No matter what service or product your business sells, you need to provide high-quality information on your site or blog that educates, informs, and engages your visitors. For example, if your business provides insurance-related services, it’s a good idea to publish information from government departments, such as news and updates on statistical research, insurance advice, etc.
To create and publish this type of information, however, is very time-consuming. You have to sort through, gather, and organize a ton of information, check your facts, write and edit content (or hire someone to do this for you), and then continually make sure 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 completely beyond your control.
Fortunately, there is an easier way to continually provide your users with great information.
It’s called RSS …
(RSS is the simplest way to provide your blog subscribers with great information)
The Ultimate Guide To WordPress RSS
RSS – What You Need To Know
- RSS, which, according to some definitions stands for RDF Site Summary, is more commonly referred to as Really Simple Syndication. It is often referred to as a “feed” or “newsfeed”.
- When a user subscribes to a website’s feed, they no longer have to manually check the source website for content updates. Instead, their web browser constantly monitors the site and keeps subscribers automatically updated.
- Feeds are also used to publish information that is frequently updated, such as new blog post items, news, videos, etc., which other users can then subscribe to.
- Essentially, an RSS feed is an XML document that includes full or summarized text along with metadata such as published date, author, etc. It allows people to subscribe to content on sites that publish feeds and then view any updates posted on these sites using an RSS feed reader. Conversely, RSS feeds also enable publishers to syndicate information automatically.
- 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 compatibility with different machines, feed readers, and programs.
- Many sites and software applications also let you combine multiple RSS feeds to aggregate news and updates from multiple sources.
This article explains where to find your WordPress RSS feed, how to syndicate your content online using RSS feeds, and how to add content from other sites to your site using RSS feeds.
RSS (Really Simple Syndication) Feeds
Content syndication is a powerful method used for sharing web content. RSS Feeds provide a simple and easy way for web users to receive the latest information posted on sites and blogs they are interested in.
First, let’s look at syndication.
Global media and digital news publishers rely on content syndication to publish news from content sources all around the world.
Content syndication allows news publishing agencies to deliver readers global stories and up-to-the-minute newsworthy items from all over the globe without having to send additional content writers everywhere in the world …
(Most online newspapers use content syndication to publish newsworthy content from other news agencies around the globe.)
Syndication is a legitimate method of sharing newsworthy content with other sites. online media publications syndicate their stories using news feeds …
(Content syndication is a legitimate way of sharing newsworthy content)
Most websites actually want you to syndicate their information. Content syndication not only allows valuable information to be shared, but it can also drive visitors back to the original site responsible for creating and publishing the content being syndicated. This can be an effective way to generate web traffic.
Most online newspapers and leading online media publications have an RSS feed section (look for links that say “RSS” or “Newsfeeds” in them, or just search for “name of site/keyword + rss” – e.g. “nytimes rss”, “star tribune rss”, “sydney morning herald rss”, etc.) …
(Many digital news publishers and major sites contain a feed section. Source: smh.com.au )
Clicking on a site’s RSS links section brings up a list of RSS feeds for different areas of the site …
(RSS feeds directory. Image Source: nytimes.com RSS feeds)
gives readers access to information about different areas of the website (e.g. technology news, entertainment news, lifestyle magazine, etc.)
Feed sections can also contain further feed subdirectories …
(Feed sections can also contain subcategories. Image Source: LA Times RSS)
Note: A feed is simply a URL. All that’s required to use an RSS feed is copy the URL and paste it into a program that can translate the feed code into something readable. We’ll cover this further below.
Content Syndication – Benefits
Adding someone else’s content to your site has some obvious benefits. It helps someone else’s website and adds value to your site without you having to create the content …
(Content Syndication Benefits Someone Else’s Website And Yours!)
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 sites syndicate your content, this gives you the opportunity to gain more exposure online and drive more web traffic …
(Get other websites and blogs to syndicate content using your RSS feed … it will help increase your exposure online!)
About Your WordPress RSS
By default, WordPress automatically publishes a feed of your posts, allowing others to syndicate your content on their websites.
Depending on your WordPress theme, there are a few ways to get your WordPress 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 links and/or buttons on certain WordPress themes that allow your visitors to copy your feed.
For example, in the screenshot below, a visitor can simply copy the feed URL by clicking on on the Subscribe to RSS link …
(Copy RSS links to your clipboard from “subscribe” buttons)
3) On some websites and again, depending on your theme, you can find the RSS feed displayed in a Links, Subscribe, or Social Share slide-out, fixed, or floating toolbar …
(Look for an RSS button in a a Follow Us, Social Share, or Link To Us toolbar)
4) You can also view your RSS 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 WP installation is in a subfolder, e.g. “blog”)
Using any of the above methods will bring up your WordPress RSS feed page …
(RSS content displayed on a Firefox web browser)
Note that your feed items will display differently depending on the web browser you are using …
(Feed items as seen on Google Chrome)
Specify Number Of Items To Display On Your RSS Feed
You can specify how many items you want to display in your Feeds page in the Reading Settings section. Enter the number of items to show in the “Syndication feeds show the most recent” field …
(Settings – Reading Settings – Syndication feeds)
Your feed page will display the number of items you have specified section …
(The feed will display the number of items you have specified in the Reading Settings section)
Display Full Text Or Summary Of Posts In Your RSS Feed
The other setting in the WP Reading Settings section that affects your RSS feed is whether to display posts as full text, or a summary …
(Reading Settings – ’For each article in a feed show’: ‘Full text’ or ‘Summary’)
Post Excerpts can also affect how the content in your feed displays …
(Post excerpts can affect how your feeds will display)
If you need help using WordPress Post excerpts, refer to this step-by-step tutorial:
View The Content Of Your RSS Feeds
As mentioned earlier, to view a feed’s content, you have to copy the feed’s URL to your clipboard and paste it into an application that can read and translate feeds into readable content for humans.
Let’s show you how this works.
First, find a website whose feed you want to subscribe to and look for a ’subscribe to feed’ button …
(Look for a ’subscribe to feed’ button or link. Image source: YourCoffeeGuru.com)
Next, copy the feed URL to your clipboard …
(Copy the URL of your feed to the clipboard)
If you want, you can check what the feed contains by pasting the URL of the feed into an online feed reader …
(Paste the feed URL into a feed reader to view the feed content. Image: http://feedreader.com/online)
Like feedreaders, WordPress has the ability to process XML/RSS feeds and convert these into readable content.
Adding A Feed To Your WP Site
In the example below, we’ll add content from other websites or blogs to your site.
Adding RSS Feeds To Your WordPress 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 content from their feed. You can use RSS feeds to display a range of information on your WordPress site such as news, social media updates, or content from thousands of sites using the WordPress RSS widget.
Let’s add content from an RSS feed to your sidebar …
(Add an RSS feed to your sidebar)
First, go to a site that publishes content that you want to display on your site and copy the RSS feed URL …
(Copy the URL of your feed to your clipboard)
Next, log into your wordPress Dashboard and go to Appearance > Widget paste the feed into a new RSS widget …
(Widgets Screen – RSS Widget)
To learn more about adding content to sidebars using widgets, go here:
Refresh your browser. The content will now appear on the sidebar …
(RSS Feed Added To WordPress Sidebar Menu)
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 Feeds To WordPress Posts
Can content from RSS feeds be added to a post instead of your sidebar? It sure can!
You can easily do this using WordPress plugins. Search on WordPress.org plugin directory for RSS, RSS feed to post, etc.
(‘Add Plugins’ section – RSS plugins for WordPress)
Note: These plugins typically require configuration – visit the plugin sites for instructions, or contact us for help with plugin configuration.
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 auto blogging plugin that allows you to publish posts automatically from multiple RSS/Atom feeds.
You can manage all the feeds you import and organize feeds according to campaigns and categories.
For more details, go here:
WP RSS Aggregator
(WP RSS Aggregator)
WP RSS Aggregator is an RSS feed importer and auto blogging WordPress plugin with extended functionality with a number of premium extensions (add-ons).
For example, the Feed to Post add-on allows you to import RSS feeds directly into WordPress posts or any other custom post type.
For more details, go here:
RSS Post Importer
(RSS Post Importer Plugin For WordPress)
The RSS Post Importer plugin allows you to curate, import, syndicate, merge and display full text feeds (RSS, Atom, etc.) on your WordPress site.
The plugin will fetch an RSS feed and publish the entire content of each item in your feed as a separate post.
For more details, go here:
Powr RSS Feed
(Powr RSS Feed Plugin For WordPress)
With POWr RSS, you can automatically combine and display content from various sources using RSS feeds.
This plugin also lets you display images, videos, and article content, adjust feed size and spacing, use custom colors, fonts, borders, and more. It is also mobile responsive and supports text in all languages.
The premium edition of POWr contains a number of additional features, such as the ability to display different feeds, manually accept or reject posts, and more.
For more details, go here:
WP Pipes
(WP Pipes Plugin For WordPress)
The WP Pipes plugin for WordPress is a powerful data migration plugin that allows you to 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, auto blogging, auto post to Twitter/LinkedIn/Facebook, export WordPress posts as iTunes podcasts, create Google XML sitemaps, and more!
For more details, go here:
FeedWordPress
(FeedWordPress Plugin)
FeedWordPress provides simple and flexible Atom/RSS syndication for WordPress 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 plugin to create aggregator sites, or bring together all of your online activity (e.g. from your blog, Facebook, Flickr, or other online services, in one place.
For more details, go here:
Autoblog by WPMUDev
(Autoblog by WPMUDev Plugin For WordPress)
Autoblog is an easy-to-use plugin that can be set-up in minutes, without coding skills or 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 to post content to.
For more details, go here:
RSS Includes Pages
(RSS Includes Pages Plugin)
Install RSS Includes Pages and Custom Post Types if you would like to include pages in your WordPress RSS feed and not just posts (by default WordPress only includes posts in your RSS feed).
For more details, go here:
Useful Tips
Tip #1 – WordPress Comment RSS Feeds
WordPress displays RSS feeds of your post comments in addition to giving online users access to RSS feeds of your latest posts.
To inspect your comments feed, go to the ‘Meta’ section on your sidebar menu (note: your theme may not be configured to display this widget) and click on Comments RSS …
(Comments RSS)
Comments posted on your site by visitors and users will appear in your Comments RSS page …
(RSS comments feed content as seen on a Firefox browser)
Like post entries, your comments feed content will display differently depending on which web browser you are using …
(Comments feed items displayed on a Google Chrome browser)
Again, you can check what the feed contains by pasting the feed URL into a feedreader …
(Paste your URL of your comments feed into a feed reader to view the feed content. Image: 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 site installation is in a subdomain, e.g. “blog”)
Tip #2 – Accessing Single Item RSS Feeds
Being able to create an RSS feed for a specific post item 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 individual posts is shown below:
(Feed For Specific Post)
To create the above feed, copy the web address of your post, and append “/feed/?withoutcomments=1” to the end.
(Single Post Feed)
Note: By default, if you only add “/feed” to the end of your post URL, WordPress will return the comments for your post, not actual content of the post itself.
Tip #3 – Post Category Feeds
Some your site visitors may only be interested in subscribing to content about specific topics. 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:
(WordPress post categories RSS feed format)
Copy the category URL to your clipboard …
(Copy your category link address …)
Add “feed” to the end of it …
(WP RSS feed format for post categories)
The category feed now only includes content published in that particular category …
(Category-specific RSS feed page)
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 Directory Of RSS Feeds On Your Site
You can provide your own page of feeds that allows readers to subscribe only to specific content, just like large online publishers …
(Set Up Your Own List Of RSS Feeds On Your Site)
You can link an image like the one shown below to the URL of your feed and then create a table or a list of your 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 adding tables to WordPress here:
- How To Easily Create And Insert Tables Into WordPress Posts And Pages With No Coding Skills Required
RSS – Notes
You can customize your feeds in several different ways, such as adding videos to feeds, ads, etc. Some of these customizations require code editing skills.
WordPress allows you to configure a number of feed types that do not require code editing skills. Here are some examples of feed formats you can display on your site and how to create these feeds …
(Different Feed Types You Can Create Using WordPress RSS)
Here are the different feed types, descriptions, and feed examples listed in the image above:
- Feed Type: All Posts
- Description: Content feed – Feed that displays your latest post entries
- Example Feed: http://yourdomain.com/feed/
- Feed Type: All Comments
- Description: Comments feed – RSS feed that displays the latest comments left on your blog
- Example Feed: http://yourdomain.com/comments/feed/
- Feed Type: Individual Posts
- Description: RSS feed for specific posts
- Example Feed: http://yourdomain.com/blog-post-title/feed/
- Feed Type: Individual Posts Comments
- Description: RSS Feed that contains the latest comments made on a post entry
- Example Feed: http://yourdomain.com/post-title/feed/
- Feed Type: Archives
- Description: Day – Displays latest posts in each archive
- Example Feed: http://yourdomain.com/2018/06/07/feed/
- Feed Type: Archives
- Description: Month – Contains the latest posts in each archive
- Example Feed: http://yourdomain.com/2014/06/feed/
- Feed Type: Archives
- Description: Year – Contains latest items in each archive
- Example Feed: http://yourdomain.com/2014/feed/
- Feed Type: Search Results
- Description: Feed containing latest post entries for a search query
- Example Feed: http://yourdomain.com/search/term/feed/
- Feed Type: Custom Post Type
- Description: Feed containing the 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 promote your feed. Place a subscribe links in a visible location …
(Remember to make your feeds visible your RSS feeds!)
Also, keep in mind that other sites will only want to subscribe to your content if you publish great information that educates, engages, and entertains. In other words, you must provide high-quality information that can add value to their sites and benefit their users.
(Add someone else’s content and get other users to subscribe to your content online with RSS feeds!)
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 feed 🙂
Additional Resources:
- RSS Feed Buttons – Visit Iconspedia.com or search online (e.g. “free rss icons”, “rss logos”, etc.) for sites that allow you to download Free RSS icons.
- RSSBoard.org – The RSS Advisory Board provides useful information and links to resources about RSS.
- Wikipedia.org/RSS – General information about using RSS.
- WordPress Codex – WordPress software documentation and information repository. Go here to learn more about using WordPress RSS feeds.
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 their RSS feed.
Hopefully, this information has given you a better understanding of problems that can affect your website and how WordPress can help you get better results online. To read more about using the WP CMS platform please click on links to visit other great articles and tutorials we have published on this site.
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