No matter what what industry you are in, providing high-value information to your site users is essential. For example, if your business provides medical services, it’s not a bad idea to publish useful information from the health department, such as news and updates on medical research, health and fitness tips, etc.
The problem with providing this kind of information, however, is that it is very time-consuming. You have to filter through, research, and organize a ton of data, check your facts, write and edit content (or hire someone to do this for you), and then ensure that this information is continually 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 completely beyond your control.
Thankfully, there is an easier way to keep your site readers up-to-date with great information.
It’s called RSS …
(RSS - The simplest way to provide your subscribers with great information)
The Ultimate Guide To WordPress RSS
What Does RSS Mean?
- RSS, which, according to some definitions stands for RDF Site Summary, is more commonly referred to as Really Simple Syndication. It it is also referred to as a “feed” or “news feed”.
- RSS lets content publishers automatically syndicate their content so that their site readers can read it without having to keep revisiting their site to check for updates.
- Feeds are typically used to publish information that is frequently updated, such as new blog post items, news headlines, video lists, etc., which users can then subscribe to.
- RSS feeds can be read using a software called a feed reader, or feed aggregator. Feed readers can be used to find content on all different kinds of topics and syndicate this content to many online properties.
- Feeds can be made available in different types and read by different feedreaders. Some of these include RSS feeds, Atom (also called AtomPub or APP feeds and RDF (RDF = Resource Description Framework) feeds. All of these formats, however, use a standard XML file format to ensure that feeds are compatible with different devices and programs.
- Many sites and software tools also allow you to combine several RSS feeds to display news and updates from various sources.
This in-depth article shows you where to find your WordPress RSS feed, how to syndicate your content online using feeds, and how to add content from other websites to your site using RSS.
RSS (Really Simple Syndication) Feeds
Content syndication is a really powerful (and legitimate) method used to share content online. RSS Feeds provide online users with a simple way to stay up-to-date with the latest information published on different sites.
First, let’s look at content syndication.
Online newspapers and global online media publications use content syndication to publish stories from other news agencies all around the world.
Syndication allows news reporting agencies to deliver readers the latest news items from all over the globe without actually having to set up additional news reporting and content writing departments all around the world …
(Most news publishers rely heavily on syndication to publish newsworthy content from other news agencies around the world.)
Syndication is used to share content legitimately with other sites. Global media publications syndicate information using feeds …
(Online newspapers syndicate their newsworthy content using feeds)
Most sites actually want you to syndicate their content. Content syndication not only allows information of great value to be shared, but it can also drive visitors back to the original site that published the content being syndicated. This can be an effective way to generate web traffic.
Most leading online media publications provide links to a feed section (look for navigation links that say ”RSS”, “Syndication”, or “Newsfeeds” in them, or just search for “name of site/keyword + rss” – e.g. “nytimes rss”, “courier rss”, “sydney morning herald rss”, etc.) …
(Most leading online media publications contain an RSS feed section. Image Source: smh.com.au )
Clicking on a site’s RSS links section brings up a directory of RSS feeds for different content topics on the site …
(RSS feeds list. Image: nytimes.com RSS feeds)
Each of these feed items allows readers to access different sections of the site (e.g. technology news, travel news, jobs, etc.)
Feed sections can also include further feed subcategories …
(Feed sections can also include feed subcategories. Image Source: latimes.com)
Note: An RSS feed is only a URL. To use feeds, all you need to do is to copy the URLs and paste these into an application that can process the feed code into something readable. We’ll cover this further below.
RSS Feeds – Benefits
Adding someone else’s content to your site has some obvious benefits. It not only helps someone else’s content, it also helps you by freeing you up from having to create that content …
(The Benefits Of Content Syndication)
While adding a feed from another site is a great way to add content to your site that you don’t have to create, 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 you the opportunity to gain more exposure online and drive more web traffic …
(Consider trying to get users to syndicate content using your RSS feed … it will help to increase your traffic!)
WordPress RSS Feed
By default, WordPress automatically publishes a feed of your latest posts, allowing other online users to easily syndicate your content on their websites and blogs.
Depending on the WP theme you have installed, there are a few ways to get your RSS feed:
1) If your theme allows the Meta widget to be displayed on the sidebar or footer menu, you can scroll down to the Meta section and click on Entries RSS …
(Meta section – Accessing your RSS feed)
2) You can also find links and/or buttons on certain WordPress themes that let your visitors copy your feed.
In the screenshot below, for example, a visitor can simply copy the site’s RSS feed URL by clicking on on the Subscribe to RSS link …
(Copy feed URLs to your clipboard from “subscribe” buttons)
3) On some sites and again, depending on the WP theme you have installed, you can find the RSS feed displayed in a Links, Follow, or Social Share section …
(Look for an RSS button in a a Share, Links, or Keep In Touch section)
4) You can also view your RSS 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 has been installed in a subfolder, e.g. “blog”)
Using any of the above methods will bring up a page containing your site’s feed …
(RSS content seen on Firefox)
Note that your feed items will display differently depending on the web browser you are using …
(RSS feed items viewed with Google Chrome)
Specify Number Of Items To Display On Your RSS Feed
You can specify how many entries you want to show in your Feeds section, 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 Settings – Reading Settings – Number of syndication feed items field)
Your feed page will display the number of posts as you have specified section …
(Your feed page will show the number of posts as you have specified in the WordPress Reading Settings section)
Display Full Text Or Summary Of Posts In Your RSS Feed
Another setting in the WP Reading Settings section that affects your feeds is whether to display your posts as full text, or a summary …
(Reading Settings – ’For each article in a feed show’ options)
Post Excerpts can also affect how the content in your feed appears …
(Post excerpts can affect how content in feeds appear)
To learn more about using WordPress Post excerpts, go here:
View The Content Of Your RSS Feeds
As mentioned previously, all you have to do to view a feed’s content is to copy the feed’s URL and paste it into a feedreader, i.e. an application that reads and translates feeds into readable content.
Let’s show you how this works.
First, go to a website whose feed you want to syndicate and look for a ‘subscribe’ button using any of the methods described earlier …
(Look for a ’subscribe to feed’ button. Image source: http://www.yourcoffeeguru.com)
Next, copy the feed URL to your clipboard …
(Copy the URL of your feed to your clipboard)
If you want, you can check what the feed contains by pasting the feed URL into a feed reader …
(Paste your URL of your feed into a feed reader to view the feed content. Image: http://feedreader.com/online)
Like feedreaders, WordPress has the ability to process RSS feeds and convert these into readable content for humans.
How To Add Feeds To Your WordPress Site
In the example below, we’ll add content from another website to your site.
How To Add Feeds To Your WordPress Sidebar
As mentioned earlier, no matter what industry your business is a part of, you can easily display on your site the latest content from an industry-related government department or authoritative site in your industry simply by importing content from 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 the WordPress sidebar area …
(Add content from an RSS feed to the WordPress sidebar)
First, Find a website or blog that publishes content that you want to display on your site and copy the feed URL …
(Copy the feed URL)
Next, paste the feed into a new RSS widget …
(Widgets Section – RSS Widget)
To learn more about adding content to sidebars using widgets, go here:
Load your website in your web browser. The content from the RSS feed can now be seen on the sidebar (or wherever you have added the RSS widget – e.g. custom menu) …
(RSS Feed Added To Sidebar)
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:
How To Add A Feed To Your WordPress Posts
Can you add content from RSS feeds to posts? You sure can!
You can easily do this using WordPress plugins. Just search inside the Plugins admin screen (Plugins > Add New) for RSS, RSS feed to post, etc.
(’Add Plugins’ screen)
Note: These plugins typically require configuration – visit the plugin sites for setup instructions, or contact us for help configuring plugins.
Here are a few WordPress plugins that you can use to curate and add content from RSS feeds to your posts and pages:
WPeMatico
(WPeMatico)
WPeMatico is an autoblogging plugin that lets you publish posts automatically from selected RSS/Atom feeds.
You can manage all the feeds you import and arrange them into categories and campaigns.
For more details, go here:
WP RSS Aggregator
(WP RSS Aggregator – WordPress Plugin)
WP RSS Aggregator is a comprehensive RSS feed importer and auto blogging WordPress plugin that offers extended functionality with premium extensions (add-ons).
For example, the Feed to Post extension allows you to add content to your site automatically by importing RSS feeds directly into your posts.
For more details, go here:
RSS Post Importer
(RSS Post Importer – WordPress Plugin)
The RSS Post Importer plugin lets you syndicate, import, curate, merge and display full-text feeds (RSS, Atom, etc.) on your WordPress blog.
The plugin will fetch an RSS feed and publish the full content of each feed item as a separate post.
For more details, go here:
Powr RSS Feed
(Powr RSS Feed Plugin)
With the POWr RSS Feed plugin, you can automatically combine and display content from various sources using RSS feeds.
The POWr RSS Feed plugin also lets you display images, videos, and articles, adjust feed size and spacing, use custom colors, fonts, borders, and more. It also displays feeds correctly on any computer, tablet, or phone and supports text in every language.
The premium version of POWr contains many additional features.
For more details, go here:
WP Pipes
(WP Pipes Plugin)
WP Pipes is a powerful data migration plugin that lets you create curate content from RSS feeds, Google News, and other sources.
This plugin provides loads of powerful features like CSV importing for posts/WooCommerce, RSS feed creator, auto blogging, auto post to Facebook/LinkedIn/Twitter, export WordPress posts as iTunes podcasts, create Google XML sitemaps, and help take your WordPress CMS to a new level.
For more details, go here:
FeedWordPress
(FeedWordPress Plugin For WordPress)
FeedWordPress provides flexible Atom/RSS syndication options for WordPress.
As stated in the FeedWordPress site …
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.
FeedWordPress can be used to create aggregator site (sites that bring together posts from different sources), or display all of 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. Simply copy and paste in the URL of your feed, name your feed (for admin purposes) and select a blog that you want it to post to.
For more details, go here:
RSS Includes Pages
(RSS Includes Pages and Custom Post Types WordPress Plugin)
You can install a plugin like RSS Includes Pages if you want to include pages in your RSS feed and not just posts (by default WordPress only includes posts in your RSS feed).
For more details, go here:
Using WordPress RSS Feeds – Useful Tips
Tip #1 – Comment RSS Feeds
In addition to making RSS feeds of your posts available to online users, WordPress also makes available RSS feeds of your post comments.
To view your comments feed, go to the ‘Meta’ section on your sidebar (note: your theme may not be configured to display this widget) and click on Comments RSS …
(WordPress Comments Feed)
Comments posted on your site by visitors display in your Comments RSS page …
(Comments feed entries displayed with Firefox)
Like post entries, your comments feed page will display differently depending on the web browser you are using …
(Comments feed entries seen with a Google Chrome web browser)
Again, you can check what the comments feed contains by pasting the URL of the feed into a feed reader …
(Paste the URL of your comments feed into a feedreader to view the content. Source: Feedreader)
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 has been installed in a subdomain, e.g. “blog”)
Tip #2 – Accessing Feeds For Individual Post Items
Being able to use an RSS feed for individual 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 making an RSS feed for a single post item is shown below:
(RSS Feed For Specific Post Item)
To create the above feed, copy the post URL, 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 your post, not the post content itself.
Tip #3 – Displaying Post Category Feeds
Some your site users may only want to subscribe to content from a particular post category. They may not want to subscribe to your entire site’s feed.
WordPress allows you to create individual category feeds.
Just use the format shown below:
(Feed format for category)
Copy the selected category link address to your clipboard …
(Copy your category link address …)
Add the word “feed” to the end of it …
(Use this format for WordPress category RSS feed)
Your category feed will now only display content assigned to this category …
(Category RSS 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 Your Own RSS Feeds Directory
You can publish a page of feeds that allows readers to subscribe only to specific content …
(Publish Your Own Feeds List)
All you need to do is link an image like the one shown below to a category feed and then create a table or a list of all feeds on a new page …
(RSS graphic. Image: http://www.public-domain-photos.com/free-cliparts/computer/other/rss_button_roman_bertle_01-2522.htm)
We have created a detailed tutorial about adding tables to WordPress here:
WordPress RSS – Notes
RSS feeds can be customized in several ways, such as adding videos to feeds, ads, etc. Some of these customizations require code editing skills.
WordPress allows a number of RSS feed configurations that do not require messing with code. Below are examples of some of the kinds of feeds you can create …
(WordPress RSS – Feed Formats)
For your convenience, here are the feed types, descriptions, and feed examples shown above:
- Feed Type: All Posts
- Description: Content feed – Includes your latest entries
- Example Feed: http://yourdomain.com/feed/
- Feed Type: All Comments
- Description: Comments feed – Includes the latest comments published on your website
- Example Feed: http://yourdomain.com/comments/feed/
- Feed Type: Individual Posts
- Description: RSS feed that displays a specific post
- Example Feed: http://yourdomain.com/post-title/feed/
- Feed Type: Individual Posts Comments
- Description: RSS Feed that contains the latest comments made on a single post
- Example Feed: http://yourdomain.com/blog-post-title/feed/
- Feed Type: Archives
- Description: Day – Includes the latest items in each archive
- Example Feed: http://yourdomain.com/2014/01/30/feed/
- Feed Type: Archives
- Description: Month – Displays the latest entries in each archive
- Example Feed: http://yourdomain.com/2013/12/feed/
- Feed Type: Archives
- Description: Year – Contains the latest entries in each archive
- Example Feed: http://yourdomain.com/2014/feed/
- Feed Type: Search Results
- Description: RSS feed containing latest post entries 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 users know that they can subscribe to your RSS feeds. Place a ’subscribe to RSS’ button or link in a visible location …
(Promote your feeds!)
Also, keep in mind that online users will only want to syndicate your content if your information is useful, educational, or highly entertaining. In other words, focus on providing your visitors with high-quality information that can add great value to their sites and benefit their users.
(Add someone else’s content and get other users to share your content using RSS feeds!)
If you need help coming up with 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:
- RSS Buttons – Visit a site like Feedicons or search online (e.g. “free rss icons”, “rss buttons”, etc.) for sites that allow you to download Free RSS icons.
- RSSBoard.org – The RSS Advisory Board Go here if you want to learn more about RSS.
- Wikipedia/RSS – General information about the benefits of using RSS feeds.
- WordPress Codex – WordPress documentation and information. Go here for more information about using WordPress RSS.
Congratulations! Now you know where your RSS feed is located, how to syndicate your content online using RSS feeds, and how to display someone else’s content on your site using RSS.
Hopefully, this information has given you a better understanding of issues that can affect your website and how WordPress can help you grow your business online. To learn more about using WordPress for a business web site please click on links to visit other great content we have published on this site.
***
"Your training is the best in the world! It is simple, yet detailed, direct, understandable, memorable, and complete." Andrea Adams, FinancialJourney.org