No matter what what industry you belong to, providing quality information to your blog readers is vitally important. For example, if your business provides insurance services, it’s a good idea to provide users with the latest information from government departments, such as news and updates on statistical research, insurance tips, etc.
The problem with creating this kind of information, however, is that it takes a huge amount of work and resources. You have to do a ton of information sorting, researching and organizing, fact-checking, writing and editing content (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 beyond your control.
Thankfully, there is a much simpler way to keep your readers up-to-date with great information.
It’s called RSS …
(RSS is one of the easiest ways to provide your site visitors with the latest information)
The Ultimate Guide To WordPress RSS
What Does RSS Mean?
- RSS, which, according to some definitions is short for Rich Site Summary, is more commonly known now as Really Simple Syndication. It it is also called a “feed” or “web feed”.
- Once a user subscribes to a website’s feed, they no longer have to manually check the source website for content updates. Instead, their browser will constantly monitor the site and automatically keep subscribers updated.
- Feeds are typically used to publish information that is frequently updated, such as blog post items, news headlines, music playlists, etc., to which users can choose to subscribe.
- You can view RSS feeds with software programs called feed readers, or aggregators. Feedreaders are used to access content on all kinds of topics and distribute this content (and any updates made to the content) to online properties.
- Feeds can be made available in different formats and read by different feed aggregators. Some of these include RSS feeds, Atom Publishing Protocol) feeds and RDF (Resource Description Framework) feeds. All of these formats, however, use a standard XML file format to ensure that feeds are compatible with different machines and programs.
- Many sites and software tools also allow you to combine multiple RSS feeds to receive news and updates from multiple sources.
In this detailed guide, we will show you how to find your WordPress RSS feed, how to syndicate your content online using RSS, and how to display content from other websites on your site via their RSS feed.
RSS (Really Simple Syndication) Feeds
Content syndication is a very powerful and legitimate method used for sharing content online. RSS Feeds provide online users with a simple way to stay up-to-date with the latest information published on sites they are interested in.
First, let’s take a look at content syndication.
Global media publications rely heavily on content syndication to publish news from news agencies around the world.
Content syndication allows most news reporting agencies and many influential media publications to deliver readers the latest stories and news from all over the planet without having to employ more news writers in every location around the world …
(Global media publications use syndication to publish newsworthy stories from other news agencies all around the planet.)
Syndication is used to share newsworthy content legitimately with other sites. online media publications syndicate information using feeds …
(Content syndication is used by digital content publishing agencies to share information with other news publications)
Most sites actually would like you to share their content. Content syndication not only allows information to be shared, but it can also drive visitors back to the site that originally published the content being syndicated. This can be an effective way to generate web traffic.
Many news reporting agencies and major content sites contain an RSS feed section (look for links in the navigation menu that say “RSS” or “Newsfeeds” in them, or just search for “name of site/keyword + rss” – e.g. “nytimes rss”, “express tribune rss”, “sydney morning herald rss”, etc.) …
(Major sites include an RSS feed section. Source: smh.com.au )
Clicking on a site’s RSS links section will bring up a list of RSS feeds for different content topics on the site …
(A site’s list of RSS feeds. Source: nytimes.com RSS feeds)
These feed items give readers access to content about different areas of the website (e.g. technology news, arts news, jobs, etc.)
Feed sections can also include subcategories …
(An RSS feed directory can also contain feed subdirectories. Source: LA Times)
Note: A feed is just a URL. To use feeds, all you have to do is to copy the URLs and paste these into software that can process the feed code into something readable. We’ll cover this further below.
Content Syndication – Benefits
Adding someone else’s content to your website has some obvious benefits. It not only gives someone else’s business additional exposure online, it also helps your site by freeing you up from having to create the content …
(Content Syndication Benefits Someone Else’s Business And Yours!)
While adding RSS feeds from another site is a great way to add content to your site without having to create it, it’s worth keeping in mind that you also want other websites to use your content.
When other websites syndicate content using your feed, you have the opportunity to gain increased exposure online and drive more visitors …
(Get visitors to syndicate your feed … it will help drive more traffic to your site!)
WordPress Feed – Overview
WordPress automatically publishes a feed of your latest posts, allowing others to easily syndicate your content on their sites.
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 in your navigation menu, scroll down to the Meta section and click on Entries RSS …
(WordPress Meta widget – Accessing your RSS feed)
2) You can also find built-in links and buttons on certain themes that let your visitors copy your RSS feed.
In the screenshot below, for example, a visitor can copy the 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 sites and again, depending on your WordPress site’s theme, you can find the RSS feed displayed in a Keep In Touch, Link To Us, or Social Share toolbar …
(Look for an RSS button in a a Links, Social Share, or Subscribe floating, slide-out, or fixed toolbar)
4) You can also view your WordPress site’s feed by 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 site has been installed in a subfolder, e.g. “blog”)
Using any of the above methods will bring up a page containing your WordPress RSS feed …
(Feed items seen on Firefox)
Note that your feed page will display differently depending on the web browser you are using …
(Feed entries seen on Google Chrome browser)
Specify Number Of Items To Display On Your RSS Feed
To specify how many posts you want to display in your RSS Feed page, go to your Reading Settings section and enter the number of items to show in the “Syndication feeds show the most recent” field …
(WordPress Reading Settings – Syndication feed items)
Your feed section will display the number of items you have specified in your WP Reading Settings section …
(Your feed page will show as many recent items you have specified in your Reading Settings section)
Display Full Text Or Summary Of Posts In Your RSS Feed
The other setting in your WordPress Reading Settings section that affects your RSS feed is whether to display each article as full text, or as a summary …
(WP Settings – Reading Settings – Show ‘Full Text’ or ‘Summary’ for posts in your feed)
Post Excerpts can also affect how your feed content appears …
(Post excerpts affect how your feeds appear)
For a detailed tutorial about Post excerpts, go here:
View The Content Of Your RSS Feeds
As mentioned previously, to view a feed’s content, you have to copy the feed’s URL and paste it into an application that reads and translates feeds into readable content.
Let’s take a look at how this works.
First, go to a website or blog and look for an RSS feed icon …
(Search 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)
If you want, you can check what the RSS feed contains by pasting the feed URL into a feed reader …
(Paste the URL of your feed into a feedreader to view the feed content. Image Source: Feedreader.com)
Like feedreaders, WordPress also has the ability to process RSS feeds and convert these into content that is readable by humans.
How To Add RSS Feeds To Your Site
In the example below, we’ll add RSS content from another site to your WordPress site.
How To Add A Feed To Your WordPress Sidebar
As mentioned earlier, no matter what industry you are in, you can display on your site the latest news and updates from an industry-related government department or authoritative site in your industry simply by importing their feed. You can use RSS feeds to display a range of information on your WordPress site such as news, Facebook comments, 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 content from an RSS feed to your sidebar)
copy the feed URL from a website or blog containing content that you want to display on your sidebar to your clipboard …
(Copy your feed URL)
Next, log into your wordPress Dashboard and go to Appearance > Widget paste the feed into an RSS widget …
(Widgets Section – RSS Widget)
To learn more about adding content to sidebars using widgets, go here:
Refresh your browser. The content can now be seen in your sidebar (or wherever you have added the RSS widget) …
(RSS Feed Content 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 WordPress Posts
Can you add content from RSS feeds to WordPress posts? You sure can!
You can easily do this using plugins. Just search inside the ’Add Plugins’ screen for RSS Aggregator, RSS feed to post, etc.
(’Add Plugins’ screen)
Note: These plugins typically require configuration – visit the plugin sites for configuration instructions, or contact us for assistance with plugin configuration.
Here are some autoblogging tools that allow you to automatically add new using RSS feeds and imported content:
WPeMatico
(WPeMatico WordPress Plugin)
WPeMatico is an easy to use plugin that lets you publish posts automatically from specific RSS/Atom feeds.
You can manage all of your imported feeds and arrange them according to campaigns and categories.
For more details, go here:
WP RSS Aggregator
(WP RSS Aggregator)
WP RSS Aggregator is a comprehensive RSS feed importer and auto blogging plugin for WordPress that offers extended functionality with premium add-ons.
For example, the Feed to Post extension is an advanced, feature-rich importer that lets you add content to your site automatically by importing RSS feeds directly into WP posts.
For more details, go here:
RSS Post Importer
(RSS Post Importer WordPress Plugin)
The RSS Post Importer plugin allows you to import, syndicate, curate, merge and display full text feeds on your WordPress website or blog.
RSS Post Importer will fetch an RSS feed and publish the entire content of each item in the feed as a separate post.
For more details, go here:
Powr RSS Feed
(Powr RSS Feed)
With POWr RSS, you can automatically combine and display content from various sources using RSS feeds.
The plugin also lets you display images, videos, and articles, adjust feed size and spacing, use custom borders, colors, fonts, and more. It is also mobile responsive 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)
The WP Pipes plugin is a powerful data migration plugin that lets you create curate content from RSS feeds, Google News, and many other sources.
This plugin provides loads of powerful features like CSV importing for posts/WooCommerce, RSS feed creator, autoblogging, auto post to LinkedIn/Twitter/Facebook, export WordPress posts as podcasts, create Google XML sitemaps, and help take your WordPress CMS to new levels.
For more details, go here:
FeedWordPress
(FeedWordPress Plugin)
FeedWordPress provides simple and flexible Atom/RSS syndication options for WordPress site-generated content.
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.
You can use this FeedWordPress to create aggregator site (sites that combine and display posts from many different sources), or display all of your online activity in one place.
For more details, go here:
Autoblog by WPMUDev
(Autoblog – WordPress Plugin)
Autoblog is an easy-to-use plugin that can be set-up in minutes, without coding skills or 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)
Install RSS Includes Pages and Custom Post Types if you would like 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:
WordPress RSS – Useful Tips
Tip #1 – Comment RSS Feeds
In addition to displaying RSS feeds of your posts, WordPress also displays RSS feeds of your latest post comments.
To view these comments, locate the ‘Meta’ section 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 can be seen in the Comments RSS page …
(RSS comments feed items viewed on Firefox)
Like post entries, your comments feed content will display differently depending on which browser you are using …
(Comments feed entries seen on a Google Chrome browser)
Again, you can check what the feed contains by pasting the feed URL into a feedreader …
(Paste the feed URL into a feedreader to view the content. Image 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 WP installation is in a subdomain, e.g. “blog”)
Tip #2 – Specific Post Item Feeds
Being able to select an RSS feed for a specific post can be useful. For example, you may want to add feeds from specific items to RSS aggregator sites, or you may have created a valuable resource that other online users will want to syndicate.
The formula for using an RSS feed for single posts is shown below:
(Feed For Specific Post Item)
To create the above feed, copy the post URI, and append “/feed/?withoutcomments=1” to the end.
(Single Post RSS Feed)
Note: By default, if you only append “/feed” to the end of a post, WordPress will return the comments left on your post, not actual content of the post itself.
Tip #3 – Post Category RSS Feeds
Some your site visitors may only want to syndicate content from a specific category. They may not want to subscribe to your entire site’s feed.
With WordPress, you can easily create separate category feeds.
Just use the format shown below:
(WP post categories RSS feed format)
Copy the selected category link address …
(Copy the selected category URL …)
And add the word “feed” to the end of it …
(Use this format for WP post categories RSS feed)
Your category RSS feed will now only display content assigned to that particular category …
(Category-specific 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 List Of RSS Feeds For Your Subscribers
You can publish your own directory of feeds that allows readers to subscribe only to specific content …
(Provide A List Of Feeds)
Link a button to category feeds and then create a table or a list of all feeds on a separate page …
(RSS button. Image: public-domain-photos.com)
We have written a detailed tutorial on inserting tables into WordPress pages and posts here:
RSS – Additional Notes
Feeds can be customized in a number of ways, such as adding videos to feeds, ads, etc. Some of these customizations require editing code.
WordPress allows you to configure a number of different feed types without editing code. Below are examples of some of the kinds of feed formats you can use on your site and how to format your feeds …
(Different Feed Formats You Can Create Using WordPress RSS)
For your convenience, here are the feed types, descriptions, and feed examples listed 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 – Displays the latest comments left on your blog
- Example Feed: http://yourdomain.com/comments/feed/
- Feed Type: Individual Posts
- Description: RSS feed containing an individual post entry
- Example Feed: http://yourdomain.com/post-title/feed/
- Feed Type: Individual Posts Comments
- Description: Feed that includes the latest comments made on specific items
- Example Feed: http://yourdomain.com/post-title/feed/
- Feed Type: Archives
- Description: Day – Contains the latest entries in each archive
- Example Feed: http://yourdomain.com/2011/06/09/feed/
- Feed Type: Archives
- Description: Month – Includes latest items in each archive
- Example Feed: http://yourdomain.com/2017/05/feed/
- Feed Type: Archives
- Description: Year – Displays latest post entries in each archive
- Example Feed: http://yourdomain.com/2016/feed/
- Feed Type: Search Results
- Description: Contains the latest items for a search query
- Example Feed: http://yourdomain.com/search/term/feed/
- Feed Type: Custom Post Type
- Description: Displays latest items for a custom type (e.g. book)
- Example Feed: http://yourdomain.com/feed/?post_type=book
One last thing …
It’s a good idea to let your site visitors know that they can subscribe to your feed. Place your ’subscribe to RSS’ link somewhere visible …
(Promote your RSS feeds!)
Keep in mind that online users will only want to syndicate your content if you provide your visitors with very high-quality content that will add value to their sites and benefit their users.
(Add great content from other sites and get other users to share your content using WordPress and RSS!)
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 Resources:
- Download RSS Buttons – Visit Iconspedia or search online (e.g. “free rss icons”, “rss logo download”, etc.) for sites that allow you to download Free RSS images and icons.
- RSSBoard.org – The RSS Advisory Board Go here if you want to learn more about RSS.
- Wikipedia.org/RSS – Learn more about the benefits of using RSS feeds.
- WordPress.org/WordPress Feeds – WordPress documentation and information site. Go here for additional information about WordPress RSS.
Congratulations! Now you know where your RSS feed is located, how to syndicate your content online using RSS feeds, and how to add content from other websites to your site using their RSS feed.
Hopefully, this post has given you a better understanding of problems that can affect your website and how WordPress can help you improve your business online. To learn more about the benefits of using the WordPress CMS software please click on links to visit other posts we have published on this site.
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"I have used the tutorials to teach all of my clients and it has probably never been so easy for everyone to learn WordPress ... Now I don't need to buy all these very expensive video courses that often don't deliver what they promise." - Stefan Wendt, Internet Marketing Success Group