Ultimate Guide To WordPress RSS

Learn about the benefits of using RSS and how to access, format and use WordPress RSS feeds to import and syndicate your content …

Using RSS In WordPressNo matter what what industry you belong to, you need to provide high-value information to your site visitors. For example, if you provide accounting services, you may want to provide users with useful information from the taxation office, such as news and updates on tax rulings, small business tax deductions, etc.

The problem with providing this type of information, however, is that it is very time-consuming. You have to filter through, research, and organize a lot of information, check your facts, write and edit content (or hire someone to do this for you), and then continually ensure that this information is up-to-date. As you can imagine, this is not only 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 the simplest way to provide your blog subscribers with the latest information

(RSS - The simplest way to provide your site visitors with great information)

The Ultimate Guide To WordPress RSS

RSS – What Is It?

  • RSS is an acronym for RDF Site Summary, or, as is more commonly referred, Really Simple Syndication. It it is also called a “feed” or “newsfeed”.
  • RSS lets content publishers automatically syndicate their content to save users time from having to keep revisiting sites to check for updates.
  • Feeds are typically used to publish frequently updated information, such as blog entries, news, video playlists, etc., to which users can then subscribe.
  • Essentially, an RSS feed is an XML document that includes either full or summarized text along with metadata like date of publishing, feed author, etc. It allows people to subscribe to content on websites and then view any updates posted on these websites through an RSS feed reader. Conversely, RSS feeds also enable publishers to automatically syndicate content.
  • There are different feed formats and these can be read by different feedreaders. Some of these include RSS feeds, Atom (also called AtomPub or APP feeds and RDF feeds. All of these formats, however, use a standard XML file format to ensure compatibility with different machines and programs.
  • Many sites and software tools also let you combine different RSS feeds to receive news and updates from several different sources.

In this comprehensive article, you are going to learn where your RSS feed is located, how to syndicate your content online using RSS, and how to add someone else’s content to your site via RSS feeds.

RSS (Really Simple Syndication) Feeds

Content syndication is a really powerful (and legitimate) way to share web content. Feeds provide an easy way for online users to stay up-to-date with the latest information posted on different websites.

First, let’s take a look at syndication.

Global media and online newspapers rely on content syndication to publish newsworthy content from other news agencies all around the world.

Syndication allows most online newspapers and influential online media publications to deliver readers the latest news headlines from around the globe without having to set up more news reporters and writers in every location around the world …

Global media publications rely heavily on syndication to publish newsworthy stories from other news agencies all around the globe.

(Online newspapers and influential online media publications use content syndication to publish newsworthy content from news sources around the globe.)

Syndication is used to share information legitimately. online media publications syndicate their newsworthy content using news feeds

Syndication is a legitimate method of sharing newsworthy content

(Online newspapers syndicate newsworthy content using feeds)

Most websites actually would like you to syndicate their content. Content syndication not only allows information to be shared, but it can also send visitors back to the original site that created and published the content being syndicated. This creates links that can drive traffic back to their site.

Most online newspapers will contain an RSS feed section (look for links in their navigation menu that say ”RSS”, “Syndication”, 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.) …

Major sites include an RSS feed section

(Most content agencies and major online media publications will contain a feed section. Image Source: SMH )

Clicking on a site’s RSS feeds section brings up a directory of RSS feeds for different content topics on the site …

A website's directory of different RSS feeds

(RSS feeds list. Source: nytimes.com RSS feeds)

gives readers access to content about different areas of the website (e.g. business news, travel news, jobs, etc.)

Feed sections can also contain further feed subdirectories …

An RSS feed list can also contain subcategory feeds.

(An RSS list can also contain subcategory feeds. Image Source: latimes.com feeds)

Info

Note: A feed is just a URL. All that’s required to use the feed is to copy the URL and paste it into an application that can process the feed code into something readable. We’ll cover this further below.

The Benefits Of Syndicating Content

Syndicating someone else’s content on your website has some obvious benefits. It helps someone else’s content and helps you by freeing you up from having to create this content …

Content Syndication Benefits Someone Else's Website And Yours!

(Syndicating Content Benefits Someone Else’s Website And Yours!)

While adding RSS feeds 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 websites and blogs syndicate your content, this gives your business the opportunity to gain more exposure online and drive more visitors …

Consider trying to get other sites to syndicate your RSS feed ... it will help drive more traffic to your site!

(Get other sites to syndicate your RSS feed … it will help increase your exposure online!)

Your WordPress RSS Feed

WordPress automatically publishes a feed of your latest posts, allowing others to syndicate your content on their websites.

Depending on your WordPress theme, there are a number of ways to access your RSS feed:

1) If your theme allows the Meta widget to be displayed on your sidebar, you can scroll down to the Meta section and click on Entries RSS

You can access your WordPress RSS feed in the Meta section

(WordPress Meta widget – Accessing your RSS feed)

2) You can also find built-in links 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 feed URLs to your clipboard from "subscribe to RSS" buttons

(Copy feed links to your clipboard from “subscribe to RSS” buttons)

3) On some sites and again, depending on your WordPress theme, you can find the RSS feed displayed in a Link To Us, Social Share, or Follow toolbar section …

Look for an RSS button in a a Follow Us, Links, or Share toolbar section

(Look for an RSS button in a a Links, Share, or Follow floating, fixed, or slide-out 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 WordPress installation is in a subdomain, e.g. “blog”)

Using any of the above methods will bring up a page containing your WordPress RSS feed …

RSS feed items displayed with a Firefox browser

(Feed entries seen on a Firefox web browser)

Note that your feed content will display differently depending on which browser you are using …

Feed entries viewed using a Chrome browser

(Feed items viewed with Google Chrome)

Specify Number Of Items To Display On Your RSS Feed

Specify how many entries you want to display in your Feeds section in the Reading Settings section. Select the number of items to show in the “Syndication feeds show the most recent” field …

WordPress Settings - Reading Settings - Syndication items field

(Reading Settings – Number of syndication feed items field)

The feed section will show as many recent items you have specified section …

Your feed will display as many recent posts as you have specified in your WP Reading Settings section

(Your feed will display as many recent items you have specified in your 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 RSS feed is whether to display each article in a feed as full text, or as a summary …

Reading Settings - Show 'Full Text' or 'Summary' for posts in your RSS feed

(Settings – Reading Settings – ’For each article in a feed show’ options)

Tip

Post Excerpts can also affect how the content in your feed appears …

Post excerpts affect how your feed content will appear

(Post excerpts affect how content in feeds display)

If you need help WordPress 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 a feedreader, i.e. an application that reads and translates feeds into readable content.

Let’s see how this works.

First, find a website or blog and look for an RSS feed button using any of the methods described earlier …

Search for an RSS feed button.

(Search for a ’subscribe to feed’ button or link. Image source: http://www.yourcoffeeguru.com)

Next, copy the feed URL to your clipboard …

Copy the feed URL

(Copy the URL of your feed to your clipboard)

If you want, you can check what the RSS feed contains by pasting the URL of your feed into a feed reader …

Paste your feed URL into a feedreader to view the content.

(Paste the URL of your feed into a feedreader to view the feed content. Image: Feedreader)

Like feedreaders, WordPress also has the ability to process RSS/XML feeds and convert these into content that can be read by your visitors.

How To Add A Feed To WordPress Sites

Let’s show you how to add content from other websites to your site.

How To Add A Feed To Your WordPress Sidebar

As mentioned earlier, no matter what industry your business is in, you could easily display on your site the latest news and updates from an industry-related government department or authoritative site in your industry simply by adding content from their RSS feed. You can easily 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 content sourced from an RSS feed to the WordPress sidebar navigation menu …

Let's add an RSS feed to your sidebar

(Add an RSS feed to your sidebar)

copy the RSS feed URL from a website or blog containing content that you would like to display on your sidebar to your clipboard …

Copy the feed URL to your clipboard

(Copy your feed URL to your clipboard)

Next, paste the feed into an RSS widget …

Widgets Area - RSS Widget

(RSS Widget)

To learn more about adding content to sidebars using widgets, go here:

Load your site in your web browser. The content from the RSS feed will now show on the sidebar …

RSS Widget

(RSS Feed Content Added To WP 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

(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 RSS Feeds To WordPress Posts

Can you add content from RSS feeds to a post instead of the sidebar? You sure can!

You can easily do this using WordPress plugins. Search inside your Plugins section for RSS Aggregator, RSS feed to post, etc.

'Add Plugins' search results

(WordPress RSS plugins)

Note: Most RSS plugins typically require configuration – visit the plugin sites for setup instructions, or contact us for assistance configuring plugins.

Here are a few plugins that you can use to curate and add content from RSS feeds to your pages and posts:

WPeMatico

WPeMatico Plugin For WordPress

(WPeMatico – WordPress Plugin)

WPeMatico is an auto blogging plugin that allows you to publish posts automatically from RSS/Atom feeds that you select.

You can manage all the feeds you import and organize them according to campaigns and categories.

For more details, go here:

WP RSS Aggregator

WP RSS Aggregator

(WP RSS Aggregator Plugin)

WP RSS Aggregator is a comprehensive RSS feed importer and autoblogging WordPress plugin that offers a number of premium add-ons for additional functionality.

For example, the Feed to Post extension allows you to add content to your site automatically by importing RSS feeds directly into your WP posts.

For more details, go here:

RSS Post Importer

RSS Post Importer WP Plugin

(RSS Post Importer)

RSS Post Importer lets you curate, import, syndicate, merge and display full text feeds on your WordPress site.

RSS Post Importer will fetch an RSS feed and publish the full article content of each feed item as a standalone post.

For more details, go here:

Powr RSS Feed

Powr RSS Feed

(Powr RSS Feed WP Plugin)

With the POWr RSS Feed plugin, you can automatically combine and display content from a number of different sources using RSS feeds.

The POWr RSS Feed plugin also lets you display images, videos, and articles, adjust feed priority, use custom colors, fonts, backgrounds, and more. It also has mobile-responsive design and supports text in every language.

The premium plugin edition contains a number of additional features.

For more details, go here:

WP Pipes

WP Pipes

(WP Pipes – WordPress Plugin)

The WP Pipes plugin is a powerful data migration plugin that lets you curate content from RSS feeds, Google News, and other sources.

This plugin provides loads of functionality like CSV importing for posts/WooCommerce, RSS feed creator, auto blogging, auto post to Twitter/LinkedIn/Facebook, export your posts as iTunes podcasts, create Google XML sitemaps, and help take your WordPress CMS to a new level.

For more details, go here:

FeedWordPress

FeedWordPress WordPress Plugin

(FeedWordPress WP Plugin)

FeedWordPress provides versatile Atom/RSS syndication for WordPress.

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 display all your online activity (e.g. from your blog, Twitter, YouTube, or other online services, into a Lifestream.

For more details, go here:

Autoblog by WPMUDev

Autoblog - WordPress Plugin

(Autoblog – WordPress Plugin)

Autoblog is an easy-to-use plugin that can be set-up in minutes, with no coding required and no complicated instructions. Just copy and paste in the URL of your feed, give your feed a name (for admin purposes) and select the 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 and Custom Post Types)

By default, WordPress only posts posts in your RSS feed. Use RSS Includes Pages if you would like to include pages in your WordPress RSS feed and not just posts.

For more details, go here:

Important Info

Useful Tips

Tip #1 – Comment RSS Feeds

WordPress makes available RSS feeds of your latest post comments in addition to displaying feeds of your latest posts.

You can inspect this by clicking on Comments RSS in the ‘Meta’ section of your sidebar …

WordPress Comments Feed

(WordPress Comments RSS)

Comments posted on your site by visitors and users display in your Comments RSS page …

Comments feed items viewed with a Firefox web browser

(Comments feed items viewed with Firefox)

Like post entries, your comments feed page will display differently depending on the browser you use …

Comments feed items as seen on a Google Chrome web browser

(RSS comments feed entries displayed with a Google Chrome web browser)

Again, you can check what the RSS feed contains by pasting the URL of the feed into an online feedreader …

Paste the comments feed URL into a feedreader to view the content.

(Paste the URL of your comments feed into a feed reader to view the feed content. Image Source: 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 WordPress site installation is in a subdomain, e.g. “blog”)

Tip #2 – Specific Item Feeds

Being able to use an RSS feed for single 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 using an RSS feed for a specific post is shown below:

Single Post RSS Feed

(Single Post RSS Feed)

To create the above feed, copy the post URL, and add “/feed/?withoutcomments=1” to the end.

Single Post Feed

(Single Post Feed)

Note: By default, if you only append “/feed” to the end of a post URI, WordPress will return the comments for your post, not the post content itself.

Tip #3 – Using Category RSS Feeds

Some your site visitors may only be interested in syndicating content about specific categories. They may not want to subscribe to your entire site’s feed.

If you publish content under different categories, you can easily offer visitors a separate RSS feed for each category.

Just use the format below:

RSS feed format for post categories

(WP post categories RSS feed format)

Select and copy the category URL to your clipboard …

Copy the category link address to your clipboard ...

(Copy the selected category link address …)

Append “feed” to the end of it …

WP category RSS feed format

(WordPress post categories RSS feed format)

Your feed now only includes content published in that category …

Category-specific RSS feed

(Category 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

(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

(WordPress post category feed format)

To find the post category ID, go to Posts > Categories …

Posts > Categories menu

(Posts > Categories menu)

Locate the post category you want and hover your mouse over the title to reveal its unique ID …

Post Category 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

(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

(Paste the feed into your browser)

This will display the feed for that specific category …

RSS feed of a specific post 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

(Post category feed format)

Here is the feed format again …

Post category feed

(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

(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

(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 – Set Up Your Own Feeds Directory

You can set up a list of feeds for your site visitors that allows readers to subscribe only to content in specific categories, just like the larger online publishers do …

Set Up Your Own Directory Of RSS Feeds For Visitors

(Publish Your Own Feeds Page)

Link a button like the one shown below to the URL of your category feed and then create a table or a list of all your category feeds on a new page …

RSS icon

(RSS button image. Image: http://www.public-domain-photos.com/free-cliparts/computer/other/rss_button_roman_bertle_01-2522.htm)

For a detailed step-by-step tutorial about inserting tables into WordPress posts and pages, go here:

RSS – Notes

RSS feeds can be customized in a number of ways, such as adding videos to feeds, ads, etc. Some of these customizations require code editing skills.

WordPress allows various RSS feed configurations that do not require messing with code. Below are examples of some of the kinds of custom feeds you can use and how to format your feeds …

WordPress RSS - Feed Formats

(Different Custom Feeds You Can Create Using WordPress RSS)

Below are the different 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 – Feed that displays the latest comments left on your site
  • Example Feed: http://yourdomain.com/comments/feed/
  • Feed Type: Individual Posts
  • Description: RSS feed that contains specific posts
  • Example Feed: http://yourdomain.com/post-title/feed/
  • Feed Type: Individual Posts Comments
  • Description: Includes the latest comments made on specific posts
  • Example Feed: http://yourdomain.com/blog-post-title/feed/
  • Feed Type: Archives
  • Description: Day – Includes latest post entries in each archive
  • Example Feed: http://yourdomain.com/2017/02/11/feed/
  • Feed Type: Archives
  • Description: Month – Includes the latest posts in each archive
  • Example Feed: http://yourdomain.com/2012/04/feed/
  • Feed Type: Archives
  • Description: Year – Displays latest entries in each archive
  • Example Feed: http://yourdomain.com/2011/feed/
  • Feed Type: Search Results
  • Description: Includes the latest entries for a search query
  • Example Feed: http://yourdomain.com/search/term/feed/
  • Feed Type: Custom Post Type
  • Description: RSS feed that includes latest post entries for a custom type (e.g. book)
  • Example Feed: http://yourdomain.com/feed/?post_type=book

One last thing …

Remember to promote your RSS feeds. Place a ’subscribe to RSS’ button or link in a visible location …

Promote your RSS feeds!

(Encourage your site users to subscribe to your feeds!)

Keep in mind that online users will only subscribe to your content if you publish great content that informs, engages, and entertains. In other words, focus on providing your subscribers with high-quality information that can add value to their sites and benefit their visitors.

Easily add content to your site and get other sites to syndicate your content using RSS feeds!

(Add content from other sites and get others to syndicate your content online using RSS feeds!)

Practical Tip

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 RSS Resources:

  • RSS Buttons – Visit www.iconspedia.com/search/rss or search online (e.g. “free RSS icons”, “RSS icon”, etc.) for sites that allow you to download RSS graphics.
  • RSSBoard.org – The RSS Advisory Board Go here if you want to gain a better understanding of RSS.
  • Wikipedia.org/RSS – General information about the history and benefits of using RSS feeds.
  • WordPress Codex – WordPress software documentation and reference. Go here for more information about WordPress RSS feeds.

Using RSS In WordPress

Congratulations! Now you know how to find your WordPress RSS feed, how to use your WordPress RSS feed to get your content syndicated online, and how to display content from other sites on your site via RSS.

Hopefully, this article 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 the benefits of using WordPress please see 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)