Wordpress and RSS feeds question

sequencehosting · #1 (**permalink**) 09-11-2009, 05:11 PM

Hello everyone,

Im going to be honest. I have no idea about rss feeds and how to set it up on my blog. I understand what they do but im trying to get my head around the whole thing

So here are my questions.

What is the feed url structure for Wordpress? Is there anywhere I can find my feed url?

Does anyone know a good plugin to allow people to subscribe to my feed?

Also I would like to start subscribing to blogs and im wondering if anyone knows a good free program to do so?

--

Im just signing up for feedburner now.

Thanks everyone.

meloncholy · #2 (**permalink**) 09-11-2009, 06:54 PM

I guess the good news is that you don't really have to do anything as WordPress has done it all for you.

You should be able to see an RSS icon in your browser's address bar. Click it to view and subscribe to your feed. If you don't have an icon there for some reason, add a line like this to your theme's header

HTML Code:

<link rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml" title="<?php bloginfo("name"); ?> RSS Feed" href="<?php bloginfo("rss2_url"); ?>" />

The default WordPress feed is available at yoursite.com/feed/ (if you have permalinks on). This is RSS 2.0 I think; WordPress also provides Atom, RSS 1 and RDF feeds.

If you want to add text or an image somewhere to encourage people to subscribe, just link to that URL.

As you're going with FeedBurner, you should also get hold of the FeedSmith plugin. This redirects your default RSS URL to FeedBurner and saves you having to edit the theme yourself.

And for reading RSS, the most popular program out there is Google Reader. I personally use FeedDemon, partly for historical reasons (Google Reader didn't exist when I first tried it

) and also because I like the way it works. Though you (and I) may be waaaay behind the curve - here's what Robert Scoble had to say on the subject recently.

sequencehosting · #3 (**permalink**) 09-11-2009, 07:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by meloncholy

I guess the good news is that you don't really have to do anything as WordPress has done it all for you.

You should be able to see an RSS icon in your browser's address bar. Click it to view and subscribe to your feed. If you don't have an icon there for some reason, add a line like this to your theme's header

HTML Code:

<link rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml" title="<?php bloginfo("name"); ?> RSS Feed" href="<?php bloginfo("rss2_url"); ?>" />

The default WordPress feed is available at yoursite.com/feed/ (if you have permalinks on). This is RSS 2.0 I think; WordPress also provides Atom, RSS 1 and RDF feeds.

If you want to add text or an image somewhere to encourage people to subscribe, just link to that URL.

As you're going with FeedBurner, you should also get hold of the FeedSmith plugin. This redirects your default RSS URL to FeedBurner and saves you having to edit the theme yourself.

And for reading RSS, the most popular program out there is Google Reader. I personally use FeedDemon, partly for historical reasons (Google Reader didn't exist when I first tried it

) and also because I like the way it works. Though you (and I) may be waaaay behind the curve - here's what Robert Scoble had to say on the subject recently.

Thank you so much for your help! After reading and following your post I managed to get it set up

It looks like Google have taken over the plugin because that's the only place I could download it. The rss icon does show up in my address bar so as you said I got the right url. I have also subscribed to some blogs! I always had to check back to my favorite blogs once in a while lol. Now all that is left to do is find a nice rss icon and link to my feed.

Thanks once again for all the help!

meloncholy · #4 (**permalink**) 09-12-2009, 08:47 AM

No problem at all - glad it was useful. You're probably right about the plugin: it was taken over by FeedBurner a while ago, and of course FeedBurner is now owned by Google.

~Wingo~ · #5 (**permalink**) 09-13-2009, 02:57 AM

I think some of the themes on wordpress don't have the RSS feed buttons.

If ya don't want to mess with ole Google, you can use FeedBurner....and or both.

sequencehosting · #6 (**permalink**) 09-13-2009, 06:48 AM

Thanks guys I managed to ge it sorted now. I signed up for feedburner downloaded the plugin and found a really nice rss image.

BreLove · #7 (**permalink**) 09-13-2009, 07:18 AM

Can someone give me a quick and dirty definition of RSS feed and when I'd need to implement it? If possible, I'll need the "for dummies" version. I'm nowhere near that stage but figure it can't hurt to find out now.

sequencehosting · #8 (**permalink**) 09-13-2009, 07:29 AM

Not a problem I was at the same point as you just 2 days ago but I understand it now.

RSS allows your visitors to subscribe to your posts.

To add this to your website first sign up for feedburner using your blogs feed (click on the rss sign on the address bar while viewing your site). This will give you the url you need to use while signing up for feedburner.

Once you have signed up for feedburner you will get your new feedburner feed url. (this url is used if people would like to subscribe.)

Download the feedsmith plugin for wordpress, upload it to your plugins folder and activate.

Now you need to edit the settings of the plugin and add your feedburner url, this will redirect your old build in wordpress feed to your new feedburner feed.

Now click save and your done.

Whenever you make a new post it will automaticaly show up on your feed so you don't need to worry about anything else.

What I done was found a free rss image and add it to my sidebar in wordpress linking to my feedburner feed url.

So now people will be able to subscribe to your blog using rss. You will be able to monitor your subscribers in your feedburner admin along with many other things.

I hope I helped slightly because this is all I know and everything is working well on my blog.

James · #9 (**permalink**) 09-13-2009, 12:32 PM

Hey, BreLove, you're no dummy or you wouldn't be hanging around here. Here we only have smart people who don't know a few (or more) things yet and are intelligent enough to know where they can find the answers they need.

And if you need any more evidence of your brilliance, just look at the fact you are thinking and planning ahead. Dummies don't know what they are going to do after breakfast!

BreLove · #10 (**permalink**) 09-13-2009, 02:14 PM

Thanks to you both for the vote of confidence!!

brakepad · #11 (**permalink**) 09-14-2009, 01:14 AM

Really Simple Syndication (RSS) is a great way to deliver content into the hands of potential website visitors. It is also a channel for syndicating your content onto others’ websites.

And, of course, with that comes links - deep links into your latest products, best sellers, articles, buyers guides, blog posts, forum posts, special offers and clearance items - whatever you feature in your RSS feeds .Your RSS feeds are a conduit for reaching influential bloggers who, for whatever reason, have an interest in your site.

BreLove · #12 (**permalink**) 09-14-2009, 06:09 AM

Oh ok, I thought the RSS feed was only for those already subscribed or rather those that know you. I didn't know it was a method for generating traffic.

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