Import YouTube subscriptions

This guide walks through the full YouTube loop in The Weekly Edition: bring your channel subscriptions into the app, keep up with new videos, queue the ones you want, and ship that selection to a YouTube playlist when you prepare your weekly edition.

It expands on the shorter blog note and reflects the current import and shipping flow in the app.

What this guide helps you do

By the end you will be able to:

1. Export your YouTube channel subscriptions as an OPML file.
2. Import those subscriptions into The Weekly Edition — either directly from the device or via WebDAV.
3. Confirm the YouTube feeds are available in the app.
4. Collect interesting videos into the YouTube queue during the week.
5. Configure a destination YouTube playlist.
6. Run Ship Weekly Edition so queued videos are added to that playlist.

The Weekly Edition helps you select and organize videos. It does not download YouTube video files, and it does not turn YouTube videos into EPUB articles as a substitute for watching them.

Before you begin

You will need:

• Access to The Weekly Edition app.
• A way to export YouTube subscriptions to OPML (this guide uses the public ytsubs tool).
• For the WebDAV import path: a working WebDAV connection in Settings → Cloud Storage, plus an OPML/ folder on that server.
• For collecting videos and shipping them to a playlist:
  • Raindrop configured under Settings → Integrations (the YouTube queue is stored as a Raindrop collection named YouTube).
  • Google sign-in and a saved destination playlist under Settings → RSS Import → YouTube Queue.

Note

Both Direct Import and WebDAV import are supported. Choose based on whether you already keep OPML files on a WebDAV server. Neither path is legacy.

Export your YouTube subscriptions

1. On a device where you are signed into YouTube / Google, open caseybrant.com/ytsubs/.
2. Accept the permissions the tool requests so it can read your channel subscriptions.
3. Click Do it.
4. Download the OPML file when the link appears.

Keep that file somewhere easy to find (Files app, Downloads, or your WebDAV client).

Tip

A conventional name used with The Weekly Edition is ytsubs.opml. The WebDAV path looks specifically for that filename under OPML/.

Choose an import method

Method	Best when	Where you act in the app
Direct Import	You have the OPML file on the same device as the app and do not want to involve WebDAV first	Settings → RSS Import → Direct Import Settings
WebDAV	You already use WebDAV with The Weekly Edition and prefer OPML files to live on the server	Upload to WebDAV, then Settings → RSS Import → RSS Subscriptions Sync

If WebDAV is already configured, the app shows the WebDAV section first. If it is not, Direct Import appears first. Both sections remain available either way.

Import subscriptions directly

Use this path when the OPML file is already on the device.

1. Open Settings.
2. Open RSS Import (“Sync via WebDAV or import OPML files directly”).
3. Under Direct Import Settings:
   • Tap Select RSS OPML file and choose an OPML export for your regular RSS feeds.
     Direct Import requires this RSS file before import can run.
   • Optionally tap Select YouTube OPML file and choose your ytsubs.opml (or equivalent) so YouTube channels are grouped under YouTube.
4. Tap Import Selected Files.
5. Wait for the success checkmark.

Caution

Direct Import always expects an RSS subscriptions OPML file. The YouTube OPML is optional and should be selected with the YouTube control so channels land in the YouTube group rather than as ungrouped feeds.

If you only need to refresh files later, use Replace RSS OPML file or Replace YouTube OPML file, then Import Selected Files again.

Import subscriptions through WebDAV

Use this path when OPML files live on your WebDAV server.

Place the files on WebDAV

1. Ensure Settings → Cloud Storage can connect successfully.
2. On the WebDAV server, create or use a folder named OPML/ at the path the app expects.
3. Put your main RSS export at OPML/feeds.opml when you use that feature.
4. Put the YouTube export at OPML/ytsubs.opml.

The app checks for:

• OPML/
• OPML/feeds.opml
• OPML/ytsubs.opml

Presence indicators on the RSS Import screen show whether those paths were found.

Import from the app

1. Open Settings → RSS Import.
2. Under RSS Subscriptions Sync, confirm the path indicators look right (especially ytsubs.opml).
3. Tap Import OPML.
4. Wait for the success checkmark.

The WebDAV import loads feeds.opml as your main feeds and, when present, imports ytsubs.opml into the YouTube group.

Note

WebDAV remains a first-class workflow. Use it when you want the same OPML files available across devices or already maintain them on the server. Use Direct Import when you prefer a one-shot file pick on the device.

Check that the subscriptions were imported

1. Return to the Home / library list.
2. Pull to refresh.
3. Look for YouTube-related library activity after feeds load (for example an upcoming YouTube feed book when the app has items to surface).

If nothing appears:

• Re-open RSS Import and confirm the import completed without error.
• For WebDAV, confirm OPML/ytsubs.opml is present and Cloud Storage is healthy.
• For Direct Import, confirm you used Select YouTube OPML file for the YouTube export (not only the RSS slot).

Collect videos during the week

Importing subscriptions only brings channels into the app. Building a weekly playlist is a separate step.

During the week:

1. Use your YouTube feeds in The Weekly Edition to notice new videos.
2. When you find a video you want for the weekend, use the URL action YouTube Queue.
   That stores the link in the Raindrop YouTube collection (Raindrop must be configured under Integrations).
3. Continue triaging through the week. The queue is cumulative until you ship it.

Tip

YouTube Queue is the action for videos. Non-YouTube articles use Next Edition and go to the Articles collection instead.

Select videos for the weekly playlist

Open the Next Edition tab when you want to review what you have queued.

• The YouTube side of that workflow is the YouTube collection / queue count.
• Remove or rearrange only as needed in Raindrop if you keep housekeeping there; the app reads that collection when shipping.

You do not need to “enqueue” one video at a time on Sunday. Shipping processes the current YouTube collection as a batch.

Send the selection to YouTube

Configure the destination playlist (once)

1. Open Settings → RSS Import.
2. Scroll to YouTube Queue.
3. Sign in with Google when prompted.
4. Under Selected playlist, choose the playlist that should receive queued videos.
5. Tap Save playlist.

The app notes that shorter videos are ordered first when building the playlist order, so you can pick a length that fits the time you have.

You can Disconnect YouTube from the same section if you need to clear the connection.

Ship on cleanup day

When you are ready to close the week (the Sunday / cleanup flow):

1. Open the Next Edition tab.
2. Tap Ship Weekly Edition.

Ship Weekly Edition runs the end-of-week sequence, which includes:

1. Archiving last week’s collections.
2. Uploading the current YouTube queue to your saved playlist (duration-ordered, shorter first).
3. Generating The Weekly Edition for articles.
4. Archiving the processed links.

Caution

If no playlist is saved, shipping stops with: Please select and save a YouTube playlist first. Configure YouTube Queue on the RSS Import screen, then try again.

After a successful ship, open the chosen playlist on YouTube to confirm the videos arrived.

Common problems

Import OPML does nothing / path indicators are empty

• For WebDAV: fix Cloud Storage credentials and confirm OPML/, OPML/feeds.opml, and OPML/ytsubs.opml exist at the expected location.
• For Direct Import: select an RSS OPML first; the YouTube file alone is not enough to enable Import Selected Files.

YouTube channels imported without a YouTube group

You likely selected the YouTube OPML with Select RSS OPML file instead of Select YouTube OPML file. Re-import using the YouTube control so the app applies the YouTube group.

“Please select and save a YouTube playlist first.”

Sign in under RSS Import → YouTube Queue, choose a playlist, and tap Save playlist.

Queue count stays at zero

• Confirm Raindrop is configured under Integrations.
• Confirm you used the YouTube Queue action on YouTube links (not Maybe, Action, or Next Edition).

Google sign-in fails

Retry from RSS Import → YouTube Queue. If it keeps failing, verify the device can complete Google sign-in and that the YouTube integration is available in your build.

Videos missing or out of order on YouTube

Shipping sorts valid YouTube links by duration (shorter first) and skips URLs it cannot resolve as videos. Non-YouTube URLs in the collection are skipped with errors logged on the device.

How this fits into a Weekly Edition

A calm weekly rhythm looks like this:

1. Once: import RSS and YouTube subscriptions (Direct or WebDAV).
2. Once: connect Google and Save playlist under YouTube Queue.
3. During the week: skim feeds; send keepers to YouTube Queue (and articles to Next Edition).
4. At week’s end: open Next Edition and run Ship Weekly Edition.
5. Afterwards: watch from the YouTube playlist on whatever device is comfortable — phone, TV, or laptop — without re-deciding what to watch.

The product’s job is the quiet middle: notice, select, and hand a ready-made list to YouTube. Watching stays on YouTube; reading longer articles stays in the edition books. Keeping those modes separate is intentional.