Xnews Setup Guide for NewsgroupDirect

This guide will walk you through setting up Xnews to work with NewsgroupDirect news servers. If you haven't already signed up for Usenet access then consider NewsgroupDirect. They offer 1,374 days of binary retention, 50 connections, SSL encryption and servers in the US and Europe. NGR visitors receive a 20% off lifetime discount on all monthly NGD plans so if you haven't signed up for Usenet access this is a great chance to get started.

Download Xnews

Visit the Xnews newsreader homepage (http://xnews.newsguy.com/) to download the latest version of the client.

Install Xnews

There really isn't an install process for Xnews. Simply unzip the files.

Configure Xnews for NewsgroupDirect

The first time you open Xnews the configuration wizard starts.

Figure 1 - Xnews (Initial Server Screen)


Enter the information as follows:
A - News server address: news.newsgroupdirect.com
B - Click OK

Figure 2 - Xnews (Nickname Screen)


Enter the information as follows:
A - Alias (nickname): anything you want
B - Click OK

The following screen will allow you to set the remaining server properties:

Figure 3 - Xnews Server Setup


The server properties screen includes everything you need to get up and running. Simply enter the information as follows:
A - Server name or address: news.newsgroupdirect.com
B - Port:119, 23, 25, 443 or 8080 (note: Xnews does not support SSL natively)
C - Enter Username (provided in email)
D - Enter Password (provided in email)
E - Click Okay

Note: Xnews doesn't support SSL connections within the reader. You will need to either use a different newsreader or a service like Secure Tunnel.

It's that simple to configure Xnews for NewsgroupDirect. Enjoy!