No matter what what industry you are in, you need to provide high-value information to your site visitors. For example, if your business provides health-related services, you may want to provide users with 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 takes a lot of time and expertise. You have to do a lot of data sorting, researching and organizing, fact-checking, writing and editing 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 lot of work but most of the information you are dealing with is entirely beyond your control.
Fortunately, there is a simpler way to continually provide your site visitors with up-to-date information.
It’s called RSS …
(RSS is one of the simplest ways to provide your readers with up-to-date information)
The Ultimate Guide To WordPress RSS
What Is RSS?
- RSS is an acronym for Rich Site Summary, or, as is more commonly referred to, Really Simple Syndication. It it is also referred to as a “feed” or “web feed”.
- After users subscribe to a website’s feed, they no longer have to physically check the source website for updated content. Instead, their web browser constantly monitors the content and keeps feed subscribers automatically updated.
- RSS feeds are also used to publish frequently updated information, such as blog post items, news headlines, video lists, etc., which other users can choose to subscribe to.
- Essentially, an RSS feed is a structured XML (XML = Extensible Markup Language) document that includes either full or summarized text along with other metadata like published date, author, etc. It allows people to subscribe to content on websites and then browse any updates posted on these websites using a feedreader. Conversely, RSS feeds also enable publishers to syndicate content automatically.
- Feeds can be made available in different types and read by different aggregators. Some of these include RSS feeds, Atom feeds and RDF 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 allow you to combine different RSS feeds to display news and updates sourced from various websites.
In this article, we show you where your RSS feed is located, how to syndicate your content online using feeds, and how to add content from other websites and blogs to your site via RSS feeds.
RSS (Really Simple Syndication) Feeds
Content syndication is a very powerful method used to share content online. Feeds provide web users with a simple way to receive the latest information published on websites and blogs they are interested in.
First, let’s look at how syndication is used.
Most news reporting agencies use content syndication to publish news from other news agencies all around the world.
Content syndication allows most news reporting agencies to deliver readers stories on all kinds of topics as well as the latest news from around the planet without actually having to employ additional writers everywhere in the world …
(Online newspapers use syndication to publish newsworthy stories from other news agencies all around the world.)
Syndication is a legitimate way of sharing newsworthy content. News reporting agencies syndicate their newsworthy content using feeds …
(Content syndication is a legitimate way of sharing content)
Most sites actually would like you to syndicate their content. Content syndication not only allows information to be shared, but it also sends 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 include a feed section (look for menu links 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.) …
(Many news reporting agencies and major content sites contain a feed section. Image: smh.com.au )
Clicking on a site’s RSS links section will bring up a directory of RSS feeds for different content sections of the site …
(RSS directory. Image: nytimes.com RSS feeds)
Each of these feeds allows you to access content from different areas of the site (e.g. business news, travel news, editorials, etc.)
Feed sections can also include subcategories …
(A feed directory can also contain subcategories. Source: latimes.com)
Note: An RSS feed is only a URL. All you need to do to use RSS feeds is copy the URLs and paste these into an application that can translate the feed into something readable. We’ll cover this further below.
The Benefits Of Using RSS Feeds
Adding someone else’s content to your website has some obvious benefits. It not only gives additional exposure online to someone else’s business, it also adds value to your site without you having to create the 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 a great idea to try and get other sites to use your content.
When other websites and blogs syndicate your content, this gives your business the opportunity to get more exposure online and drive new visitors …
(Get other websites to syndicate your content … it will help drive more traffic to your site!)
WordPress RSS
WordPress automatically publishes a feed of your posts, allowing other online users to easily syndicate your content on their websites.
Depending on the WordPress theme you have installed, there are a number of ways to get the WordPress RSS feed:
1) If your theme has been configured to display the Meta widget as part of your navigation menu …
(Your feed page will display the number of posts as you have specified in your WordPress Reading Settings section)
Display Full Text Or Summary Of Posts In Your RSS Feed
Another setting in your Reading Settings section that affects your RSS feed is whether to display posts as full text, or a summary …
(WordPress Reading Settings – ’For each article in a feed show’ options)
Post Excerpts can also affect how the content in your feed displays …
(Post excerpts can affect how your feed content will display)
If you need help WordPress Post excerpts, go here:
View The Content Of Your RSS Feeds
As mentioned earlier, all that’s required to view a feed’s content is to copy the feed’s URL to your clipboard 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 or blog and search for a ‘subscribe’ button using any of the methods described earlier …
(Look for a ‘subscribe’ link or button. Image source: http://www.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 the feed content by pasting the URL of the feed into an online feedreader …
(Paste the feed URL into a feed reader to view the feed content. Source: Feedreader)
Like feedreaders, WordPress also has the ability to process XML/RSS feeds and convert these into human-readable content.
Adding Feeds To Your WordPress Site
Let’s show you how to add content from another website’s RSS feeds to yours.
Adding A Feed To Your WordPress Sidebar
As mentioned earlier, no matter what industry you are in, you can add to your site the latest news from an industry-related government department or authoritative site in your industry by simply adding their RSS feed. You can use RSS feeds to display a range of information on your WordPress site like news, Facebook updates, or content from thousands of sites using the WordPress RSS widget.
Let’s add RSS content to your sidebar …
(Add content from an RSS feed to your sidebar)
copy the RSS feed from a website containing content that you want to add to your site …
(Copy your feed URL to the clipboard)
Next, go to Appearance > Widgets and paste the feed into a new RSS widget …
(Widgets Area – RSS Widget)
To learn more about using widgets, go here:
Refresh your browser. The content should display in your sidebar …
(RSS Feed Added To WordPress 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:
Adding Content From RSS Feeds To WordPress Posts
What if you want to add content from an RSS feed to WordPress posts instead of a sidebar?
You can easily do this using plugins. Search inside the Plugins admin screen (Plugins > Add New) for RSS Aggregator, RSS feed to post, etc.
(RSS plugins for WordPress)
Note: These plugins typically require configuration – visit the plugin sites for setup instructions, or contact us if you need help configuring plugins.
Here are some autoblogging plugins for WordPress that allow you to create new with feeds:
WPeMatico
(WPeMatico WP Plugin)
WPeMatico is an auto blogging plugin that lets you publish posts automatically from RSS/Atom feeds of your choice.
You can manage all the feeds you import and organize them into categories and campaigns.
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 WordPress plugin that offers premium add-ons for additional functionality.
For example, the Feed to Post extension for the WP RSS Aggregator plugin is a feature-rich importer that lets you import RSS feeds directly into posts.
For more details, go here:
RSS Post Importer
(RSS Post Importer Plugin)
The RSS Post Importer plugin lets you curate, syndicate, import, merge and display full text RSS feeds on your WordPress blog.
The plugin fetches an RSS feed and publishes the full content of each feed item as a standalone post.
For more details, go here:
Powr RSS Feed
(Powr RSS Feed WordPress Plugin)
POWr RSS lets you combine and display content from various content using RSS feeds.
This plugin also lets you display images, videos, and articles, adjust feed size and spacing, use custom colors, backgrounds, fonts, and more. It is also mobile responsive and supports text in every language.
The premium edition of this plugin contains a number of additional features, such as the ability to display different feeds, accept or reject posts, and more.
For more details, go here:
WP Pipes
(WP Pipes – WordPress Plugin)
WP Pipes is a powerful data migration plugin that lets you curate content from RSS feeds, Google News, and other sources.
This plugin provides loads of powerful functionality like CSV importing for posts/WooCommerce, RSS feed creator, autoblogging, auto post to LinkedIn/Facebook/Twitter, 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 WP Plugin)
FeedWordPress is a simple and flexible Atom/RSS syndication plugin for WordPress site content.
As stated in the FeedWordPress website …
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 content from many different sources), or display all of your online activity (e.g. from your blog, Facebook, YouTube, or other online services, in one place.
For more details, go here:
Autoblog
(Autoblog by WPMUDev Plugin For WordPress)
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, give it a name of your choosing (for admin purposes) and select the blog to post content to.
For more details, go here:
RSS Includes Pages
(RSS Includes Pages)
The RSS Includes Pages and Custom Post Types plugin lets you display pages in your WordPress RSS feed in addition to posts.
For more details, go here:
Useful Tips
Tip #1 – WP Comment RSS Feeds
In addition to making RSS feeds of your posts available, WordPress also makes available RSS feeds of comments posted on your site.
To inspect your comments feed, locate the ‘Meta’ widget on your sidebar menu (note: your theme may not be configured to display this widget) and click on Comments RSS …
(WordPress Comments Feed)
All the comments posted on your site by visitors will appear in your Comments RSS page …
(RSS comments feed items as seen with a Firefox web browser)
Like post entries, your comments feed items will display differently depending on the browser you use …
(RSS comments feed entries seen on Google Chrome web browser)
Again, you can check the feed content by pasting the URL of the feed into an online feedreader …
(Paste your feed URL into a feed reader to view the content. Image: 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 WP site installation is in a subfolder, e.g. “blog”)
Tip #2 – Using RSS Feeds For Single Items
Being able to display an RSS feed for single post items can be useful. For example, you may want to add feeds from specific posts 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 specific post items is shown below:
(Feed For Individual Post Item)
To create the above feed, copy the post URL, and add “/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 for that post, not actual content of the post itself.
Tip #3 – Post Category RSS Feeds
Some your site visitors may only be interested in syndicating content about certain categories. They may not want to subscribe to your entire site’s feed.
If your site publishes content under different categories, WordPress allows you to provide a separate RSS feed for each of these categories.
All you have to do is use the format below:
(Format for WP post categories feed)
Select and copy the category link address to your clipboard …
(Copy the selected category link address …)
Add “feed” to the end of it …
(Format for WordPress category feed)
Your category feed now only contains content published in this category …
(Category-specific 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 – Publish Your Own RSS Feeds Directory
You can set up an RSS feeds page that allows readers to subscribe to content in specific categories, just like large websites …
(Publish A Page Of Feeds For Your Visitors)
Link an icon to each feed URL and then create a table or a list of all your category feeds on a new page …
(RSS button graphic. Image: 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 content here:
RSS – Additional Notes
You can customize your feeds in several different ways, such as adding videos to feeds, ads, etc. Some of these feed customizations require editing code.
WordPress allows a number of feed configurations without messing with code. Below are examples of some of the kinds of custom feed formats you can use …
(WordPress RSS – Feed Types)
For your convenience, here are the feed types, descriptions, and feed examples listed in the image above:
- Feed Type: All Posts
- Description: Content feed – displays your latest posts
- Example Feed: http://yourdomain.com/feed/
- Feed Type: All Comments
- Description: Comments feed – Contains the latest comments published on your website or blog
- Example Feed: http://yourdomain.com/comments/feed/
- Feed Type: Individual Posts
- Description: Feed containing individual posts
- Example Feed: http://yourdomain.com/title-of-blog-post/feed/
- Feed Type: Individual Posts Comments
- Description: RSS Feed for the latest comments made on a single post
- Example Feed: http://yourdomain.com/blog-post-title/feed/
- Feed Type: Archives
- Description: Day – Contains latest post entries in each archive
- Example Feed: http://yourdomain.com/2014/04/18/feed/
- Feed Type: Archives
- Description: Month – Includes latest entries in each archive
- Example Feed: http://yourdomain.com/2013/01/feed/
- Feed Type: Archives
- Description: Year – Includes the latest posts in each archive
- Example Feed: http://yourdomain.com/2015/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 the latest posts for a custom type (e.g. book)
- Example Feed: http://yourdomain.com/feed/?post_type=book
One last thing …
Remember to promote your feed. Make sure you place a subscribe buttons in a visible location …
(Promote your RSS feeds!)
Finally, keep in mind that other website owners will only subscribe to your content if you publish useful information that informs, engages, and entertains. In other words, you must provide high-quality information that will add great value to their sites and benefit their users.
(Easily add someone else’s content and get other sites to subscribe to 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 🙂
Resources:
- Download RSS Feed Buttons – Visit www.feedicons.com or search online (e.g. “free RSS icons”, “RSS buttons”, etc.) for sites containing downloadable RSS images.
- RSSBoard.org – The RSS Advisory Board provides useful information about RSS.
- Wikipedia/RSS – Learn more about RSS feeds.
- WordPress Codex – WordPress software documentation repository. Go here to learn more about using WordPress and RSS.
Congratulations! Now you know where your RSS feed is located, 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 feeds.
Hopefully, you now have a better understanding of issues that can affect your web site and how WordPress can help you get better results online. To learn more about using the WordPress CMS software please click on links to visit our related posts section.
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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)