No matter what service or product you provide, you need to provide quality information on your site or blog that educates, informs, or improves engagement with your readers. For example, if your business provides health-related services, it’s a good 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 type of information, however, is that it involves a huge amount of work and expertise. You have to do a ton of data sifting, researching and organizing, fact-checking, writing and editing content (or hire someone to do this for you), and then ensure that this information is continually 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 completely beyond your control.
Thankfully, there is a simpler way to regularly provide your site readers with up-to-date information.
It’s called RSS …
(RSS is one of the simplest ways to provide your site visitors with great information)
The Ultimate Guide To WordPress RSS
RSS – What You Need To Know
- RSS is an acronym for RDF Site Summary, or, as is more commonly referred to, Really Simple Syndication. It is often called a “feed” or “web feed”.
- RSS allows content publishers to automatically syndicate their content to save readers time from having to keep revisiting their site to check for updates.
- RSS feeds are also used to publish frequently updated information, such as blog post items, news headlines, video lists, etc., which any user can choose to subscribe to.
- Essentially, an RSS feed is an XML (XML = Extensible Markup Language) document that includes either full or summarized text along with metadata such as published date, author, etc. It allows people to subscribe to content on websites and blogs that publish feeds and then view updates posted on these sites through a feedreader. Conversely, RSS feeds also enable publishers to automatically syndicate information.
- Feeds can be made available in different formats and read by different aggregators. Some of these include RSS feeds, Atom (also called AtomPub or APP 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, readers, and programs.
- Many sites and software applications also let you combine multiple RSS feeds to display news and updates from different sources.
This guide explains where to find your WordPress RSS feed, how to use your WordPress RSS feed to get your content syndicated online, and how to display someone else’s content on your site via RSS.
RSS (Really Simple Syndication) Feeds
Content syndication is a powerful and legitimate way to share content online. Feeds provide an easy way for web users to receive the latest information posted on different sites.
First, let’s take a look at how content syndication is used.
Most online newspapers rely on content syndication to publish stories from news sources all around the world.
Content syndication allows news publishers and many influential online media publications to deliver readers the latest newsworthy items from around the planet without actually having to send more news reporting agencies all around the world …
(Global media publications rely on syndication to publish newsworthy items from other news agencies around the globe.)
Syndication is a legitimate method of sharing content with other sites. Global media publications syndicate content using feeds …
(Content syndication is used by online newspapers to share newsworthy content with other publications)
Most sites actually would like you to share their content. Syndicating content not only allows information of great value to be shared, but it can also send visitors back to the original site responsible for publishing the content being syndicated. This creates new ways to drive traffic back to their site.
Major content sites provide links to an RSS feed section (look for links in the navigation menu that say ”RSS”, “Syndication”, or “Newsfeeds” in them, or just search for “name of site/keyword + rss” – e.g. “nytimes rss”, “daily telegraph rss”, “sydney morning herald rss”, etc.) …
(Leading online newspapers contain a feed section. Image: smh.com.au )
Clicking on a site’s RSS links section will bring up a directory of different RSS feeds of the site …
(RSS feeds section. Image Source: nytimes.com RSS feeds)
Each of these RSS feed items allows readers to access content from different sections of the site (e.g. technology news, arts news, lifestyle magazine, etc.)
An RSS directory can also contain subcategory feeds …
(An RSS directory can also contain subcategory feeds. Source: LA Times)
Note: A feed is simply a URL. All you need to do to use the feed is copy the URL and paste it into an application that can process the feed into something readable. We’ll cover this further below.
Using Feeds
Syndicating content from someone else’s website or blog on your website has some obvious benefits. It not only gives someone else’s content additional exposure online, it also 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 you also want other websites to use YOUR content.
When other sites syndicate your content, you have the opportunity to get more exposure online and drive new web traffic …
(Try to get other websites and blogs to syndicate your content … it will help drive more traffic to your site!)
WordPress RSS – About
WordPress automatically publishes a feed of all your posts, allowing other online users to easily syndicate your content on their websites and blogs.
Depending on the theme you have installed, there are a few ways to access your WordPress RSS feed:
1) If your theme displays the Meta widget on the sidebar or footer menu …
(The feed page will display the number of items you have specified in the WP 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 RSS feed is whether to display your posts as full text, or as a summary …
(WP Settings – Reading Settings – Display ‘Full Text’ or ‘Summary’ for articles in a RSS feed)
Post Excerpts can also affect how the content in your feed displays …
(Post excerpts can affect how your feed content will appear)
If you need help WordPress Post excerpts, refer to this step-by-step tutorial:
View The Content Of Your RSS Feeds
As mentioned previously, to view the content of an RSDS feed, you need to copy the feed’s URL to your clipboard and paste it into a feedreader, i.e. an application that can read and translate feeds into readable content for humans.
Let’s take a look at how this works.
First, go to a website whose feed you want to subscribe to and search for their RSS feed link using any of the methods described earlier …
(Search for an RSS feed button. Image source: http://www.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 a feed reader …
(Paste the URL of your feed into a feed reader to view the feed content. Image: http://feedreader.com/online)
Like feedreaders, WordPress also has the ability to process XML/RSS feeds and convert these into content that can be read by your visitors.
How To Add Feeds To WordPress
In the example below, we are going to add content from other websites and blogs to your WordPress site.
How To Add Feeds To Your WordPress Sidebar
As mentioned earlier, no matter what industry your business operates in, 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 use 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 sourced from an RSS feed to the WordPress sidebar navigation area …
(Add an RSS feed to your sidebar)
First, go to a website that publishes content that you would like to add to your sidebar and copy the RSS feed URL …
(Copy the URL of your feed)
Next, go to your WordPress Dashboard > Appearance > Widgets and paste the feed into a new RSS widget …
(RSS Widget)
To learn more about 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 the RSS widget has been added) …
(RSS Feed Content Added To WP 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:
How To Add Content From RSS Feeds To Your Posts
Can you add content from RSS feeds to WordPress posts instead of a sidebar? Yes, you can!
You can do this using plugins. Just search inside your Plugins admin screen (Plugins > Add New) for RSS feed, RSS feed to post, etc.
(WordPress RSS plugins)
Note: Most RSS plugins typically require configuration – visit the plugin sites for configuration instructions, or contact us if you need help with plugin configuration.
The plugins below are useful for adding feed content to posts, or “auto blog” (An auto blog is a blog with content that is automatically gathered and compiled from RSS feeds):
WPeMatico
(WPeMatico WordPress Plugin)
WPeMatico is an easy to use plugin that allows you to publish posts automatically from multiple RSS/Atom feeds.
You can manage all the feeds you import and organize them into campaigns.
For more details, go here:
WP RSS Aggregator
(WP RSS Aggregator WordPress Plugin)
WP RSS Aggregator is a comprehensive RSS feed importer and autoblogging WordPress plugin that offers extended functionality with a number of premium extensions (add-ons).
For example, the Feed to Post extension is an advanced importer that lets you add content to your site automatically by importing RSS feeds directly into posts.
For more details, go here:
RSS Post Importer
(RSS Post Importer)
RSS Post Importer allows you to import, curate, syndicate, merge and display full-text feeds on your WordPress website or blog.
The plugin will fetch an RSS feed and publish the full article content of each item in your feed as a standalone post.
For more details, go here:
Powr RSS Feed
(Powr RSS Feed)
POWr RSS allows you to combine content from multiple sources using RSS feeds.
The POWr RSS Feed plugin also lets you display images, videos, and articles, adjust sizing and spacing of feeds, use custom fonts, colors, borders, and more. It is also mobile responsive and supports text in all languages.
The premium version contains many additional features.
For more details, go here:
WP Pipes
(WP Pipes – WordPress 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 features like CSV importing for posts/WooCommerce, RSS feed creator, auto blogging, auto post to Facebook/LinkedIn/Twitter, export WordPress posts as podcasts, create Google XML sitemaps, and help take your WordPress CMS to a new level.
For more details, go here:
FeedWordPress
(FeedWordPress)
FeedWordPress is a flexible syndication plugin for WordPress site 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 sites, or bring together all of your online activity in one place.
For more details, go here:
Autoblog
(Autoblog by WPMUDev Plugin)
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 your feed URL, give the feed 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 and Custom Post Types Plugin For WordPress)
RSS Includes Pages lets you display pages in your RSS feed in addition to posts.
For more details, go here:
Useful Tips
Tip #1 – WordPress Comment RSS Feeds
WordPress displays RSS feeds of your latest post comments in addition to giving online users access to RSS feeds of your latest posts.
To access this feed, go to the ‘Meta’ widget on your sidebar (note: this section may not be visible on some themes) and click on Comments RSS …
(WordPress Comments RSS)
Comments posted on your site by visitors can be seen in the Comments RSS page …
(RSS comments feed entries seen with Firefox)
Like post entries, your comments feed content will display differently depending on the browser you use …
(Comments feed items seen on Google Chrome)
Again, you can check what the comments feed contains by pasting the feed URL into an online feed reader …
(Paste your URL of your comments feed into a feedreader to view the content. 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 or blog has been installed in a subdomain, e.g. “blog”)
Tip #2 – Creating Single Item RSS Feeds
Being able to use an RSS feed for single post items can be useful. For example, you may want to add feeds from specific items 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 single post items is shown below:
(Feed For Individual Post)
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 add “/feed” to the end of the web address of your post, WordPress will return the comments left on that post, not actual content of the post itself.
Tip #3 – Post Category RSS Feeds
Some your site users may only be interested in syndicating content from a specific post category. They may not want to subscribe to all of your site’s content.
If you publish content under many categories, you can easily create a separate feed for each different category.
Just use the format below:
(WP RSS feed format for category)
Copy the selected category URL …
(Copy your category link address …)
Add “feed” to the end of it …
(WP post categories feed format)
Your category RSS feed now only contains content assigned to this 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 – Create A Directory Of RSS Feeds
You can provide a list of feeds that allows your readers to subscribe to specific categories …
(Publish Your Own Page Of RSS Feeds For Your Site Visitors)
Link an RSS image like the one shown below to category feeds and then create a table or a list of all your feeds on a new page …
(RSS icon. Source: http://www.public-domain-photos.com/free-cliparts/computer/other/rss_button_roman_bertle_01-2522.htm)
If you need help with adding tables to WordPress posts, go here:
WordPress RSS – Additional Notes
RSS feeds can be customized in several different ways, such as adding images to feeds, ads, etc. Some of these feed customizations require code editing skills.
WordPress allows a number of RSS feed configurations that do not require editing code. Here are some examples of custom feeds you can use …
(Different Feed Types You Can Create With WordPress RSS)
Here are the feed types, descriptions, and feed examples listed in the image above:
- Feed Type: All Posts
- Description: Content feed – RSS feed that includes your latest posts
- Example Feed: http://yourdomain.com/feed/
- Feed Type: All Comments
- Description: Comments feed – Contains the latest comments published on your blog
- Example Feed: http://yourdomain.com/comments/feed/
- Feed Type: Individual Posts
- Description: Feed containing a specific post entry
- Example Feed: http://yourdomain.com/title-of-blog-post/feed/
- Feed Type: Individual Posts Comments
- Description: Contains the latest comments made on a specific post
- Example Feed: http://yourdomain.com/title-of-blog-post/feed/
- Feed Type: Archives
- Description: Day – Includes the latest items in each archive
- Example Feed: http://yourdomain.com/2018/01/31/feed/
- Feed Type: Archives
- Description: Month – Displays latest posts in each archive
- Example Feed: http://yourdomain.com/2014/11/feed/
- Feed Type: Archives
- Description: Year – Includes the latest posts in each archive
- Example Feed: http://yourdomain.com/2018/feed/
- Feed Type: Search Results
- Description: Feed that displays latest entries for a search query
- Example Feed: http://yourdomain.com/search/term/feed/
- Feed Type: Custom Post Type
- Description: Includes the latest posts for a custom type (e.g. book)
- Example Feed: http://yourdomain.com/feed/?post_type=book
One more thing …
Remember to let your visitors know that they can subscribe to your RSS feed. Make sure you place a ’subscribe to RSS’ links in a visible location …
(Promote your RSS feeds!)
Also, keep in mind that online users will only want to subscribe to your content if you provide your subscribers with very high-quality information that will add value to their sites and benefit their users.
(Easily add someone else’s content and get other sites to syndicate your content with WordPress and 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 feed 🙂
RSS – Resources:
- Feed Buttons – Visit Iconspedia or search online (e.g. “free RSS icons”, “RSS icon”, etc.) for sites that allow you to download Free RSS graphics.
- RSSBoard.org – The RSS Advisory Board Go here to learn more about RSS.
- Wikipedia.org/RSS – Learn more about using RSS feeds.
- WordPress Codex: WordPress Feeds – WordPress documentation and information site. Visit this site for more information about feeds in WordPress.
Congratulations! Now you know where to find your WordPress RSS feed, how to use your WordPress RSS feed to get your content syndicated online, and how to add content from other websites and blogs to your site via RSS feeds.
Hopefully, this post has given you a better understanding of issues that can affect your website and how WordPress can help you get better results online. To read more about the benefits of using the WordPress CMS software please see other posts we have published on this site.
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"If you're new to WordPress, this can stand on its own as a training course and will stay with you as you progress from beginner to advanced and even guru status." - Bruce (Columbus, Ohio)