No matter what service or product you provide or what industry your business is a part of, providing high-value information to your blog visitors is essential. For example, if you provide taxation services, it’s not a bad idea to include information from the taxation office, such as news and updates on tax rulings, small business tax tips, etc.
The problem with providing this type of information, however, is that it requires an enormous amount of work and expertise. You have to do a lot of information sifting, researching and organizing, checking your sources for accuracy, content writing and editing (or hire someone to do this for you), and then continually ensure that this information is kept up-to-date. As you can imagine, this not only involves a huge amount of work but most of the information you are dealing with is entirely beyond your control.
Fortunately, there is an easier way to keep your users up-to-date with great information.
It’s called RSS …
(RSS is the easiest way to provide your readers with up-to-date information)
The Ultimate Guide To WordPress RSS
RSS – What Is It?
- RSS stands for Rich Site Summary, or, as is more commonly referred to, Really Simple Syndication. It is also often referred to as a “feed” or “news feed”.
- RSS lets content publishers automatically syndicate their content to save users time from having to keep revisiting their site to check for updates.
- Feeds are often used to publish information that is frequently updated, such as blog posts, news, video lists, etc., to which any user can choose to subscribe.
- RSS feeds can be read using web-based, desktop-based, and even mobile-based programs called feed readers, or feed aggregators. Feed readers can be used to find new content published on websites and syndicate this content online.
- Feeds can be made available in different types and read by different feed readers. Some of these include RSS feeds, Atom (also called AtomPub or APP feeds and RDF feeds. All of these formats, however, use a standard XML file format to ensure that feeds are compatible with different machines, feed readers, and programs.
- Many sites and software applications also let you combine multiple RSS feeds to display news and updates sourced from multiple websites.
This guide shows you where your RSS feed is located, how to use your WordPress RSS feed to get your content syndicated online, and how to add content from other websites to your site via RSS.
RSS (Really Simple Syndication) Feeds
Content syndication is a powerful method used for sharing content online. Feeds provide online users with an easy way to receive the latest information posted on sites they are interested in.
First, let’s look at content syndication.
Most online newspapers use content syndication to publish news from content sources all around the world.
Content syndication allows online newspapers to deliver readers the most recent stories and newsworthy content from all around the planet without actually having to employ and set up additional content writers everywhere around the world …
(Digital content publishers rely heavily on syndication to publish newsworthy items from other news agencies around the planet.)
Syndication is a legitimate way of sharing information with other sites. Global media publications syndicate newsworthy content using feeds …
(News reporting agencies syndicate stories using feeds)
Most websites actually would like you to syndicate their information. Syndicating content not only allows information of great value to be shared, but it also sends visitors back to the original site that created and published the content being syndicated. This creates new ways to drive traffic back to their site.
Leading online newspapers will contain an RSS feed section (look for links that say ”RSS”, “Syndication”, or “Newsfeeds” in them, or just search for “name of site/keyword + rss” – e.g. “nytimes rss”, “miami herald rss”, “sydney morning herald rss”, etc.) …
(Many online newspapers and major sites contain a feed section. Image: Sydney Morning Herald )
Clicking on a site’s RSS links section will bring up a directory of RSS feeds for different areas of the site …
(A site’s directory of different RSS feeds. Image: NY Times RSS)
Each of these feeds lets you access different areas of the site (e.g. technology news, travel news, editorials, etc.)
An RSS feed list can also include feed subdirectories …
(A feed list can also include feed subdirectories. Image Source: latimes.com feeds)
Note: A feed is just a URL. To use the feed, all that’s required is to copy the URL and paste it into software that can translate the feed code into something readable. We’ll cover this further below.
The Benefits Of Using Feeds
Adding someone else’s content to your site has some obvious benefits. It not only gives someone else’s site additional exposure online, it also adds value to your site without you having to create the content …
(Syndicating Content Benefits Someone Else’s Business And Yours!)
While adding a feed from another site is a great way to add content to your site without having to create it, it’s a great idea to try and get other sites to syndicate YOUR content.
When other websites and blogs syndicate content using your feed, this gives your business the opportunity to get more exposure online and drive more web traffic …
(Get visitors to syndicate your content … it will help to increase your exposure online!)
WordPress Feed – About
By default, WordPress automatically publishes a feed of your latest posts, allowing other online users to syndicate your content on their websites and blogs.
Depending on the theme you have installed, there are a few ways to access your RSS feed:
1) If your theme allows the Meta widget to be displayed in a standard or custom menu, you can scroll down to the Meta section and click on Entries RSS …
(Meta widget – Entries RSS)
2) You can also find built-in links and/or buttons on certain themes that let your visitors copy your RSS feed.
For example, in the screenshot below, a visitor can simply copy the site’s RSS feed URL by right-clicking and copying on the Subscribe to RSS link …
(Copy RSS links to your clipboard from “subscribe” buttons)
3) On many websites and again, depending on your WordPress theme, you can find the RSS feed displayed in a Links, Follow, or Share section …
(Look for an RSS button in a a Share, Subscribe, or Link To Us section)
4) You can also view your WordPress feed by simply typing your site’s URL into a web browser and adding “/feed” after the URL, e.g.:
- http://www.yourdomain.com/feed
- http://www.yourdomain.com/blog/feed (if your website is located in a subdomain, e.g. “blog”)
Using any of the above methods will bring up a page containing your WordPress RSS feed …
(RSS content viewed using a Firefox web browser)
Note that your feed content will display differently depending on which browser you are using …
(RSS feed items seen with a Google Chrome browser)
Specify Number Of Items To Display On Your RSS Feed
You can specify how many items you would like to show in your RSS Feed page, by going to your Reading Settings section and typing the number of items to show in the “Syndication feeds show the most recent” field …
(WordPress Reading Settings – Syndication feeds)
Your feed page will show as many recent items you have specified section …
(Your feed page will display as many recent posts as you have specified in your WordPress Reading Settings section)
Display Full Text Or Summary Of Posts In Your RSS Feed
The other setting in the Reading Settings section that affects your feeds is whether to display your posts as full text, or just a summary …
(WordPress Reading Settings – ’For each article in a feed show’ options)
Post Excerpts can also affect how the content in your feed appears …
(Post excerpts affect how a feed will appear)
We have created a detailed tutorial on Post excerpts here:
View The Content Of Your RSS Feeds
As mentioned earlier, all you need to do to view the content of a feed is to copy the feed’s URL and paste it into an application that can read and translate feeds into readable content for humans.
Let’s see how this works.
First, go to a website whose feed you want to syndicate and search for an RSS feed section …
(Search for a ’subscribe to feed’ link or icon. Image source: http://www.yourcoffeeguru.com)
Next, copy the feed URL to your clipboard …
(Copy your feed URL to the clipboard)
If you want, you can check what the RSS feed contains by pasting the feed URL into a feed reader …
(Paste the feed URL into a feedreader to view the content. Source: Feedreader)
Like feed readers, WordPress also has the ability to process XML/RSS feeds.
Adding A Feed To Your WP Site
Let’s show you how to add content from other website or blog’s RSS feeds to your site.
How To Add Feeds To Your Sidebar
As mentioned earlier, no matter what industry you are in, you could easily add to your site the latest news and updates from an industry-related government department or authoritative site in your industry by simply importing their feed. You can easily display a range of information on your WordPress site such as news, Facebook updates, or content from thousands of sites using the WordPress RSS widget.
Let’s add content sourced from an RSS feed to your sidebar …
(Let’s add an RSS feed to your sidebar)
First, find a website containing content that you would like to add to your site and copy the RSS feed URL …
(Copy the URL of your feed)
Next, log into your wordPress Dashboard and go to Appearance > Widget paste the feed into an RSS widget …
(Widgets Panel – RSS Widget)
To learn more about adding content to sidebars using widgets, go here:
Refresh your browser. The content from the RSS feed will now show on the sidebar (or wherever the RSS widget has been inserted – e.g. footer) …
(RSS Widget)
Add Your WordPress RSS Feed To Search Consoles
You can add your WordPress RSS feed to Google and Bing’s search consoles. This will help them index your content faster.
(WordPress RSS feed added to Google Search Console)
Adding your site’s RSS feed to search consoles is simple, fast, easy, and requires no technical skills. For a step-by-step tutorial, go here:
Adding RSS Feeds To Posts
What if you want to add content from an RSS feed to a post instead of the sidebar?
You can do this using plugins. Search on the WordPress plugin repository for RSS feed, RSS feed to post, etc.
(’Add Plugins’ section)
Note: These plugins typically require configuration – visit the plugin sites for instructions, or contact us for help configuring plugins.
The plugins below can be used to feed content to posts, or “autoblog” (An auto blog is a blog with content that is automatically gathered and compiled from RSS feeds):
WPeMatico
(WPeMatico Plugin For WordPress)
WPeMatico is an easy to use plugin that lets you publish posts automatically from multiple RSS/Atom feeds.
You can manage all the feeds you import and arrange them according to categories.
For more details, go here:
WP RSS Aggregator
(WP RSS Aggregator Plugin For WordPress)
WP RSS Aggregator is a comprehensive RSS feed importer and autoblogging WordPress plugin that offers premium add-ons for extended functionality.
For example, the Feed to Post add-on lets you import RSS feeds directly into your posts or any other custom post type.
For more details, go here:
RSS Post Importer
(RSS Post Importer Plugin For WordPress)
RSS Post Importer lets you import, syndicate, curate, merge and display full text feeds on your WordPress website or blog.
The plugin fetches an RSS feed and publishes the full article content of each item in the feed as a separate post.
For more details, go here:
Powr RSS Feed
(Powr RSS Feed Plugin For WordPress)
With POWr RSS, you can combine and display content from multiple RSS feeds.
The POWr RSS Feed plugin also lets you display images, videos, and article content, adjust feed priority, use custom colors, fonts, backgrounds, and more. It also has mobile-responsive design and supports text in every language.
The premium version of this plugin contains a number of additional features.
For more details, go here:
WP Pipes
(WP Pipes WP Plugin)
The WP Pipes plugin for WordPress is a powerful data migration plugin that lets you curate content from RSS feeds, Google News, and many other sources.
This plugin provides loads of functionality like CSV importing for posts/WooCommerce, RSS feed creator, autoblogging, auto post to Twitter/Facebook/LinkedIn, export your posts as iTunes podcasts, create Google XML sitemaps, and more!
For more details, go here:
FeedWordPress
(FeedWordPress Plugin For WordPress)
FeedWordPress provides simple and flexible Atom/RSS syndication for WordPress-generated content.
As stated in the FeedWordPress website …
FeedWordPress is an open-source Atom/RSS aggregator for the WordPress blog publishing platform. You set up feeds that you choose, and FeedWordPress syndicates posts from those sources into your WordPress posts table, where they can be displayed by your WordPress templates like any other post — but with additional meta-data, so that your templates can properly attribute the post to the source it came from.
You can use this FeedWordPress to create aggregator site (sites that bring together content from various different sources), or display all your online activity in one place.
For more details, go here:
Autoblog
(Autoblog by WPMUDev)
Autoblog is an easy-to-use plugin that can be set-up very quickly, with no coding required and no complicated instructions. Just copy and paste in the URL of your feed, give it a name of your choosing (for admin purposes) and select a blog that you want it to post to.
For more details, go here:
RSS Includes Pages and Custom Post Types
(RSS Includes Pages and Custom Post Types Plugin)
By default, WordPress only includes posts in your RSS feed. Use RSS Includes Pages and Custom Post Types if you would like to include pages in your WordPress RSS feed in addition to posts.
For more details, go here:
Useful Tips
Tip #1 – WordPress Comment RSS Feeds
WordPress makes available RSS feeds of the latest comments posted on your site in addition to giving online users access to RSS feeds of your latest posts.
To inspect these, locate the ‘Meta’ widget on your sidebar (note: this section may not be visible on some themes) and click on Comments RSS …
(WordPress Comments Feed)
All the comments posted on your site by visitors and users will appear in the Comments RSS page …
(Comments feed entries viewed on a Firefox browser)
Like post entries, your comments feed content will display differently depending on which browser you use …
(Comments feed entries as seen with Google Chrome)
Again, you can check the feed content by pasting the feed URL into an online feed reader …
(Paste your comments feed URL into a feedreader to view the content. Image Source: http://feedreader.com/online)
Note: If the Meta section is not displaying on your theme, you can view the Comments RSS section of your site by opening up a browser and typing in the following URL:
- http://www.yourdomain.com/comments/feed
- http://www.yourdomain.com/blog/comments/feed (if your website is located in a subfolder, e.g. “blog”)
Tip #2 – Displaying RSS Feeds For Specific Posts
Being able to select an RSS feed for specific post items can be useful. For example, you may want to add feeds from specific posts to RSS directories, or you may have created a valuable resource that other online users will want to syndicate.
The formula for accessing an RSS feed for specific post items is shown below:
(Feed For Individual Post Item)
To create the above feed, copy the post address, and append “/feed/?withoutcomments=1” to the end.
(Single Post Feed)
Note: By default, if you only append “/feed” to the end of the URI of your post, WordPress will return the comments left on that post, not the post content itself.
Tip #3 – Category RSS Feeds
Some your site users may only be interested in subscribing to content from specific categories. They may not want to subscribe to all of your site’s content.
WordPress allows you to create separate category feeds.
Just use the format shown below:
(WP category RSS feed format)
Select and copy the category URL to your clipboard …
(Select and copy your category link address …)
Append “feed” to the end of it …
(WordPress category feed format)
Your feed will now only include content specific to this category …
(Category feed)
The WordPress Codex also provides different ways to create feeds not just for post categories, but also feeds for tags, authors, search, etc.
For this example, let’s create a feed for a specific post category using the format shown below:
(Post Category feed format. Source: WordPress Codex)
Here is the feed format WordPress recommends using. In this example, the post category ID is ’42’. We’ll need to replace the post category ID and the domain name …
(WordPress post category feed format)
To find the post category ID, go to Posts > Categories …
(Posts > Categories menu)
Locate the post category you want and hover your mouse over the title to reveal its unique ID …
(Post Category ID)
In our example, the post category ID is ’29’ and the post category feed format we need to use for this specific category with our domain name looks like this …
(Post category feed format with domain name and ID)
Copy and paste the feed into your browser and hit enter …
(Paste the feed into your browser)
This will display the feed for that specific category …
(RSS feed of a specific post category)
Note that in this example, WordPress automatically converted the feed format we pasted into the browser into the category feed we had used in the previous section of this tutorial …
(Post category feed format)
Here is the feed format again …
(Post category feed)
In this case, the simplest way to create additional feeds for specific categories is to simply change the post category slug …
(Change the post category slug to create a new category specific feed)
Paste the edited feed into your web browser and hit enter to display the content for that specific category’s feed …
(Post category feed content)
Now that you have a method for creating feeds for specific post categories (or tags, authors, etc.), you can even create a directory or list of individual feeds for visitors.
Tip #4 – Provide A Page Of RSS Feeds For Visitors
You can publish your own feeds list that allows readers to subscribe only to specific content …
(Create A Feeds Page)
Link a button graphic to the URL of your category feed and then create a table or a list of your individual feeds on a separate page …
(RSS image. Source: http://www.public-domain-photos.com/free-cliparts/computer/other/rss_button_roman_bertle_01-2522.htm)
We have written a detailed tutorial on inserting tables into WordPress content here:
WordPress RSS – Notes
You can customize your RSS in a number of ways, such as adding images and videos to feeds, ads, etc. Some of these feed customizations require code editing skills.
WordPress allows you to configure various feed types without code editing skills. Here are some examples of feeds you can use on your site and how to format the feeds …
(Different Feed Formats You Can Create With WordPress RSS)
Below are the different feed types, descriptions, and feed examples listed in the table above:
- Feed Type: All Posts
- Description: Content feed – RSS feed that contains your latest posts
- Example Feed: http://yourdomain.com/feed/
- Feed Type: All Comments
- Description: Comments feed – Feed that contains the latest comments published on your blog
- Example Feed: http://yourdomain.com/comments/feed/
- Feed Type: Individual Posts
- Description: RSS feed containing a post
- Example Feed: http://yourdomain.com/blog-post-title/feed/
- Feed Type: Individual Posts Comments
- Description: Feed that displays the latest comments made on a single post
- Example Feed: http://yourdomain.com/title-of-your-blog-post/feed/
- Feed Type: Archives
- Description: Day – Contains latest entries in each archive
- Example Feed: http://yourdomain.com/2011/03/28/feed/
- Feed Type: Archives
- Description: Month – Contains the latest items in each archive
- Example Feed: http://yourdomain.com/2016/09/feed/
- Feed Type: Archives
- Description: Year – Includes the latest post entries in each archive
- Example Feed: http://yourdomain.com/2018/feed/
- Feed Type: Search Results
- Description: Displays the latest items for a search query
- Example Feed: http://yourdomain.com/search/term/feed/
- Feed Type: Custom Post Type
- Description: Contains the latest posts for a custom type (e.g. book)
- Example Feed: http://yourdomain.com/feed/?post_type=book
One more thing …
It’s a good idea to let visitors know that they can subscribe to your RSS feed. Place a subscribe buttons somewhere visible …
(Promote your RSS feeds!)
Keep in mind that other website owners will only syndicate your content if you provide your visitors with high-quality information that will add value to their sites and benefit their users.
(Easily add great content to your site and get other users to share your content with RSS!)
If you need great content ideas subscribe to our FREE content creation course using the form below:
Also, don’t forget to subscribe to our RSS feed 🙂
Additional RSS Resources:
- Download RSS Feed Images – Visit www.iconspedia.com/search/rss or search online (e.g. “free RSS icons”, “RSS logo download”, etc.) for sites containing downloadable Free RSS graphic elements.
- RSSBoard.org – The RSS Advisory Board is an independent organization with three primary duties: publishing RSS specifications, providing guidance to developers who create RSS applications and helping to further the understanding of RSS.
- Wikipedia.org/RSS – General information about the history and benefits of using RSS feeds.
- WordPress.org – Official WordPress documentation and reference site. Go here for more information about using RSS feeds in WordPress.
Congratulations! Now you know where to find your WordPress RSS feed, how to syndicate your content online using RSS, and how to display content from other websites and blogs on your site via their RSS feed.
Hopefully, now you have a better understanding of issues that can affect your web site and how WordPress can help you get better results online. To read more about the benefits of using WordPress for a business website or blog please click on links to visit other great articles and tutorials on this site.
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"These tutorials have so much information and are easy to understand. If you use WordPress or plan to in the future these will help you with everything you need to know." - Valisa (Mesa, Arizona)