxNews articles even though they exist.

Thumbnails Not Displayed

If you have headline thumbnails enabled but you aren't seeing any for one or more feeds, it may be for one of the following reasons:

• The feed in question does not normally contain any thumbnails.
• The feed in question normally contains thumbnails, but temporarily does not (this is surprisingly common). Wait a while and see if the thumbnails return. If not, inspect the feed XML source to confirm the lack of thumbnails or convertible images. Send a support request to arsMOBILIS if there appear to be images in the feed that should be displayed as thumbnails, but are not.
• You have thumbnails enabled globally, but have them turned off at the feed or subfeed level.
• You have thumbnails set to display only when connected to WiFi, and your WiFi is inadvertently turned off or you are out of range.
• You have thumbnails set to display only when connected to WiFi and are connected to a WiFi hotspot. The BlackBerry 10 operating system does not recognize a hotspot as a WiFi connection, so multiFEED will think that you are still connected via your carrier network.