What is RSS feed in WordPress and How to Display it
What is RSS
Really simple syndication or Rich Site Summary is abbreviated as RSS.RSS feed is a means to inform users or readers of the blog about the latest content. Users don’t have to visit the website for being aware about new posts. They get informed through the RSS feed if they have subscribed to it through the feed reader apps. It is a web feed which is created in structured format in XML. This XML feed file is then parsed by feed reader apps to inform users of the latest updates. Once you subscribe to your favorite blog using the feed reader apps, these apps keep scanning the blog feed for any new content. As soon as any new content is posted ,the app sends a notification to the users about the new content. RSS feed in WordPress offers a similar functionality. WordPress offers a default feed URL which we can subscribe to be informed of the latest content. Now let us see how to implement RSS feed in WordPress
What is RSS feed in WordPress
RSS feed in WordPress can be implemented through the default feed widget and functionality offered by it.In WordPress RSS feed is published in a XML format which is structured to include the details of the new content.The default RSS feed can be accessed by appending feed at the end of your blog URL.Like if your blog name is www.example.com,then the feed can be accessed using www.example.com/feed.This is your default feed URL.You can use this URL in feed reader apps to subscribe to your favorite blogs.The feed reader apps check this published XML data for any changes at regular time intervals.They inform you of the latest contents whenever any content is published.WordPress has got a default widget for RSS which you can add to your blogs sidebar,header or footer.
How to Display the default RSS feed in WordPress
Click on Appearance->Widgets and then Click on “+” symbol.In the search Box type RSS and select the RSS widget.Drag the widget to the section you want to display the RSS feed in.Now enter the feed URL in “Enter URL here” box and click Use URL.Click on update and its done.
Advantage of Subscribing to feed
Subscribing to feed helps the user in getting to know about the latest content at the earliest.you can subscribe to your favorite blogs and the feed reader app will let you know of updates at the earliest.Also the feed reader apps help in categorizing your feeds from different sources and you can read only the categories that you want to at a given time.It saves your time and maximizes your reading time with relevant contents only.you get to know about the updates from different content sources at one place through the feed reader apps.Now let us see some popular feed reader apps that you can use to subscribe to different content sources.
Feeder lets you know about the new content instantly.It allows you to block unwanted contents.It also allows to categories,share content,save your favorite content separately.Its available for desktop and mobile(Android and IOS).Its basic subscription is free and supports feeds from upto 100 sources with 2 hour updates with Ads.Apart from this it has got Pro and business which are affordable.
Feedly is a web app similar to Feeder,except that has no free version.The Price is similar to Feeder and has similar functionalities that of feeder.
NewsBlur is also a popular web app for RSS readers which has got free as well as paid version.The paid version costs 36$ a year.
Inoreader comes in free and paid versions and has got similar functionalities as mentioned for above apps.
How to Customize the RSS feed easily using a Plugin
RSS feed can be customized using the plugin Super RSS readerYou can set RSS with number of feeds,custom text,text color,thumbnails through the plugin.Its pro version comes for 19$ and has got grid display,shortcode and other features.Let us see how to use it.Click on Plugins–>Add New and search Super RSS reader.Click on install to install it.PLease refer to the post on how to install plugins in WordPress if you need help.Click on Activate.Now go to Appearance–>Widgets and click on “+” and enter Super RSS reader.Drag the widget to the blog area where you want it to display.Select the features in General,content and display tabs that you would like and click on update and its done.
