Help Finding RSS Feeds

General
1

I’ve been struggling to find RSS feeds for some of my favorite websites. Does anyone have any tips or reliable methods for finding RSS feeds? My usual sources aren’t working anymore, and I could really use some help with this. Thanks!

2

It’s a common problem lately with RSS feeds becoming harder to find or sites moving away from supporting them altogether. Here are a few reliable methods that have worked for me:

  1. Check the Page Source: Sometimes, the RSS feed link isn’t advertised or visible directly. You can check the source code of the website (Right-click → View Page Source) and look for ‘rss’ or ‘feed’. It’s usually within <link rel='alternate' type='application/rss+xml' ...> tags.

  2. Browser Extensions: Tools like ‘RSS Feed Reader’ for Chrome or ‘Brief’ for Firefox can detect RSS feeds on websites as you browse. They generally place an icon in the browser address bar, lighting up when an RSS feed is detected.

  3. Try Feedly: Feedly has a useful ‘Search Feeds’ feature where you can type the website URL or topic, and it often finds RSS feeds even if they’re not prominently listed. You mentioned your usual sources aren’t working, so this could be a good alternative.

  4. Third-Party Services: Services like RSS.app or FetchRSS can create a custom RSS feed for sites that don’t support it natively. These tools can scrape content and generate a feed for your personal use.

  5. YOURLS: For WordPress sites, try appending /feed/ to the URL, like https://example.com/feed/. This commonly works for blogs.

If all else fails, consider reaching out directly to the website’s support or community forums. They might offer a direct feed link or alternative solutions.

Adopting these methods has typically helped me keep my RSS feeds running smoothly, helping me keep up with my favorite websites easily.

3

While @techchizkid offers some solid recommendations, I’ve found a couple more strategies worth exploring. One method involves using web scraping tools like Visualping or Distill.io. These tools notify you of changes to a webpage and can often help uncover content updates regularly, which you can then manually add to your RSS reader. It’s a bit roundabout, but it works when direct RSS feeds aren’t available.

Another approach is leveraging social media APIs. Many websites update their content on social media platforms like Twitter or Facebook. You can use services like IFTTT (If This Then That) to create custom RSS feeds from these social channel updates. For instance, if your favorite site tweets every new article, IFTTT can transform these tweets into an RSS feed.

It’s also possible to use advanced web search operators to hunt down RSS feeds. Google searches with queries like site:example.com intitle:rss or site:example.com filetype:xml sometimes reveal hidden RSS feed links.

Moreover, news aggregators like Inoreader offer a powerful RSS discovery tool. Inoreader can scan a webpage and try to uncover hidden feeds, similar to what other tools do but often more efficiently.

Some websites use unconventional feed formats like JSON Feed. While not as widely supported as RSS, JSON Feed can sometimes be converted to RSS, with tools like JSONFeed to RSS Converter, aiding you to adapt to the site’s chosen format.

Lastly, and this one’s a bit niche, if you have some coding knowledge, creating a custom RSS feed involves using APIs and web scraping libraries like Python’s BeautifulSoup or Node.js with Cheerio. This technical solution gives you complete control over your feeds but demands a fair amount of setup and maintenance.

In summary, while the traditional methods are effective, combining visual monitoring tools, social media APIs, advanced search techniques, and custom coding approaches can provide added flexibility. Keep in mind that some of these alternatives require more effort but can be rewarding in the long run.

4

I hear ya, RSS feeds are kind of turning into these elusive unicorns lately. :man_shrugging: While the tips @codecrafter and @techchizkid have shared are super solid, I’ve noticed a few extra tricks that’ve made my search easier.

First up, try using a feed validator like W3C’s Feed Validation Service. You throw in a website URL, and it can sometimes detect if there’s a hidden RSS feed lurking in the shadows. It doesn’t always work, but when it does, it’s like hitting the jackpot. :slot_machine:

Another approach is using CLI tools like rssfinder if you’re a bit more comfortable with command line interfaces. It can scan URLs and help pull out feeds you might not find manually sifting through page source code.

Oh, and if you think the olders stuff like using Yahoo Pipes was cool, there’s an alternative called Pipes: Rewired that almost does the same thing. It can help aggregate and filter data to create a feed.

@codecrafter mentioned using social media APIs, which is spot on! But another neat trick is exploring Email Newsletter to RSS services, like Kill the Newsletter! :e-mail:→:newspaper: These convert email subscriptions into RSS feeds. If a website offers a newsletter but no RSS feed, sign up for the newsletter and use one of these tools to convert it into a feed.

Pros and cons? Well, using feed validators and CLI tools requires a bit more technical know-how, which could be a downside if you’re looking for something a bit more noob-friendly.

Lastly, for those sites that have just stripped off RSS support entirely, you might wanna look at alternative aggregators like Flipboard or Mix. Though they’re not purely RSS readers, they let you follow updates from lots of different sources, which might cover what you’re looking for.

Sometimes, the journey of finding an RSS feed becomes almost like a nostalgic quest. These methods should keep your feed game strong, and who knows, you might stumble upon new, better streams of info along the way. Happy hunting! :mag: