Inside-out NetNewsWire stylesheet

This style for NetNewsWire 2 is like one of those crazy inventions that come into being accidentally through the process of creating something else. Once the hidden potential is discovered, the usefulness of some of these ‘by-products’ can sometimes outgrow their intentional siblings. Most, like this bit of CSS, remain little more than novelty. Although I think the effect of this style is novel enough to share and might even prove educational if you are interested in creating your own style for NetNewsWire.

While working on Ollicle Crisp and exploring the available styling options I found myself using the CSS to first expose the HTML elements before then styling them. Unlike my previous style for NetNewsWire, this style is not designed for reading. X-ray instead exposes the underlying HTML structure of the displayed post, highlighting common tags and their classes. Elements with inline styles are highlighted with a yellow outline.

The best way to look at the source of a feed post is of course to Control-click on your open post in NetNewsWire and ‘Copy HTML Source’ – before pasting into your favoured text editor. X-ray, although limited in detail, is prettier and quicker.

1. Download Ollicle X-ray

2. Unzip and place ‘Ollicle X-Ray’ with your other styles in:
   ~/Library/Application Support/NetNewsWire/StyleSheets/

3. Launch (or restart) NetNewsWire and select “Ollicle X-Ray” from the style menu.