How to Get RSS News Feeds on a Joomla Site

Get RSS news feeds from around the world on your computer.

Really Simple Syndication (RSS) is a protocol that makes it possible for news feeds and other regularly updated content to be sent out by one website and displayed simultaneously on many other websites. This content may be in the form of blogs, news headlines, press releases and other kinds of information. RSS is a benefit to webmasters everywhere because it offers a frequently updated source of fresh content from leading news producers. An RSS feed is read by a feed reader application, similar to an email program. Joomla features an integrated RSS feed reader called "Syndicate," so you don't have to download and install an extension. With Syndicate, adding RSS news feeds to your Joomla site is a fairly simple process.

Instructions

1. Log in to your Joomla administrative page. Click "Components" in the top menu. In the drop-down menu, select the “News Feeds” button. Click on "Manage Categories" and then click "New" to add a category. On the next page, enter the information relevant to your category.

2. Input the name of the category in the "Category Title field." This name will appear on menus. In the "Category Name" field, type the name that you want to appear on the Web page that displays your news feeds. In the "Image" field, enter an image for your category. Add access levels using the "Access Level" menu if you want to allow only certain visitors to browse your feeds. Type a description for your category and click "Save."

3. Browse the Internet for websites that syndicate RSS content. Select the ones you would like to use for your news feeds. Paste your selection into the Joomla news feeds component by following the steps below.

4. Click the "Components" link in the main menu and select "News Feeds" from the drop-down menu. Click "Manage News Feeds" and select a category. Paste the RSS feed into the "Link" field. You can select the maximum number of articles you want included as well as a cache time. Click "Save" to commit your changes.

5. Test your new RSS feed by subscribing to the feed and browsing it in a feed reader. The information you see is what your visitors will see when they browse your Web page.

Tips & Warnings

• Any Web page that displays the orange RSS logo can be a source of RSS news feeds for your website.

References

• Joomla: Syndicate – RSS Feed Manager
• HowtoJoomla.net: How to Use the Syndicate (RSS) Component in Joomla