Setting Up RSS

RSS feeds are used to aggregate news, blogs, or other syndicated posts into a feed that can then be linked to or displayed. Each feed consists of items, which are created from pages. Feeds can be assigned to sections so that any pages published in that section automatically create an item.

This tutorial shows you how to create an RSS feed, assign it to a section, and create new articles that automatically update the feed. Only level 10 users have access to RSS in the Content menu.

Creating a FeedLink to this section

Create an RSS feed, as follows:

1. Navigate to Content > RSS.
   
2. Click + New.
3. Fill out the form fields, as appropriate:
   • Path: Enter a root-relative path to the new RSS feed.
     • This creates the web page URL of the feed.
     • The path must start with a slash and end with .xml  for example, /rss/[your title here].xml.
     • The path can't be modified after you create the feed.
   • Template: Click the "Template" dropdown to select the type of feed.
     • If the design supports thumbnails, choose /generic-mrss-2_0.xml for a media RSS feed.
     • If it does not, choose /generic-2_0.xml for a regular RSS feed.
     • Available types depend on your RSS page display design.
   • Title: Type to name the RSS feed.
     • This is required and included in the feed's general information.
   • Description: Type to describe the RSS feed.
     • This is required and included in the feed's general information.
   • Link: Enter the full website domain of your website (for example, https://yourschool.edu).
   • Publish Date/Publish Time: Leave on [auto] to autofill with the real-time date and time that the RSS feed is published.
     • This only affects the displayed publish date and time of the feed, not the actual publish of any items.
   • Item Count: Type to set the number of items that are displayed by the feed, between one and 9,999.
     • Ensure this number is not lower than the number of items that appear in your RSS page display.
     • Once the feed reaches its limit, older items are automatically removed (though the associated articles remain published).
     • When creating feeds for use on home pages, we recommend making a feed group of the desired feed and limiting the number of items to 20 or so. This helps with page load times.
4. Click Create.
5. In the list of RSS feeds, click the More Actions  menu for your newly-created feed.
6. Click Publish.
7. In the "Publish" box, click the dropdown to set the publish target to "Production," if it is not already.
8. Click Publish.

Creating a News SectionLink to this section

Next, create a section to assign the feed to, as follows:

1. Navigate to Content > Pages.
   
2. Navigate to the location in the file structure where you want the news section.
3. Click +New.
4. In the "New Content" box, click the template for creating a news section.
   • This is most likely named "News Section," "News Listing Section," or something similar, but is ultimately unique to your implementation.
5. In the "News Section" box, fill out the form fields to create a news section:
   • Directory Name: Enter the file name for the news section  folder you are creating.
     • No special characters or spaces.
   • Page Title: Type the title of the index page, or news listing page, for the news section.
   • Description: Type to describe the news section.
   • Tags: Type to add tags that are used inside Modern Campus CMS to refine search results.
   • Add Navigation Item: Click the dropdown to select "Yes" to automatically add this page to the navigation file for the folder.
6. Click Create.

You are now viewing the index, or listing, page of the news section. This page will display items from a feed. Assigning a feed to the listing page depends upon your implementation. Navigate to the listing page parameters (Properties > Parameters) or to a configuration file for news listings. If you need more help, reference the development notes given to you by your implementation team, or contact our helpdesk.

Assigning a Feed to a SectionLink to this section

By assigning an RSS feed to a news section, all news article pages created inside the section are automatically added to the RSS feed.

1. Navigate to Content > Pages.
2. Navigate to the folder to assign the feed.
3. Click the More Actions  menu for the folder to assign the feed.
4. Click Edit > Access.
5. In "Recursive Modification," select the "Apply Selected Settings to This Folder and All Enclosed Files and Folders" radio button.
6. In "RSS Feed," select the checkbox to activate the dropdown.
7. Click the "RSS Feed" dropdown to select the feed to apply to the section.
8. Click Save.

Creating an ArticleLink to this section

You have set up the RSS Feed for the section, add an article to the feed, as follows:

1. Navigate to Content > Pages.
2. Open the section that you assigned the RSS feed to.
3. Click +New.
4. In the "New Content" box, click the template for creating a news item.
   • This is most likely named "News Item," "News Article," or something similar, but is ultimately unique to your implementation.
5. In the "News Item" box, fill out the form fields:
   • Page Title: Type the title of the article.
   • Summary/Description: Type a summary of the article that appears on the news listing page with the article link, if supported by the design.
   • Tags: Type to add tags that are used inside Modern Campus CMS to refine search results. (Note: some implementations also use tags to create filtered news listings)
   • Add Navigation Item: Click the dropdown to select "Yes" to automatically add this page to the navigation file for the folder.
   • Image/Thumbnail: The image thumbnail that appears on the news listing page with the article link, if supported by the design and this is a media RSS feed.
   • Image Description: Describe the thumbnail, for accessibility..
   • Filename: Type the name of the file in Modern Campus CMS.
   • Overwrite Existing: Select checkbox to replace files in the same location, with the same name.
6. Click Create.

You are now viewing your new page.

1. Click to open the editable region.
2. Edit your content. 
3. Click Save.
4. Publish the page to automatically add it to the RSS feed, and to the live news listing page associated with that feed. 

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