Internet, Networking, & Security Web Development How to Create XML for an RSS Feed RSS feeds promote discoverability of your online content by Darla Ferrara Writer Full-time writer and ghostwriter covering a range of topics including marketing, healthcare, and technology. our editorial process LinkedIn Darla Ferrara Updated on February 20, 2020 pixelfit / Getty Images Web Development CSS & HTML Web Design SQL Tweet Share Email Really Simple Syndication provides both professionals and novices an excellent way to market their websites. While it's easy to associate an RSS feed exclusively with news agencies, RSS works for any website that continually changes or adds new content. Applications that feed RSS use the XML structure to deliver data. Creating an XML document to promote your blog or web pages through an RSS feed is something that anyone with a basic understanding of XML can do. Most content-management systems, including WordPress, generate RSS for you. Set Up the Elements A few elements are standard for an RSS feed: TitleDescriptionLink To create an RSS feed that highlights web design content on your website, you would need elements like the: Exciting new offerings from the world of XML and [Your Website]http://yourwebsite.com/xml-articles.ht Item Tag RSS uses some specific elements to distinguish itself. One entry is the item tag, which in the present example, is used as follows: Exciting new offerings from the world of XML and [Your Website]http://yourwebsite.com/xml-articles.htm The elements for every page listed in the feed nest within the item tag. RSS allows you to showcase more than one content page at a time by providing a new item set, like this: Exciting new offerings from the world of XML and [Your Website]http://youwebsite.com/xml-articles.htmKeep up-to-date on all the tips and tricks in web design with yourwebsite.comhttp://yourwebsite.com/ Channel Tag An RSS reader, or news aggregator, must hash out a lot of information in a short period. To accomplish this task, they separate the files into channels using the channel tag. Just like channels on a TV, this tag divides each feed. Implement channels with the opening tag and closing tag. Use them to contain the tag, as follows: Exciting new offerings from the world of XML and [Your Website]http://youwebsite.com/xml-articles.htmKeep up-to-date on all the tips and tricks in web design with yourwebsite.comhttp://yourwebsite.com/ XML Declaration and RSS Version All XML documents must incorporate an opening declaration statement: Additionally, XML created for an RSS feed must use rss as the root element and list the version (in the example below, we're using "2.0"). Review the documentation provided by your RSS reader and use the version required by the site. After you complete the XML code, save the document using the .XML file extension and upload it to the aggregator of your choice. Here's an example of what your sample RSS feed might look like: Exciting new offerings from the world of XML and [Your Website]http://youwebsite.com/xml-articles.htmKeep up-to-date on all the tips and tricks in web design with yourwebsite.comhttp://yourwebsite.com/ How to Make Your Website More Content Rich by Adding an RSS Feed Was this page helpful? Thanks for letting us know! Get the Latest Tech News Delivered Every Day Email Address Sign up There was an error. Please try again. You're in! Thanks for signing up. There was an error. Please try again. Thank you for signing up. Tell us why! Other Not enough details Hard to understand Submit