Introduction to news feeds
A news feed contains a list of articles that relate to your department or organization. They can also be adapted for learning modules, publications, or other groups of content.
Once created, a news feed can include the following:
- Home page displays (featuring 3-5 of the latest articles)
- An archive page
- Optional thumbnail image
Thumbnail Best Practices
- If you choose to add thumbnails to your RSS, stay consistent with dimensions for each RSS item.
- Try to utilize the same image for both the RSS and the page you create.
- Example
/_resources/images/news/donor-recognition.jpg
/_resources/images/news/donor-recognition-sm.jpg
- Example
Building an RSS item
Once the feed has been set up on your site, you will need to populate it with news items. Follow the instructions below to get started.
Step 1:
Navigate to the /news/ directory.
Step 3:
Build out the page with content that relates to the article.
Some suggestions for this page:
- A quick summary
- Imagery
- A link (if you are sharing the original article)
Step 4:
Save and publish the page.
Step 5:
Check out the page again and then switch to the Properties tab.
Step 6:
In the left sidebar, click RSS.
Please Note: Any pages not built in the /news/ directory will not have the option to add an RSS item.
Step 7:
Click New and fill out the RSS Item Properties. If you are not adding a thumbnail image, you can skip to Step 9.
If you are adding a thumbnail image, make sure to add media content.
Step 8:
After filling out the media content, click Create. Verify that the media content has been added to the RSS Item Properties. It will be listed under the Add button.
Step 9:
Click Create (this time located next to the lightbulb icon).
Step 10:
Select the RSS item checkbox and then click Publish.
Step 11:
When the Publish Feed dialog box comes up, hit Publish.
Step 12:
Once the feed is published, publish your page again.
Step 13:
Refresh your homepage to verify that the RSS has been added.
Page Information
- Browser Page Title - Text entered will be displayed in the tab of the browser. The Browser Page Title is most often identical to the title of the page.
- Page Title - The title of the page is the only text on the page that should be assigned a Heading 1.
- Keywords - Most search engines ignore keywords, so only add keywords that are relevant to the page or leave this blank.
- Description - Tells search engines what your page or site is about. If your page comes up in a search result, it will have link and a description. Pay attention to grammar and make sure the description you add reflects the content of the page.
- Body Class - Some snippets or page options may require a body class. Please see the documentation for each snippet to determine if you need to add a body class.
- Add Filename - Create a filename using the naming convention of lower-case letters and dashes instead of spaces (ex: about-us).
If you know how your page will be structured, continue scrolling to choose the settings for the Marquee, Sections, and Regions.
RSS Item Properties Information
- Title - The title of your article.
- Description - Offers a brief description of what the article is about. Keep this short--one or two sentences.
- Link - This is automatically set to link to the page you just created. Alternately, you can copy and paste a direct article link if you wish to bypass the page on your site.
- Author - Your name will be listed as the editor. You can also clear this field and leave it blank.
- Publish Date and Time - This is automatically set to publish immediately. You can also schedule an RSS item to go live at a certain day and time.
- Media Content - Used to add a thumbnail to your RSS item. Skip this if you do not wish to add a thumbnail.
- Tags - Leave blank.
- Extra XML - Leave blank.
Media Content Information
- Title - Title of your article.
- Description - Can be left blank as it does not display.
- Keywords - Can be left blank as it does not display.
- File - Meant to link up to your thumbnail. Use the search file icon to locate and link your thumbnail.
- Thumbnail - While this may seem redundant, this needs to also link to your thumbnail. You can copy and paste the link from File.
Step 1:
Navigate to the article in the /news/ directory that you need to edit.
Step 2:
Check out the page and then switch to the Properties tab.
Step 3:
In the left sidebar, click RSS.
Please Note: Any pages not built in the /news/ directory will not have the option to add an RSS item.
Step 4:
Select the RSS item checkbox and then click Edit.
Option 2: You can delete the RSS item and follow the steps under Building an RSS item. Remember to change the date and time if this is an older RSS item.
Step 5:
Make edits and click Save.
Step 6:
Select the RSS item checkbox and click Rebuild Feed.
Step 7:
When the Publish Feed dialog box comes up, hit Publish.
Step 8:
Select the RSS item checkbox one more time and then click Publish.
Step 9:
Refresh your homepage to verify that the RSS has been updated.