An RSS feed enables you to create your own personalized eZine for the websites in which you are interested. Let’s begin learning what is RSS in WordPress.
Picture being able to log into a single dashboard and receive the most recent news and events from all of your favorite websites, blogs, or podcasts. It is possible with RSS feeds!
It will take an eternity to go through each site one by one. Signing up for their newsletters might keep you up to date on the latest news and information, but it’s also easy to misinterpret the emails as spam or ignore them entirely in your crowded inbox. However, relying solely on the site’s social media updates may cause you to miss out on important information.
These updates and alerts are collected, coordinated, and updated in real-time into a single dashboard by an RSS feed. Isn’t that amazing?
What exactly is RSS?
RSS is an abbreviation for Really Simple Syndication. It refers to XML files, which are readily read by computers and automatically update information.
This data is obtained by a user’s RSS feed reader, which converts files and the most recent updates from websites into an easy-to-read format. An RSS feed takes headlines, summaries, and update notices and links them back to articles on the page of your favorite website.
All content is distributed in real-time, so the top RSS feed results are always the most recently released content for a website.
An RSS feed enables you to create your own personalized eZine of the most recent content for the topics and websites in which you are interested.
How do the information reach your feed from the Website?
The subscriber subscribes by clicking on a Subscribe button. That is all there is to it. It can be difficult to find an RSS Subscribe button on a website or blog, but they are usually near the social media buttons, in the footer, or by searching Google for “Website Name” + “RSS Feed.”
It can be difficult to find an RSS Subscribe button on a website or blog, but they are usually near the social media buttons, in the footer, or by searching Google for “Website Name” + “RSS Feed.”
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<rss version="2.0"
xmlns:content="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/"
xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/"
xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom"
xmlns:sy="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/syndication/"
xmlns:georss="http://www.georss.org/georss"
xmlns:geo="http://www.w3.org/2003/01/geo/wgs84_pos#"
>
<channel>
<title>What is RSS in WordPress?</title>
<atom:link href="/what-is-rss-in-wordpress/feed/" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml" />
<link>https://wptechonline.com/what-is-rss-in-wordpress/</link>
<description>Pro Guides For WordPress</description>
<lastBuildDate>Sat, 21 Mar 2021 09:43:39 +0000</lastBuildDate>
<sy:updatePeriod>hourly</sy:updatePeriod>
<sy:updateFrequency>1</sy:updateFrequency>
</channel>
</rss>RSS feeds are built-in to all WordPress blogs. By default, each page of your WordPress site includes a meta tag that points to the location of your website’s RSS feed.
What Are the Advantages of RSS?
RSS feeds continue to be a great way to get an in-depth look at a site’s new content — not just the stuff that gets shared on social media. If you are truly committed to a website and want to see everything it has to offer, an RSS feed is still the best way to ensure you don’t miss anything. While this does not work for all sites, even big ones like ours can compartmentalize the feeds, allowing you to access only the content you want. It’s a great alternative to social media if you want the latest news and articles without the hassle of having a Twitter or Facebook account.
Furthermore, RSS feeds are frequently very easy to read at your leisure and will update even if you are not online — they are especially useful for catching up on news during your downtime. As a result, RSS feeds have evolved into a useful tool, thanks to the emergence of well-designed mobile apps that function as feed readers.
RSS feeds assist you in developing and maintaining a loyal following for your blog. Subscribers to RSS feeds are more likely to share your content on social media. Many of our readers use RSS feeds and IFTTT to automatically tweet every new WPBeginner article.
You can subscribe to your favorite blogs and read them all in one place as a user. This enables you to easily browse your favorite news and blog sites. If you want to leave a blog comment, just go to the individual article and leave your comment.
Most modern feed readers allow you to categorize and group your reading lists. You can really optimize your reading time by using RSS effectively.
Which RSS Readers are Highly Recommended?
Following the demise of Google Reader, Google primarily advised all customers to migrate to Feedly. It’s unquestionably the most similar to Google Reader, but it all comes down to personal preference.
There are numerous RSS readers to choose from, but the following are the most popular:
- Feedly
- Inoreader
- Panda
- Feedbin
- NewsBlur
- Selfoss
- Feed Wrangler
- The Old Reader
- Bloglovin
Each one, as previously stated, has its own distinct charm. Feedly, for example, is similar to Google Reader in terms of cleanliness and organization, while Panda is more of a way to browse various websites in one interface. If you intend to aggregate content, I suggest that you test all of them to determine which one is best for you. After all, it will be your main source for reading articles.
How to Integrate RSS into Your WordPress Site?
Now that you know how readers use RSS, it’s time to look at the what and how for WordPress site owners.
To begin, you should be aware that you will communicate with an RSS in one of two ways. The first and most important aspect of RSS for website owners is to include an RSS Subscribe button on their website. This serves as a distribution network for your content, with little effort on your part.
Your WordPress website already publishes an RSS feed. You can find your RSS feed by appending /feed/ to the end of the address of your website. As an example:
Feed: https://wptechonline.com/feed/
How to Add a Link and Icon to Your RSS Feed
For this procedure, you have a few options. Technically, you could go to Google Images and grab an RSS image, place it in a widget, and link the image in your sidebar. This avoids the need to install a plugin, but it isn’t always the cleanest way to include an RSS button.
To begin, see if your WordPress theme has a custom widget for social icons. If a widget is available, it should be possible to place it in any widget-ready area (sidebar, footer or even top bar).
Add a Single RSS Button
At first, you could try inserting the RSS button by itself. This may be the case if you want to keep it separate from your social buttons or place it near the bottom of your website.
If this is the case, a few plugins are available, such as RSS Feed Icon and RSS Icon Widget. They both work fine, but you don’t get any extra features, such as buttons for boosting your social following.
Add RSS with Social Media Links
If you want to group all of those buttons together in a row, you will usually find social media button plugins that also allow for a custom icon and link or an actual RSS icon.
Ultimate Social Media Icons is useful for both social buttons and RSS because it includes an RSS icon and a field to enter your RSS URL.
Why Is RSS Necessary for Your WordPress Site?
RSS may be dismissed by some bloggers as outdated technology. That is far from the case, particularly among tech-savvy readers. Some bloggers believe it is more appropriate for big magazines. That is also incorrect.
Some bloggers believe it is more appropriate for big magazines. That is also incorrect.
Even if you only get five or ten RSS subscribers, that’s pretty good for a small or medium-sized blog. It’s just a different way for your users to access content, similar to how your email list or social media posts work.
