RSS: What, Why, and How
RSS is important for your website in two ways:
- Pull Content – RSS provides you with an easy way to pull in dynamic content from other websites and display it on your website. The content gets automatically updated so your website remains relevant and fresh – giving your visitors a reason to come back frequently.
- Push Content – Providing your visitors with an RSS feed of your dynamic content (such as news) allows them an easy way to receive and consume the content without having to remember to visit your website. In short, your content is pushed out to them instead of waiting on them to come to you.
What is RSS?
RSS, short for Really Simple Syndication or Rich Site Summary, is an easy way to push and pull content between websites and other mediums. RSS compiles frequently updated content – often news or blog posts – into a “feed” or “channel” that can then be displayed on a website or through an RSS reader. Each entry of an RSS feed usually includes a headline, summarized text, and other data such as publishing date, author’s name, and picture.
How to pull content using the RSS module
You can use eCatholic's RSS module to easily pull content from other websites to offer on your website. Here are the steps:
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Drag and Drop the RSS module onto the page
Click Add Content > Social & Embed > then drag and drop the RSS module onto the page.
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Enter the RSS feed URL
First, verify that the source from which you're wanting to pull content offers an RSS feed. Then, copy the RSS feed URL and paste it into the module. Once finished, click the green Save button.
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Edit the module settings (optional)
You can customize the way the module appears by editing the following settings:
- Items to Display: Define the number of items you'd like to display from the RSS feed.
- Show Date: Toggle ON to include a date for each item in the RSS feed.
How to push content from your website using RSS
Pushing content out from your website using RSS can be challenging if your website platform does not already include a built-in RSS feature. Thankfully, if you’re using eCatholic, an RSS feed of your news modules and aggregate “News” page is enabled by default and visitors can click on the corresponding RSS icons to subscribe. You can also enable the RSS icon in the header of your website for visitors to subscribe to site-wide news.