Question

I’m trying to install Feedparser 5.1 for Python 3.2, Windows 64 bit.

I have tried FOREVER (aka the past 2 weeks) to install Feedparser for Python, and have been failing miserably. I’ve read the readme, tried searching the internet, and nothing has worked for me. Needless to say, I feel completely stupid.

Will someone PLEASE give me step-by-step instructions to install Feedparser 5.1 for Python 3.2 Windows 64 bit. I’m desperate, please.

Answer 1

Approach A: Using Pip

The best method for installing FeedParser (or almost any Python package) is by using pip, Python’s package manager. pip will be installed by default alongside Python as of Python 3.4 (and Python 2.7.9). Since the latest version of Python (as of time of editing) is Python 3.5, this is really the approach you should be taking whenever possible.

To run pip, do the following:

1. Open the command line. You can do this by clicking start, then typing cmd in the run textbox.
2. Make sure you are connected to the internet.
3. Type in pip install feedparser and hit enter (and wait for pip to download and install FeedParser)

You’re done! Open up IDLE and type in import feedparser to confirm.

If attempting to use pip fails for some reason, try…

1. Typing in C:\Python34\Scripts\pip install feedparser (or wherever you installed Python)
2. Closing the command line, and re-opening it in admin mode (click start, type ‘cmd’, right-click, select “Run as Administrator”), if it’s failing due to permission errors

If you would like to learn more about pip, or need help setting it up on older versions of Python, see this post.

Approach B: Manual install

If, for some reason, you are unable to use pip, you can always try doing a manual install.

Part A: Prerequisites:

Feedburner needs a module named setuptools in order to install. Unfortunately, setuptools isn’t compatible with Python 3.x, but you can use something called Distribute as a convenient replacement. If you already have this installed, you can skip Part A.

1. Download the “installer” here: http://python-distribute.org/distribute_setup.py. This is a Python script that will download the required components from the internet and install Distribute for you.

2. Open the command line. You can do this by clicking start, then typing cmd in the run textbox. Navigate over to the folder containing distribute_setup.py by using cd. On my system, I typed cd C:\Users\Michael0x2a\Downloads

3. Type python distribute_setup.py (and if that doesn’t work, C:\Python32\python.exe distribute_setup.py (or wherever you did install Python)). A bunch of text should appear and scroll by.

Part B: Actually installing feedparser:

1. Download and extract the latest file from here: https://github.com/kurtmckee/feedparser/releases

2. Navigate in the command line to where the extracted feedparser folder is by using the cd command. For example, on my computer, I typed:

   cd C:\Users\Michael0x2a\Downloads\feedparser-5.1\feedparser-5.1
   

   (Your version number will probably differ. For example, you might have feedparser-5.3 or something)

3. Make sure the folder you’re in has the readme, various other docs, and setup.py. To check, type dir into the command line. It should list the files and folders there.

4. Type python setup.py install (or C:\Python34\python.exe setup.py install.). Text should appear and slowly scroll by.

You’re done! Open up IDLE and type import feedparser to confirm.