Granted, this is not an issue for everyone. However, many people think the pingback and trackbacks are an annoying thing to deal with in WordPress. You don’t need your website sending you notifications every time there is a self ping.

Today, I am going to show you some ways to stop a self ping in WordPress. Before that, let’s take a look at pingbacks and trackbacks.

What are Pingbacks and Trackbacks?

Simply put, pingbacks and trackbacks are a type of technology that notifies other websites when content has been published that users may find interesting. In theory, this sounds like a great way to track things and get noticed. There are actually downsides to this though, so in this article, I am going to show you how to disable and stop a self ping.

Trackbacks

Trackbacks are actually very easy to explain. A trackback is a notification that WordPress sends to an external site when you link to it in your own content. This lets the site owner know that you are referencing their content.

The site owner then has a choice of whether or not they want to approve the trackback or ping, you have sent. The link you provide will remain in-tact either way, but if the site owner approved the trackback, then an excerpt from your post and a link to your site will display in their comments area.

Pingbacks

A pingback actually has a very similar goal as a trackback. They are kind of the same, but kind of different. They were built to be a better version of a trackback that would resolve some of the problems with trackbacks.

The main difference here is that trackbacks are sent manually, while pingbacks happen automatically. Needless to say, oftentimes this is not something you want to happen all of the time.

Not only that, but self pingbacks are even more troublesome and annoying because they are being sent to you almost non-stop. If you are good at internal linking on your website, then you no doubt have a continuing stream of self pingbacks happening.

This is just one of the many problems with trackbacks and pingbacks. Let’s take a look at some options available to you for stopping a self ping in WordPress.

No Self Pings

If you want to use a plugin to stop self pings, then the No Self Pings plugin for WordPress is your best option. Not only is this the fastest and easiest way to accomplish this, but it also gives you a couple of other features.

All you do is install and activate the plugin and it is good to go. However, there is also a space provided to add additional URLs that you don’t want self pings coming from.

All in all, the plugin is lightweight, fast, and easy to get running, and performs the exact function you need it to without any hassle whatsoever.

Let’s take a look at how to stop self pings in WordPress.

Stop Self Pings in WordPress

Method 1: Use a Plugin

The first method of stopping self pings in WordPress is to use a plugin. This is also the easiest way, as it keeps you away from any manual code.

Step 1: Install and Activate Plugin

In order to stop a self ping in WordPress from happening, you first need to install and activate the plugin. You can do this by heading over to the plugins page in your WordPress admin dashboard. Simply search for the plugin name and install it from there.

Step 2: Access the Discussion Settings Page

Once the plugin has been installed and activated, you are ready to roll. It starts working automatically. However, you can also get to a setting to add other URLs that you want no self pings coming from.

To access this, click on Settings > Discussion. You will see this on the left side menu area of your dashboard.

Step 3: Add Other URLs

At this point, you should be on the discussion page of your dashboard. You will see a lot of different options that you have configured in the past.

Scroll all the way down to the bottom of this page. Here, you will see a “No Self Pings” area that includes a box for you to add additional URLs if you choose.

Go ahead and add any you want. If you do add some, make sure to click on the “Save” button to apply those changes and get those URLs added.

Method 2: Manually Insert Code to Stop Self Pings

You can manually insert some code snippets in the functions file of your website. Below, you will find code for both self pingbacks and trackbacks. The process is not difficult. However, if you are not comfortable with code, then give your website developer a call.

Step 1: Access the Functions PHP File

In order to add code to stop a self ping in WordPress or to stop a trackback, you first need to access the functions file on your website.

Click on Appearance > Theme Editor, located in the left menu of your WordPress admin area.

This takes you to the files of your website. Click on the tab titled Theme Functions (functions). This gives you access to the proper file.

Once in the file, you are going to scroll down to the bottom and add the following relevant code.

Step 2: Add Relevant Code

For Self Pingbacks

function no_self_ping( &$links ) {
$home = get_option( ‘home’ );
foreach ( $links as $l => $link )
if ( 0 === strpos( $link, $home ) ) unset($links[$l]);
} add_action( ‘pre_ping’, ‘no_self_ping’ );
add_action( ‘pre_ping’, ‘no_self_ping’ );

For Trackbacks

function disable_self_trackback( &$links ) {
foreach ( $links as $l => $link )
if ( 0 === strpos( $link, get_option( ‘home’ ) ) )
unset($links[$l]);
}
add_action( ‘pre_ping’, ‘disable_self_trackback’ );

Once either or both of those codes have been added, no self ping in WordPress should happen. Using code and adding it to your functions file is a great way to stop self pings. However, please remember the added code when you update the theme files as noted below.

Note: Remember, the only issue with adding code into a functions file is that when you update or change themes, you will need to add the code again. This isn’t true for every theme update, but double-check your file either way after updates.

This is why it’s good practice to use a child theme. The child will not overwrite any code changes should the parent theme update.

Step 3: Save the File

This should go without saying, but make sure you save the file. I know I’ve had instances where I thought I saved something and didn’t.

A lot can be going on and it may just simply slip your mind.

Final Thoughts

Having to deal with a self ping in WordPress is one thing. Having to do it all the time, well that is quite another. As stated above in this article, there are numerous issues with pingbacks and trackbacks.

In theory, they are supposed to be a good thing. But it turns out that more often than not, they just get in the way and can be confusing.

Using the methods above, you can quickly and easily stop self pings in WordPress. Whether you choose to use the plugin and that functionality or put the code in manually, the choice is up to you.

While WordPress offers a ton of functionality and one of the best CMS platforms available, sometimes you will still run into an issue like this that needs a simple fix. Use either of the two methods above and you will eliminate self pings from WordPress in no time at all.

Have you ever tried stopping self pings before? What method do you prefer, the plugin or the manual code entry?

The post How to Stop a Self Ping in WordPress and Why You Should appeared first on GreenGeeks.

Let’s say you write a new article. Another website sees this article and links back to it. That website will send you a pingback notification. And of course, this works the opposite way. However, this can quickly get out of hand, which is why you need to manage pingbacks correctly.

Today, I will demonstrate how to optimize pingbacks using the WordPress Ping Optimizer plugin.

Why Use Pingbacks?

WordPress allows you to turn off pingback notifications, which raises the question, why use pingbacks?

Pingbacks and their very similar brother, trackbacks are great for new websites. They allow you to link to more popular websites and may potentially increase traffic. In fact, there are services dedicated to pingbacks for this very reason.

However, once your website grows enough, you will run into some problems. The first is if you produce a lot of content, which most larger/popular websites do. This means you will be sending out a lot of pingback notifications yourself.

The biggest issue is the number of pingbacks you will receive. This can dramatically increase the amount of spam your website will receive, especially in the comment section.

Thus, if you have pingbacks enabled, you need to optimize their use.

Installing WordPress Ping Optimizer

The WordPress Ping Optimizer is the perfect choice for this task. It allows you to limit how often your website can send out a ping notification. This is great for websites that constantly update and publish new content.

This helps your website avoid being labeled as a ping spammer. However, this tool will not help you prevent pingback spam that you receive.

To start, click on Plugins and select the Add New option on the left-hand admin panel.

Search for WordPress Ping Optimizer in the available search box. This will pull up additional plugins that you may find helpful.

Scroll down until you find the WordPress Ping Optimizer plugin and click on the “Install Now” button and activate the plugin for use.

Using WordPress Ping Optimizer

On the left-hand admin panel, click on Settings and select the WordPress Ping Optimizer option.

Here you will find all of the plugin’s settings that you can configure. You may notice that there are not many options. That is because this plugin handles everything. All you actually have to do is enable the limit ping option and pick the frequency.

The first option is the Enable pinging checkbox, which is enabled by default. By unchecking this box, you can completely stop your website from sending out pings.

This may be ideal for situations where you need to change multiple pieces of content at once.

Click on the “Limit excessive pinging in short time” checkbox.

When checked, you will see another option appear. Here you can set how many times your website can send out a ping within a specific amount of time.

By default, the plugin will limit you 1 ping every 15 minutes. You can freely change these values to better suit your website. Simply enter the desired numbers into the textboxes.

Once you are finished, click on the “Save Settings” button.

That’s it! Your website will now limit the number of pings it sends out. Congratulations!

How to Prevent Pingback and Trackback Spam You Receive

While you may have taken the steps to not spam these notifications, many websites do not. It can get very annoying, very fast. If you are suffering from this, you have two options.

The first is to just disable pingback and trackback notifications.

Click on Settings and select the Discussion option. The second checkbox on the page will allow pingbacks and trackbacks.

Simply uncheck this box and you will no longer receive these notifications.

And don’t forget to save the changes.

The second option is to install one of the many anti-spam plugins on WordPress. Almost every anti-spam plugin has the ability to prevent this kind of spam. I personally recommend Akismet. It is one of, if not the best anti-spam plugin available.

Always Be In Control

One of the best parts of WordPress is the wide array of customization options you can choose from. This allows you to stay in control of every feature on your website.

Many beginners opt to let these features run themselves to reduce the amount of work, but in many cases, it is far more optimal to be in control.

How often did you allow your website to send out WordPress pings? Do you use an anti-spam plugin?

The post How to Optimize the WordPress Ping and Why You Should appeared first on GreenGeeks.

Absolutely. All it takes is the right plugin and adding a couple of bits of shortcode to the content.

In this tutorial, I’ll go over how to set WordPress to show content only to RSS subscribers on your site. It’s relatively quick and simple.

Using WP Kill in Feed

Today, I’ll demonstrate a bit of what WP Kill in Feed can do for you. It has two functions: showing content only in the RSS feed and removing content. I’ll go over each of these functions in a moment.

Install and activate the “WP Kill in Feed” plugin.

This plugin doesn’t have customizable settings. However, it does provide two new shortcodes to use for controlling what visitors see.

Add to Feed

The “Add to Feed” shortcode will wrap certain lines of content from posts in an RSS-only format. What this means is that it takes the content you choose from a post and only shows it to those who are following the RSS feed.

To use this feature, add this shortcode before the content:[ht_message mstyle=”info” title=”” show_icon=”” id=”” class=”” style=”” ][addtofeed][/ht_message]

Then, add this shortcode after the RSS-only content:[ht_message mstyle=”info” title=”” show_icon=”” id=”” class=”” style=”” ][/addtofeed][/ht_message]

After updating or saving the post, that selected line of content will not be visible on the website. It will only show up in the RSS feed.

Kill in Feed

The second shortcode WP Kill in Feed gives you controls over what content is not shared with RSS subscribers. This means content you want is only available on the website.

To use the function, add this shortcode before the content: [ht_message mstyle=”info” title=”” show_icon=”” id=”” class=”” style=”” ][killinfeed][/ht_message]

Then, add this shortcode after the website-only content:[ht_message mstyle=”info” title=”” show_icon=”” id=”” class=”” style=”” ][/killinfeed][/ht_message]

Now when you update or save the post, the content within the “killinfeed” shortcodes will not be available in the RSS feed.

Ideas for Using WP Kill in Feed

The idea behind using this plugin is to drive WordPress subscribers to the RSS feed. This means you need some kind of call to action for users to subscribe. Using WP Kill in Feed makes this easy.

For instance, you could use something like this in your content:[ht_message mstyle=”info” title=”” show_icon=”” id=”” class=”” style=”” ][killinfeed]Get more details on this topic when you subscribe to the RSS feed.[/killinfeed]
[addtofeed]This is where you put rich details that accentuate the post[/addtofeed][/ht_message]

What this does is create a call to action for readers to subscribe if they want more details.

The first line in the “killinfeed” shortcode is only visible on the website. Which means RSS subscribers don’t see this line of text. Obviously, you don’t want them to see this because they are already subscribed.

The second line inside the “addtofeed” shortcode is where you would show content for RSS subscribers only.

This kind of set up is based on providing something of great quality to those who take the time to subscribe. It makes visitors feel like they’re getting inside information.

It’s like having an elite club for RSS subscribers in WordPress.

Using Custom Coding

What if you don’t want to add yet another RSS feed WordPress plugin? You can create your own shortcode to only show content in RSS feeds.

For this, you’ll need access to FTP programs like FileZilla or the File Manager in cPanel.

For the sake of this tutorial, I’m just going to use File Manager. However, you have several ways to access the files of a theme. Choose which one suits you best.

Edit the “functions.php” file of the theme you’re using.

Add this code to the file and save it.[ht_message mstyle=”info” title=”” show_icon=”” id=”” class=”” style=”” ]function rssonly_shortcode( $atts, $content) {
if (is_feed())
return apply_filters( ‘the_content’, $content );
return “”;

}
add_shortcode(‘rssonly’, ‘rssonly_shortcode’);[/ht_message]

This coding will create a shortcode called, “rssonly.” You’ll use it the same way as you did for the WP Kill in Feed plugin.

Add this shortcode to RSS-only content:[ht_message mstyle=”info” title=”” show_icon=”” id=”” class=”” style=”” ][rssonly][/ht_message]

Now, add this to the end of the content:[ht_message mstyle=”info” title=”” show_icon=”” id=”” class=”” style=”” ][/rssonly][/ht_message]

After updating or publishing the post, the content inside the shortcode is then available for RSS feeds only.

Use a Child Theme

While adding coding directly to the theme’s functions.php file works, it’s always best to make changes in code using a child theme. Benefits in this case include:

• Being protected from theme updates. You don’t have to worry about adding the PHP code again in the future.
• Easier to recover in the event something happens to the child theme.
• Gives you a platform for other coding adjustments.

Always Backup the Site

Before making any adjustments in code, whether you’re using a child theme or not, it’s always best to back up the site. A backup will keep your data safe, secure and make it easier to recover in the event of a site-wide disaster.

One of the best plugins to use for creating these backups is something like UpdraftPlus. One of the things that makes this such a good tool is the ability to back up to the cloud, such as using a Dropbox server.

Engage Users with RSS Feeds

Using WordPress to show content only to RSS subscribers is just one of many ways to engage the audience. This is especially effective if you provide incredible quality in the feed.

From a marketing perspective, think of it as another channel you can take advantage of with little effort.

Well, outside of creating stellar content in the feed.

What kind of ways do you use your RSS feed to engage an audience? As RSS isn’t as popular as it once was, do you plan on putting in effort to promote the feed?

The post How to Set WordPress to Show Content Only for RSS Subscribers appeared first on GreenGeeks.

Why not also use your post thumbnails to benefit RSS feeds on your website? As a web developer, grabbing a visitor’s attention for any piece of content on your website is hard. Using the same content that works saves time and helps promote your RSS feeds. Today, I will demonstrate how to use post thumbnails for RSS feeds in WordPress using some simple code.

Why Include Post Thumbnails in RSS Feeds

While RSS feeds are not as popular as they once were, sprucing them up for the people who do use them is a nice touch. No matter what you are writing about, images enhance a reader’s experience, but they tend to enhance just about everything else as well. For that reason, it makes perfect sense to include your post thumbnails inside of your RSS feeds.

Many content creators spend hours perfecting their post thumbnails and this should not surprise anyone. Since these are the first images visitors will see and are usually the images seen on social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter, it is important to get them right. It’s natural to try and get the most use of these images.

A similar example to this is using YouTube thumbnails in WordPress. YouTube is the most popular video sharing platform in the world. It’s extremely common for popular YouTube channels to have their own website and using successful thumbnails from their channel makes perfect sense. It’s the same theory for using post thumbnails inside of RSS feeds.

How to Use Post Thumbnails for RSS Feeds in WordPress

Today, I will demonstrate how to use post thumbnails for RSS feeds in WordPress using some simple code. While this tutorial does not require any additional plugins, it is important to mention that if you are already using an RSS feed plugin, there is a high chance this tutorial will not work for you. It is also important to mention that for this code to work, you need to have post thumbnails enabled on your website first.

Since you will be editing code, it is a good idea to create a backup of your website. This will ensure that if a mistake is made, you can use the backup to revert your website to before it was made.

Adding Code to Use Post Thumbnails

Let’s start by logging into the cPanel and clicking on the File Manager option. The File Manager will allow you to access all of the files related to your website.

You need to locate your theme’s functions.php file. Click on the public_html directory, then click on the wp-content folder. Inside this folder, you will find all of the content related to your website. Click on the themes folder and enter the folder of the theme you are currently using. Finally, right-click on the functions.php file and select the Edit option.

A pop-up window will show up. This box will warn you to create a backup of your files before editing anything. This will ensure that you can revert your website back to when it was working if something goes wrong. Click on the “Edit” button. A new tab will open containing all of the code from the file.

Copy and paste the following lines of code into your functions.php file:[ht_message mstyle=”info” title=”” show_icon=”” id=”” class=”” style=”” ]function use_post_thumbnails_rss($content) {
global $post;
if(has_post_thumbnail($post->ID)) {
$content = ‘

’ . get_the_post_thumbnail($post->ID) .
‘

Remember that quite a few things can interfere with this code which include themes, plugins, and settings. So make sure to check these if it does not work.

Once you have inserted the code into the functions.php file, click on the “Save Changes” button to finish.

Congratulations, you can now use post thumbnails for your RSS feeds in WordPress. Remember that if you do not have post thumbnails enabled on your website this will not work.

Use Your Content

In many businesses, if you have leftover supplies or resources, you use them to for another project. The same can be said for websites. Content that you create in the form of writing, images, videos, or others can be used multiple times. Images, in particular, have a lot of uses, especially when they are good.

You can reuse them in other pieces of content, create photo galleries, use them for video thumbnails, and much more. Some may think reusing assets is lazy, but in many cases, it just makes sense and saves time.

Have you reused thumbnails for other content? How many RSS feeds do you have on your website?

The post How to Use Post Thumbnails for RSS Feeds in WordPress appeared first on GreenGeeks.

And if you have a lot of sources contributing to a custom RSS feed, you want to keep it current. This is especially helpful if people are using your feed for information, such as how some people use RSS readers.

In this tutorial, I’m going to show you how to modify the WordPress RSS feed update interval. It’s a quick snippet of code that you can easily edit to fit your needs.

Accessing Functions.php

Before we begin, always make a backup of WordPress prior to making changes like this. If something goes wrong, it’s much easier to recover. Even if you simply copy the functions.php file, it’s better than breaking the website.

Today, you’ll access the functions.php file of WordPress. This file is unique to each theme in WordPress and controls how a lot of the site behaves for visitors.

There are a couple of ways you can do this. You can:

• Use an FTP Program like FileZilla to access your website.
• Access functions.php from the WordPress editor.
• Use the File Manager tool in cPanel.

To keep things quick and easy, I’m just going to use File Manager. It’s an easy-to-use feature that gives you access to site files from virtually any web browser. It’s perfect if you need to make edits while away from the office.

Click the “File Manager” tool from cPanel.

Access “public_html” to open your website folders.

Double-click into “wp-content.”

Double-click into “themes.”

Open the folder of the theme you want to edit. This will be the theme you are currently using and want to edit to update the RSS feed update time.

Select the functions.php file and click “Edit.”

A new window will pop up for editing options. Click the “Edit” button to continue. We’re not going to worry about changing encoding in this tutorial.

Pasting the Code Snippet

Now, we’re going to paste a code snippet directly into functions.php. In this code, we’re going to set the WordPress RSS feed update interval to five minutes.

Copy this code and paste it into the file:

// Add 5 minute update interval
add_filter( 'wp_feed_cache_transient_lifetime',
create_function('$a', 'return 300;') );

Click the “Save Changes” button on the top right.

And that’s it! WordPress will now force the RSS feed update from your theme.

Changing the Time Interval

What if you don’t want it set to five minutes? In the code, you’ll see “return 300.” This means the site will force and update in RSS every 300 seconds…or five minutes.

If you want to change the allotted time, simply change the “300” to your preference. Just keep in mind that this is in seconds.

I don’t advise using anything less than five minutes as it may cause undue strain on website bandwidth or otherwise hinder performance.

Customizing the RSS Feed

Setting the WordPress RSS feed update interval is only one minor part of maintaining a website. You have access to a large number of RSS feed customizations through the use of various plugins and other coding adjustments.

It’s all part of creating a unique experience for users to set your site apart from others on the Internet.

What RSS feed plugins do you use? How often do you use RSS feeds to accentuate your website?

The post How to Change the WordPress RSS Feed Update Interval appeared first on GreenGeeks.

There are thousands of RSS feeds on the Internet and you can add any of them to your website, but try to make sure that you have permission. The best way to add an RSS feed in WordPress is to embed it. Today, I will demonstrate how to add an external RSS feed in WordPress using some simple code.

Why Add an RSS Feed in WordPress

Before the rise of social media platforms, RSS feeds were one of the best ways to share your content between multiple websites. For example, if you run two or three websites, you could add an RSS feed from website A to website B and C to help share your content with visitors. However, since social media has become so prominent most content sharing occurs on platforms like Facebook.

While sharing content may not be the best use of RSS feeds, it still has other uses. For example, let’s say you have a website that writes stock reviews and predictions. You could add an RSS feed that tracks stock or cryptocurrency prices. There are feeds for almost anything and many of them may be a good match for your website. Just be sure to give credit to the appropriate sources.

How to Add an External RSS Feed in WordPress

Today, I will demonstrate how to add an external RSS feed in WordPress using some simple code. The easiest way is to embed RSS feeds in WordPress, but unlike videos, WordPress does not have a built-in RSS embedder. Instead, we will need to add a few lines of code to the functions.php file. Then we can use a shortcode to embed an RSS feed in WordPress.

Since you will be editing files on the backend of your website, it is a good idea to create a backup of your website. While it is easy to add this code, it is still possible to make a mistake. You can use the backup to revert your website to before the mistake was made.

Adding the Code

Let’s start by logging into the cPanel and clicking on the File Manager option. The File Manager will allow you to access all of the files related to your website.

You need to locate your theme’s functions.php file. Click on the public_html directory, then click on the wp-content folder. Inside of this folder, you will find all of the content related to your website. Click on the themes folder and enter the folder of the theme you are currently using. Finally, right-click on the functions.php file and select the Edit option.

A pop-up window will show up. This box will warn you to create a backup of your files before editing anything. This will ensure that you can revert your website back to when it was working if something goes wrong. Click on the “Edit” button. A new tab will open containing all of the code from the file.

Copy and paste the following code into your functions.php file:

//This file is needed for the wp_rss() function.
include_once(ABSPATH.WPINC.'/rss.php');
//This function is used to use external RSS feeds in WordPress.
function Add_Rss($atts) {
extract(shortcode_atts(array(
"feed" => 'https://',
"num" => '1',
), $atts));

return wp_rss($feed, $num);
}

add_shortcode('rss', 'Add_Rss');

Once you have inserted the code into the functions.php file, click on the “Save Changes” button to finish.

Adding the RSS Feed in WordPress

Now that the code is in place you are ready to start adding RSS Feeds to your website. All you need to do is use the following shortcode on your website:

[rss feed="https://www.YourFeedHere.com" num="1"]

Congratulations you have successfully added an external RSS feed in WordPress. You can add as many feeds as you want, but make sure they belong on your website.

More Content With Little Effort

Adding new content to a website is always on the mind of a web developer, but it takes time. RSS feeds allow you to add lots of new content for your visitors to enjoy without actually creating it.

While you may think this is too good to be true, it’s not. RSS feeds provide extra content for your website like stock prices or weather and help promote the source of the feed.

It’s a win win for both sides, but make sure it belongs on your website. For example, if you run a toy website, don’t have a stock feed because it has nothing to do with your target audience.

What feed have you added to your website? Why do you want to add an external RSS feed in WordPress?

The post How to Add an External RSS Feed in WordPress appeared first on GreenGeeks.

RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication and has fallen in popularity over the years. This is largely due to social media platforms that essentially do a better job overall.

Unfortunately, WordPress does not have an easy built-in method to turn the RSS feed off. Luckily, like most things in WordPress, there are plugins you can use to fix the problem.

Alternatively, you can also use code to accomplish similar results. Today, I will demonstrate how to turn off the RSS Feed in WordPress using two methods.

One will be an easier-to-handle plugin method, the other is more code-based. You can choose which one you prefer after reading the article. They will both work fine.

Why Turn Off the RSS Feed?

While the RSS Feed does not hurt your website in any way, it can potentially help your website. With that said, the main way content is shared among visitors now is through social media platforms like Facebook.

Almost every website has a social media account on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram that tells all of their visitors they released new content. This eliminates the usefulness of the RSS feed entirely and if there are no benefits or use for the feature, why keep it?

Keep in mind that if for some reason, you are not utilizing social media platforms, the RSS feed can still be very useful for your website. This is also true if your social media accounts do not have a lot of followers.

Just having a Facebook page won’t do anything if it gets zero views. How useful the RSS feed is highly dependent on a website’s situation.

How to Turn Off the RSS Feed in WordPress

Today, I will demonstrate how to turn off the RSS Feed in WordPress using two methods. The first and easiest method is to use the All In One SEO plugin.

The second method is to add code to disable the RSS Feed by sending back an error to visitors. Keep in mind that both of these methods simply turn off the RSS feed, but do not remove it from the website.

Method 1: Using a Plugin

While there are many plugins that can do this, I will demonstrate this method with the All-in-One SEO plugin. It has a variety of tools that allow you to configure the RSS feed. And it’s pretty simple to do

Step 1: Install and Activate the Plugin

Let’s start off by clicking on Plugins and selecting the Add New option on the left-hand admin panel.

Search for All-In-One SEO in the available search box. This will pull up additional plugins that you may find helpful.

Scroll down until you find the All-In-One SEO plugin and click on the “Install Now” button and activate the plugin for use.

If you don’t want to complete this method, then feel free to use method 2 below.

Step 2: Go Through the Setup Wizard

As an all-in-one SEO solution, this plugin has a lot to offer users. For this reason, upon activation, you will be directed to the setup wizard. It will help you set up the plugin for your website.

Luckily, the setup wizard is very self-explanatory, so I’ll leave that to you. Just click on the “Let’s Get Started” button and follow the process.

Note: It’s technically not necessary to go through the setup wizard, but it would be a mistake to skip it. The plugin has a lot of features that should be configured before use.

Step 3: Disable the RSS Feed

Once you have the All-In-One SEO plugin set up, you’ll need to go into the advanced settings to disable the RSS feed. This might sound hard, but it’s really just toggling a switch, so you’ll be done in about a minute.

On the left-hand admin panel, click on All-In-One SEO and select the Search Appearance option.

This section is comprised of multiple tabs and contains a lot of additional settings for your website. Click on the Advanced tab.

Scroll down to the bottom and you should see a Crawl Cleanup option. By default, this should be off. Turn it on.

This will pull up a variety of feed options that all have individual options to disable them. Do not disable the Global RSS Feed because it will mean users cannot subscribe to your website.

Instead, look at the rest of the feeds and disable the ones you do not want.

Click on the “Save Changes” button at the bottom and you are good to go. Congratulations on setting up the All-in-One SEO plugin and disabling the RSS feed in WordPress.

Just keep in mind that this plugin has a lot to offer, so be sure to check out its other features.

Method 2: Coding Approach

If you do not want to add another plugin to your website, then the coding method is for you. Since you will be editing files on the backend of your website, it is a good idea to create a backup of your website.

This will ensure that if a mistake is made, you can use the backup to revert to before it happened.

Note: This assumes you are already logged into your cPanel.

Step 1: Find the File Manager Option

Let’s start by logging into the cPanel and clicking on the File Manager option. The File Manager will allow you to access all of the files related to your website.

Step 2: Find the functions.php File

You need to locate your theme’s functions.php file. Click on the public_html directory, then click on the wp-content folder.

Inside this folder, you will find all of the content related to your website. Click on the themes folder and enter the folder of the theme you are currently using. Finally, right-click on the functions.php file and select the Edit option.

Step 3: Edit the File

A pop-up window will show up. This box will warn you to create a backup of your files before editing anything. This will ensure that you can revert your website back to when it was working if something goes wrong.

Click on the “Edit” button. A new tab will open containing all of the code from the file.

Simply copy and paste the following code into your functions.php file:

function wp_disable_feeds() {
wp_die( __('No feeds available!') );
}
 
add_action('do_feed', 'wp_disable_feeds', 1);
add_action('do_feed_rdf', 'wp_disable_feeds', 1);
add_action('do_feed_rss', 'wp_disable_feeds', 1);
add_action('do_feed_rss2', 'wp_disable_feeds', 1);
add_action('do_feed_atom', 'wp_disable_feeds', 1);
add_action('do_feed_rss2_comments', 'wp_disable_feeds', 1);
add_action('do_feed_atom_comments', 'wp_disable_feeds', 1);

Step 4: Save Your Changes

Once you have inserted the code into the functions.php file, click on the “Save Changes” button to finish.

Congratulations, you have successfully disabled the RSS Feed with code. You can undo this at any time by removing the code.

Make Sure People Know About Your Content

The whole point of the RSS Feed is to try and inform visitors about your new content. However, social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram have completely eliminated the need to use the RSS Feed.

It is simply obsolete when you compare it to social media platform’s ability to share new content. These platforms have billions of users that you can potentially reach. Just being able to advertise to any fraction of a percentage will have tremendous results.

Conclusion

Since the RSS Feed is outdated, it is a good idea to turn it off. There are a couple of different ways to do this. I recommend the plugin method if you are at all unfamiliar with coding and accessing the correct files you need.

This method is much faster and easier to perform.

I hope this tutorial was able to show you how easy it really is to turn off the RSS Feed in WordPress. If you have the right tools and steps in place, then the process is much less difficult.

Why do you want to turn off the RSS Feed in WordPress? Do you use social media platforms to share new content?

The post How to Turn Off the RSS Feed in WordPress appeared first on GreenGeeks.

One method of content marketing involves the use of Really Simple Syndication, or RSS. Essentially, your website connects with other platforms on the Internet to share your content. Feedburner is just one of those tools. And although many assume the system is dead, it’s still used by many.

Today, I’m going to show you a few things to try when your WordPress RSS feed is not updating in Feedburner. Unfortunately you’re limited in the amount of things you can try as Google only fixes something on the site when it’s broken.

However, these methods often resolve updating issues.

Is Your Cache Plugin Causing Issues?

In some situations, caching plugins can prevent external services from operating correctly. For example, how your site saves these caches can disrupt how Feedburner collects data.

If this is the case, you’ll need to empty the current cache.

If you use something like W3 Total Cache, go to Performance and click, “Page Cache.”

Click the “empty cache” button to clear the data.

Keep in mind that not all caching plugins will be exactly the same. However, most will have an option available to empty the cache of pages. This is a feature you’ll have to find if you have something other than W3 Total Cache installed.

Using PingShot

One reason why an RSS feed appears broken is because Feedburner doesn’t know when a new post is created. A way to get around this problem is to activate PingShot. This tool will notify the feed any time you create a new post to index.

Go to your Feedburner account and click, “Publicize.”

Click the “PingShot” tool on the left.

Click the “Activate” button.

The service will now be activated. New updates should start to appear in your Feedburner account.

Resync Your Feed

Resyncing your feed should be your last resort. It will clear the cached data from your site to repopulate the content. This means anything that is currently accessible will be removed. This is why Google calls it the “Nuclear Option.” It completely removes the site from Feedburner to refresh the posts it collects.

It’s kind of like hitting the reset button on your computer if it’s frozen. It’ll get the computer operational in most cases, but you’ll lose your unsaved work.

To access the resync tool, click the “Troubleshootize” tab in Feedburner.

Scroll down and click the “Resync Now” button.

Taking a Look at Troubleshootize

Outside of the resync tool, Troubleshootize is a section of Feedburner that is loaded with information. It includes possible problems as well as the fixes that may work for you.

Although this section doesn’t cover every possibility in Google Feedburner, it is a good place to start when all else fails.

Just keep in mind that since Google doesn’t offer any solid support, it may take a bit of effort to fix the problem. Luckily, Troubleshootize has many options available and is relatively easy to follow.

Sometimes You Have to Troubleshoot

It would be nice if everything worked as it was intended. Unfortunately, there will be times when you have to roll up your sleeves and tackle some of the most common problems in WordPress. If your Feedburner is not updating, don’t panic. Just dive into some of the above solutions. They may offer some valuable insight into your problem.

How often do you share RSS feeds from your website? What’s your favorite tool for managing RSS posts within WordPress?

The post How to Fix a WordPress RSS Feed Not Updating to Feedburner appeared first on GreenGeeks.

Showing the RSS feeds of others does two primary things: a) offers additional content to visitors, and b) shows support for those outlets. In fact, you may even set up an exchange with other site owners to show each others feeds.

In this tutorial, I’m going to show you how to use WP RSS Aggregator. It’s a feed-to-post plugin available for WordPress. It’s an exceptionally useful tool especially if you want to offer a consistent flow of content on your website.

While it may not maximize your own RSS feed, it’s helpful when pulling content from other sources.

Setting Up WP RSS Aggregator

Today, I am demonstrating WP RSS Aggregator. It comes with a variety of tools to optimize how to import and execute custom RSS feeds from your WordPress website.

Install and activate the WP RSS Aggregator plugin.

After activating the tool, you will see a welcome screen. It probably wouldn’t hurt to check out the add-ons you can use with this plugin. For now, go to RSS Aggregator on the left and click, “Add New.”

Input a name for the feed that you want to include on your site.

Input the feed source details such as URL, links and other data. For example, I’m going to use our own tutorial feed.

Once you’re done, click the “Publish Feed” button on the top right.

Now, anywhere you add the shortcode from WP RSS Aggregator, you will show the feed from the desired site. The shortcode is useful for posts, pages and using the Text widget in a sidebar.

For future reference, the shortcode is “[wp-rss-aggregator]“.

You can also change some of the more advanced options for the feed. These include pausing, activating the feed, deleting old items and more. This is located in the Feed Processing window of your source screen.

Showing Excerpts and Thumbnails from Feeds

The above is a free function of the WP RSS Aggregator. However, showing excerpts and thumbnails is something for which you need to buy the premium version to accomplish. Because the developer sells most of the features separately, it can get pretty expensive to add all of them.

On the other hand, some of the features may offer more to the experience for visitors. Which, in turn, may improve how people view and interact with your site.

Should you choose to pay for the feature and offer excerpts and thumbnails to the RSS feed, it’s easy to activate. In the settings screen, you’ll see new tabs available for both “Excerpts” and “Thumbnails” to modify these options.

Adding Feed to Post

Unfortunately, the feed to post function for WP RSS Aggregator is not free. And once you purchase it, the add-on will disable the Excerpts and Thumbnails feature because they are not compatible.

The trade-off, however, is the ability to pull content directly from RSS feeds and turn them into posts on your website. This is excellent for creating curation websites or perhaps a news outlet.

The add-on does come with a lot of useful options such as saving content as drafts, using custom post types, labeling authors and much more. The developer even claims you can aggregate videos from YouTube and Vimeo.

These options are in the Settings area of RSS Aggregator once you pay for the premium add-on.

Engage Your Visitors

Showing an RSS feed from other sites is only one of many ways to engage your guests. It gives the sense of an active website especially if the source actively creates content. In reality, there is so much you can do with RSS ranging from creating content to marketing.

How do you keep your visitors coming back to your website? How often do you utilize RSS tools like the one I demonstrated above?

The post How to Show RSS Feeds of Others Using an Aggregator in WordPress appeared first on GreenGeeks.

But what if you have categories people are not all that interested in? Some people may simply want to follow one topic but not get information regarding your entire custom RSS feed.

That’s when you use a WordPress category RSS feed instead. This way, people who use syndication readers only get the information they want. This can help keep readers from unsubscribing to your content.

In today’s tutorial, I’m going to show you how to distribute the category RSS feed for WordPress. It’s an incredibly easy process as most of the work is already done for you.

Using the WordPress Category RSS Feed

By default, WordPress automatically creates RSS feeds of any category you create. As soon as you submit a new title, the feed is instantly created in the system.

Where is this feed located? The WordPress category RSS feed URL is simple. Essentially it’s your domain, the category slug, and feed. So, it will look similar to:
[ht_message mstyle=”info” title=”” show_icon=”” id=”” class=”” style=”” ]https://www.ggexample.com/category/feed[/ht_message]

This URL is easy to distribute whether it’s on a post, page, email or even through social media.

Finding the Category Slug

The slug for the category is relatively easy to find.

Go to Posts and click the “Categories” option.

From this screen, you can see the “Slug” next to each category.

This is the text that will follow your domain URL. If you don’t like the slug, you can always change it by going into the category and replace the text.

I suggest leaving the slug as is, though. It’s based on the category itself and may be easier to find later on.

Using Category Specific RSS Feed Subscription Plugin

What if you want to proudly display each feed on your site? While you could make a few adjustments in code and add your own images and such, you could always use the Category Specific RSS Feed Subscription plugin.

This plugin adds the necessary coding to WordPress and lets you choose from using a widget, shortcode or PHP to display your category feeds.

Go to Plugins and click the “Add New” option.

Install and activate, “Category Specific RSS Feed.” You can search for it using the text field on the right.

Go to Settings and click the “Category Specific RSS” function.

In this page, you have control over how the RSS is distributed, what is shown to readers and change the specific URL of the feed.

The page will also show the shortcode for the plugin as well as the PHP call function.

For this tutorial, I’m simply going to add it to the sidebar.

Go to Appearance and click the “Widgets” function.

Find the “Category Specific RSS” widget. If you have a lot of things installed, you may have to scroll down.

Drag and drop the widget into one of your sidebars. I am going to drop it in the Right Sidebar under the “Search” field of my site. Your theme may have completely different options. Find a place that works perfectly for where you want to show the category RSS feeds.

That’s all that is needed. Now, you have a WordPress custom RSS feed for your categories listed in the sidebar. You can change the name of the widget in the settings screen I showed you earlier.

Note: The only categories that will be listed in the widget are ones that have content. If the category does not contain any posts, it will not show on your site.

Make It Easier On Your Guests

Anything you can offer to make the visit easier will enhance the user experience. Even something as simple as providing links for RSS subscriptions can mean the difference between someone following your content and not. Give people a reason to engage with your content and it may increase the website’s potential.

What kind of additions do you provide on your site? How often do you promote your WordPress RSS feed?

The post How to Deliver Separate WordPress Category RSS Feeds appeared first on GreenGeeks.