No matter what service or product you provide or what industry your business is in, it’s vitally important to provide quality information on your site or blog that educates, informs, and engages your visitors. For example, if you provide health-related services, it’s not a bad idea to publish the latest information from the health department, such as news or updates on medical research, health and fitness tips, etc.
The problem with creating this type of information, however, is that it is really time-consuming. You have to filter through, research, and organize a ton of data, check your sources for accuracy, 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 is not only a lot of work but most of the information you are dealing with is entirely beyond your control.
Fortunately, there is a much easier way to provide your users with expert, up-to-date information.
It’s called RSS …
(RSS is the simplest way to provide your users with up-to-date information)
The Ultimate Guide To WordPress RSS
What You Need To Know About RSS
- RSS is short for Rich Site Summary, or, as is more commonly known, Really Simple Syndication. It it is also referred to as a “feed” or “web feed”.
- RSS allows content publishers to automatically syndicate their content to save readers time from having to keep revisiting sites to check for updates.
- RSS feeds are often used to publish information that is frequently updated, such as blog entries, news headlines, audios, etc., which any user can choose to subscribe to.
- Essentially, an RSS feed is a structured XML document that includes full or summarized text along with other metadata like published date, author, etc. It allows people to subscribe to content on websites or blogs that publish feeds and then browse updates posted on these websites through a feedreader. Conversely, RSS feeds also enable publishers to automatically syndicate their web content.
- Feeds can be made available in different formats and read by different feed aggregators. 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 machines and programs.
- Many sites and software applications also allow you to combine several RSS feeds to aggregate news and updates sourced from various different websites.
This in-depth article shows you where to find your WordPress RSS feed, how to syndicate your content online using RSS, and how to display someone else’s content on your site using RSS feeds.
RSS (Really Simple Syndication) Feeds
Content syndication is a very powerful method used to share web content. RSS Feeds provide an easy way for online users to stay up-to-date with the latest information published on websites and blogs they are interested in.
First, let’s look at content syndication.
Global media and news reporting agencies rely heavily on content syndication to publish newsworthy content from news agencies around the world.
Syndication allows many online newspapers and leading online media publications to deliver readers fresh newsworthy items and stories of interest from all over the planet without having to hire additional news reporters and content writers everywhere around the world …
(Most news publishers rely heavily on syndication to publish news and stories from news sources all around the world.)
Syndication is a legitimate way of sharing information with other sites. Online newspapers syndicate their news stories using feeds …
(Content syndication is used by online newspapers to share newsworthy content with other publications)
Most sites actually want you to syndicate their information. Content syndication not only allows information 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.
Many online newspapers include a feed section (look for menu links that say ”RSS”, “Syndication”, or “Newsfeeds” in them, or just search for “name of site/keyword + rss” – e.g. “nytimes rss”, “courier mail rss”, “sydney morning herald rss”, etc.) …
(Most online newspapers include a feed section. Image: smh.com.au )
Clicking on a site’s RSS feeds link brings up a list of RSS feeds for different content topics on the site …
(RSS feeds directory. Image Source: nytimes.com)
These feeds give readers access to different sections of the website (e.g. technology news, sports news, lifestyle magazine, etc.)
An RSS feed list can also include feed subcategories …
(RSS Feed section. Image: latimes.com)
Note: A feed is only a URL. To use RSS feeds, all you have to do is to copy the URLs and paste these into an application that can process the feed into something readable. We’ll cover this further below.
The Benefits Of Syndicating Content
Syndicating content from someone else’s website or blog on your website has some obvious benefits. It helps someone else’s business and adds value to your site without you having to create this content …
(Syndicating Content Benefits Someone Else’s Business And Yours!)
While adding an RSS feed 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 there are benefits in getting other sites to use your content.
When other websites syndicate your RSS feed, this gives you the opportunity to get increased exposure online and drive more visitors …
(Consider trying to get other website owners to syndicate your feed … it will help drive more traffic to your site!)
Overview Of The WordPress Feed
By default, WordPress automatically publishes a feed of your posts, allowing others to syndicate your content on their websites.
Depending on your WP theme, there are a few ways to get the WordPress RSS feed:
1) If your theme allows the Meta widget to be displayed on your navigation menu, you can scroll down to the Meta section and click on Entries RSS …
(Access your WordPress RSS feed in the Meta section)
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 RSS feed URL by right-clicking and copying on the Subscribe to RSS link …
(Copy RSS URLs to your clipboard from “subscribe” buttons)
3) On some sites and again, depending on the WordPress theme you have installed, you can find the RSS feed displayed in a Links, Follow Us, or Social Share section …
(Look for an RSS button in a a Subscribe, Links, or Share section)
4) You can also view your WordPress 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 WP installation is in a subdomain, e.g. “blog”)
Using any of the above methods will bring up your RSS page …
(RSS entries as seen using Firefox)
Note that your feed page will display differently depending on the browser you use …
(RSS feed items as seen on Google Chrome)
Specify Number Of Items To Display On Your RSS Feed
You can specify how many posts you would like to display in your RSS section in the Reading Settings section. Type the number of items to show in the “Syndication feeds show the most recent” field …
(Reading Settings – Syndication items)
Your feed will show as many recent items you have specified in your WordPress Reading Settings section …
(Your feed page will show as many recent items you have specified in the Reading Settings section)
Display Full Text Or Summary Of Posts In Your RSS Feed
Another setting in the WordPress Reading Settings section that affects your feeds is whether to display articles as full text, or just a summary …
(WP Settings – 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 your feeds appear)
For a detailed tutorial about WordPress Post excerpts, go here:
View The Content Of Your RSS Feeds
As mentioned earlier, to view the content of a feed, you need to copy the feed’s URL to your clipboard and paste it into a feedreader, i.e. an application that translates feeds into readable content for humans.
Let’s take a look at how this works.
First, find a website whose content you want to subscribe to and search for an RSS feed section …
(Search for a ‘subscribe’ button. Image source: YourCoffeeGuru.com)
Next, copy the feed URL to your clipboard …
(Copy the feed URL to the clipboard)
If you want, you can check what the RSS feed contains by pasting the feed URL into an online feedreader …
(Paste the feed URL into a feedreader to view the feed content. Source: Feedreader.com)
Like feed readers, WordPress has the ability to process XML/RSS feeds and convert these into readable content.
Adding RSS Feeds To WordPress Sites
In the example below, we’ll add content from another website or blog’s RSS feeds to yours.
How To Add A Feed To Your Sidebar
As mentioned earlier, no matter what industry your business is 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 adding their feed. You can use RSS feeds to display a range of information on your WordPress site like news, Facebook comments, or content from thousands of sites using the WordPress RSS widget.
Let’s add RSS content to the WordPress sidebar navigation area …
(Let’s add an RSS feed to your sidebar)
First, Find a website containing content that you want to display on your sidebar and copy the RSS feed to your clipboard …
(Copy the feed URL)
Next, log into your wordPress Dashboard and go to Appearance > Widget paste the feed into an RSS widget …
(RSS Widget)
To learn more about adding content to sidebars using widgets, go here:
Refresh your web browser. The content from the RSS feed can now be seen on the sidebar …
(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:
How To Add Feed Content To WordPress Posts
Can you add content from an RSS feed to a post? You sure can!
You can do this using WordPress plugins. Search inside the ’Add Plugins’ screen for RSS feed, RSS feed to post, etc.
(‘Add Plugins’ section – RSS plugins for WordPress)
Note: Most RSS plugins typically require configuration – visit the plugin sites for configuration instructions, or contact us if you need help with plugin configuration.
Here are a number of WordPress plugins that let you add RSS feeds to your pages:
WPeMatico
(WPeMatico – WordPress Plugin)
WPeMatico is an easy to use plugin that allows you to publish posts automatically from RSS/Atom feeds of your choice.
You can manage all the feeds you import and organize feeds into campaigns and categories.
For more details, go here:
WP RSS Aggregator
(WP RSS Aggregator Plugin For WordPress)
WP RSS Aggregator is an RSS feed importer and auto blogging plugin for WordPress that offers premium add-ons for additional functionality.
For example, the Feed to Post add-on is a feature-rich importer that allows you to autoblog by importing RSS feeds directly into your WP posts.
For more details, go here:
RSS Post Importer
(RSS Post Importer – WordPress Plugin)
The RSS Post Importer plugin lets you import, curate, syndicate, 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 item in the feed as a standalone post.
For more details, go here:
Powr RSS Feed
(Powr RSS Feed)
POWr RSS lets you automatically combine and display content from various sources using RSS feeds.
This plugin also lets you display videos, images, and article content, adjust sizing and spacing of feeds, use custom borders, colors, fonts, and more. It is also mobile responsive and supports text in all languages.
The premium version contains many 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)
WP Pipes 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 functionality like CSV importing for posts/WooCommerce, RSS feed creator, auto blogging, auto post to LinkedIn/Facebook/Twitter, export your posts as iTunes podcasts, create Google XML sitemaps, and more!
For more details, go here:
FeedWordPress
(FeedWordPress – WordPress Plugin)
FeedWordPress provides versatile 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 bring together posts from multiple sources), or display all of your online activity into a Lifestream.
For more details, go here:
Autoblog
(Autoblog by WPMUDev WP Plugin)
Autoblog is an easy-to-use plugin that can be set-up in minutes, 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 and Custom Post Types
(RSS Includes Pages Plugin For WordPress)
The RSS Includes Pages plugin lets you display pages in your RSS feed in addition to posts.
For more details, go here:
Useful Tips
Tip #1 – 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.
You can access the comments in your feed by clicking on Comments RSS in your ‘Meta’ widget …
(WordPress Comments Feed)
Comments posted on your site by visitors will appear in your Comments RSS page …
(Comments feed items seen with Firefox)
Like post entries, your comments feed items will display differently depending on which browser you use …
(RSS comments feed content viewed with a Google Chrome browser)
Again, you can check what the comments RSS feed contains by pasting the URL of the feed into a feed reader …
(Paste your URL of your comments feed into a feedreader to view the content. Image: Feedreader.com)
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 or blog has been installed in a subfolder, e.g. “blog”)
Tip #2 – Creating RSS Feeds For Individual Items
Being able to access an RSS feed for individual posts 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 creating an RSS feed for single post items is shown below:
(Specific Post Feed)
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 a post address, WordPress will return the comments left on that post, not the post content itself.
Tip #3 – Category Feeds
Some your site visitors may only be interested in subscribing to content from specific categories. They may not want to subscribe to all of your site’s content.
If your website or blog contains content published under various categories, you can easily provide a separate feed for each of your categories.
All you have to do is use the format shown below:
(WP category feed format)
Select and copy the category link address to your clipboard …
(Copy the selected category link address to your clipboard …)
Add “feed” to the end of it …
(WP category RSS feed format)
The feed now only contains content published in that category …
(Category 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 Your Own RSS Feeds Directory
You can set up a list of RSS feeds that allows your readers to subscribe to content in specific categories, just like the larger authoritative sites do …
(Provide Your Own RSS Feeds Directory)
You can link an icon like the one shown below to each feed URL and then create a table or a list of your individual feeds on a new page …
(RSS button. Image Source: public-domain-photos.com)
For a detailed tutorial about adding tables to WordPress, go here:
RSS Feeds – Additional Notes
Feeds can be customized in several different ways, such as adding images to feeds, ads, etc. Some of these customizations require editing code.
WordPress allows various feed configurations without messing with code. Below are examples of some of the kinds of custom feeds you can use …
(WordPress RSS – Feed Types)
Below are the feed types, descriptions, and feed examples listed in the image above:
- Feed Type: All Posts
- Description: Content feed – displays your latest entries
- Example Feed: http://yourdomain.com/feed/
- Feed Type: All Comments
- Description: Comments feed – Contains the latest comments posted on your blog
- Example Feed: http://yourdomain.com/comments/feed/
- Feed Type: Individual Posts
- Description: RSS feed for a post
- Example Feed: http://yourdomain.com/title-of-your-blog-post/feed/
- Feed Type: Individual Posts Comments
- Description: Displays the latest comments made on single posts
- Example Feed: http://yourdomain.com/post-title/feed/
- Feed Type: Archives
- Description: Day – Includes the latest posts in each archive
- Example Feed: http://yourdomain.com/2012/05/01/feed/
- Feed Type: Archives
- Description: Month – Contains the latest posts in each archive
- Example Feed: http://yourdomain.com/2013/07/feed/
- Feed Type: Archives
- Description: Year – Feed containing the latest entries in each archive
- Example Feed: http://yourdomain.com/2010/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: Includes latest post entries 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 your site visitors know that they can subscribe to your feed. Place your subscribe link somewhere visible …
(Remember to promote your feeds!)
Keep in mind that online users will only want to syndicate your content if you provide your visitors with high-quality content that will add value to their sites and benefit their visitors.
(Easily add content to your site and get online users to subscribe to your content using 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 🙂
RSS – Resources:
- RSS Icons – Visit sites like iconspedia.com/search/rss or search online (e.g. “free RSS icons”, “RSS logos”, etc.) for sites that allow you to download RSS graphic elements.
- RSSBoard.org – The RSS Advisory Board provides useful information and links to resources about RSS.
- Wikipedia.org/RSS – Learn more about RSS.
- WordPress.org – Official WordPress documentation and reference. Go here to learn more about WordPress feeds.
Congratulations! Now you know how to find your WordPress RSS feed, how to syndicate your content online using RSS, and how to display someone else’s content on your site via RSS feeds.
Hopefully, now you have a better understanding of issues that can affect your website and how WordPress can help you get better results online. To learn more about the benefits of using WordPress for a business website please click on links to visit other great articles and tutorials on this site.
***
"This is AMAZING! I had learnt about how to use WordPress previously, but this covers absolutely everything and more!! Incredible value! Thank you!" - Monique, Warrior Forum