What is RSS in WordPress?

RSS, short for Really Simple Syndication or Rich Site Summary, is a method for distributing regularly updated web content from various online sources.

It enables individuals to monitor their preferred websites for new content without the need to visit each one separately. They can access the most recent updates via an RSS feed reader or directly in their email inbox.

While Atom is a newer syndication format, RSS continues to be the more prevalent choice. WordPress offers built-in support for both RSS and Atom formats.

Advantages of Integrating RSS with WordPress

Integrating RSS with your WordPress site simplifies the process for readers to subscribe to your content. With automatic updates, subscribers can receive new posts from their chosen websites in one place, such as a feed reader, desktop software, or their email inbox.

Among the well-known RSS readers are Feedly, Innoreader, The Old Reader, and Bloglovin’. Feedly is our top recommendation, offering extensions for browsers and apps for iOS, Android, and Kindle devices.

Sharing content becomes effortless with RSS, as most feed readers come with social sharing options. Social media platforms also integrate smoothly with RSS feeds. For instance, many followers of WP Think automatically share new articles via RSS feed and IFTTT on Twitter.

Email marketing tools like MailChimp can be synchronized with your RSS feed to automate email campaigns, ensuring that subscribers receive your latest posts without delay.

Implementing RSS Feeds in WordPress

WordPress blogs are pre-equipped with RSS feed capabilities. By default, your site’s pages include a meta tag that directs to the RSS feed of your website.

An RSS feed publishes your most recent content in a structured XML format, which may include the full text or a summary, along with metadata like publication date, author, and category.

Here is what an RSS feed might look like:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<channel>
<title>WP Think</title>
<link>https://wpthink.com</link>
<description>WordPress Beginner's Guide</description>
<lastBuildDate>Tue, 02 Dec 2018 14:13:37 +0000</lastBuildDate>
<language>en-US</language>
<item>
<title>Solving the 404 Error for WordPress Posts</title>
<link>http://feeds.WPThink.com/WPThink/</link>
<pubDate>Tue, 02 Dec 2018 11:58:18 +0000</pubDate>
<creator>Editorial Team</creator>
<category>Tutorials</category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://wpthink.com/?p=10968</guid>
<description>Post description here...</description>
<content>Full post content here...</content>
</item>

Optimizing your WordPress RSS feed can protect your content and drive more traffic to your site. You can create an RSS feed sitemap, modify your feed, or include featured images, among other strategies.

For comprehensive guidance on enhancing your WordPress RSS feed and full customization options, refer to our detailed tutorials.

Plugins designed for RSS feeds can also enhance user engagement and page views. These plugins allow you to curate content, integrate social buttons, and incorporate content from social media platforms.

Given that RSS feeds are written in XML, even a minor error can render the feed unreadable, preventing users from seeing new updates in their feeds.

Should you encounter issues with your RSS feed, consult our troubleshooting guide on fixing WordPress RSS feed errors.

Locating Your WordPress RSS Feeds

Your primary RSS feed can be found by appending /feed/ to the end of your website’s URL. For instance:

https://www.yourwebsite.com/feed/

Make sure to replace yourwebsite.com with your actual domain name.

However, your site may have multiple feeds. Here are a few examples:

• Find the feed for recent comments at https://yourwebsite.com/comments/feed/
• For a specific post’s comments, use https://yourwebsite.com/post-name/feed/
• Category or tag-specific post feeds are available at https://yourwebsite.com/category/category-name/feed/, depending on your permalink setup
• Author-specific post feeds can be accessed at https://yourwebsite.com/author-name/feed/

By default, feeds display the latest 10 posts, but you can adjust the number of posts in your WordPress RSS feed settings.

Boosting Visibility for Your WordPress RSS Feeds

Many visitors may not be aware of how to locate your RSS feeds. Encourage subscriptions by adding an RSS icon in your sidebar or another visible area on your site.

This can be done using WordPress’s native RSS widget. For more detailed instructions, see our guide on utilizing RSS in WordPress.

Additionally, you can place RSS links and icons on your category archive pages and for each custom post type within WordPress.