Are you encountering RSS feed errors on your WordPress site?RSS feedshelp users subscribe to your blog using news reader apps like Feedly.
Since RSS feeds are published in the XML markup language, a tiny mistake in the feed can make it unreadable, and users will not be able to see new content in their news feeds.
Other apps also rely on getting content updates from your WordPress RSS feed. For example, if you useIFTTT to automate social sharingof your new posts, then that would stop working as well.
In this article, we will show you how to easily fix RSS feed errors in WordPress. We will also talk about what causes those errors and how to avoid them in the future.
WordPress outputs RSS feeds in XML which is a strict markup language. A missing line break or an extra tab can break your RSS feed.
The RSS error message will look something like this:
XML Parsing Error: XML or text declaration not at start of entity Location: http://example.com/feed Line Number 2, Column 1:
Depending on what browser you are using, your RSS feed error message may vary.
You can also see this error message when visiting your feed in a browser.
Warning: Cannot modify header information – headers already sent by (output started at /home/username/example.com/wp-content/themes/twentysixteen/functions.php:433) in /home/username/example.com/wp-includes/pluggable.php on line 1228
If you are usingFeedBurner, then your errors may look different.
Having said that, let’s take a look at what causes these RSS feed errors and how to fix them.
Manually Fixing RSS Feed Errors in WordPress
The most likely reason for your RSS feeds to show error is poor formatting. This poor formatting can be caused by a blank space after closing PHP tag in a plugin or in your theme’sfunctions.phpfile.
If you recently added a code snippet to your theme orchild theme‘s functions.php file. Then you need to edit your functions file.
If there is a closing PHP tag at the end of your functions file, then you need to make sure that there is no extra space or line breaks after it.
Ideally, the closing PHP tag is not required at the end of the file. This is why it would be best if you remove the closing php tag altogether.
This should fix the problem in most cases. However, if it does not fix your RSS feed error, then continue reading.
Disable RSS Feed Related Plugins
If you are using a WordPress plugin that modifies your website’s RSS feed or creates a new one, then you need to disable that plugin.
Next, check your RSS feed for the error. If the error disappears, then this means one of the plugins installed on your website was the culprit.
You can now reactivate your installed plugins one by one and check your RSS feed after activating each plugin. This way you will be able to find out exactly which plugin is causing the issue.
Once you have located the plugin, you can contact the plugin’s support for an update or find an alternative plugin that does the same thing.
Temporarily Switch to a Default Theme
Occasionally, a poorly coded WordPress theme function can also affect your WordPress RSS feed. To see if the problem is caused by your WordPress theme, you need to temporarily switch to a default WordPress theme.
Simply go toAppearance » Themespage and if you already have a default theme installed then activate it.
Default themes include Twenty Nineteen, Twenty Seventeen, Twenty Sixteen, and so on. If you don’t have one installed on your website, then you can click on the Add New button to install and activate it. See our guide onhow to install a WordPress themefor step by step instructions.
After switching to the default theme, check your WordPress feed for error. You can visit your feed in a browser window or test it with afeed validatortool.
If the error disappears, then this means your WordPress theme was causing the issue. You can contact the theme author for support or find a suitable new theme for your website.
When I hitany404 on your site, it goes to a hosting-supplied 404 page and not the one that should be part of your site, so it’s something related to what would be handled by htaccess. I don’t use Windows so I’m not sure if I can help.
Ok, you might have pointed me in the right direction here. On the site that works, a random 404 shows me the WordPress “page not found” page, not the hosting company 404 page.
I don’t suppose you’d be able to provide the part of .htaccess that would usually handle the /feed/ redirect? Then I might be able to figure it out.
Fixed! I took a copy of the web.config file from the working site, changed the reference to the domain in one of the RULE tags so that it referred to the correct domain, and uploaded it to the broken site. The 404 handling immediately started being done by WordPress. It took a little while for the RSS feed to sort itself out, but that’s working too now – checked via Google Chrome Feeder extension.
I haven’t copied the contents of the config file here because I’m not sure which parts, if any, might be sensitive info that could make my site vulnerable if publicly known. Although if the same file works for 2 of my sites, I guess there’s probably nothing sensitive in it…
Facebook Instant Articles, introduced in 2015, is a mobile publishing format that enables news publishers to distribute articles through the Facebook app.
LikeGoogle AMP, thesearticles load and display 10x fasterthan the standard mobile web, creating a better user experience. Publishers were initially hesitant to comply with this new Facebook initiative, but those that were most interested in getting their content out to new audiences embraced this new content formatting system.
It certainly didn’t hurt that Facebook promised that they wouldhelp publishers earnfrom the content they published. Facebook would keep 100% of the advertising revenue for any ads they sold, and publishers could take 70% of whatever Facebook sold for them.
In order to get involved, all that publishers needed to do was adapt their articles to take on Facebook Instant Articles’ new formatting. Buzzfeed, Mashable, and Techcrunch are popular media sites that complied almost immediately. It’s possible to identify Facebook Instant Articles from those that aren’t thanks to the lightning bolt icon attached to the article preview.
Adapting existing content to a new format inevitably comes with challenges. Here are some of the greatest pros and cons associated with using Facebook Instant Articles with your WordPress website:
Facebook Instant Articles: Pros
Faster site load speed = an enhanced user experience.
Users may share your content more.
Gives publishers access to new monetization options.
Access to new audiences and increased reach.
Facebook Instant Articles: Cons
Only displays your article: Facebook will not show anything that isn’t directly related to your article’s content, such as your importantwidgetsoremail signup forms.
Limits photos, videos, and ad blocks (though you can still use them with a little tinkering).
It presents yet another way a company is trying to serve up your own content. In other words, you have less control as people aren’t hitting your original site. People have expressed similar concerns with Google AMP.
You have to get manually approved by Facebook.
How to Format Facebook Instant Articles
There are several ways to format Facebook Instant Articles.
One way is to create Instant Article templates. That said, this method is for when youaren’tusing WordPress or aren’t publishing articles through a third-party tool.
However, if you use WordPress or are publishing articles through a third-party tool, you can import your articles in 3 ways:
Supported third-party publishing tool, such as a Facebook Instant Articles WordPress plugin
If you’re using a Custom CMS, the first two methods are the way to go, but if you’re using CMS such as Drupal or WordPress and do not have a team of developers at your disposal, the last option (using a WordPress plugin) is best. It enables independent publishers to make use of Facebook Instant Articles in the same way the big publishers do.
How to Setup Facebook Instant Articles for WordPress
WordPress is the largest CMS used in the world today andpowers 33% of the web. Knowing this, Facebook decided to work with Automattic, the parent company of WordPress, to provide WordPress users with a free plugin to easily share content on Facebook in the Instant Articles format. However, we have seen somecritical performance issueswith theofficial plugin.
Facebook Instant Articles performance
Because of this, we recommend using an unofficial third-party plugin. In order to setup Facebook Instant Articles on your WordPress website, you’ll need:
A WordPress site
A Facebook page associated with the business behind your WordPress site (suggested reading:how to create a Facebook page)
Facebook will ask you to select a Facebook page for your website. Check the box to agree with the terms and then click on the ‘Access Instant Articles Tools’ button.
Access Instant Articles Tools
This will take you to the publisher tools on your Facebook page, which will now have anInstant Articlessection.
Facebook Instant Articles publishing tools
Step 2
Prove ownership of your website by claiming your URL. Under “Instant Articles → Configuration → Tools → Connect Your Site” you will find your Page ID. Copy this to your clipboard.
Facebook Instant Articles connect site
Step 3
Download and install the WP Native Articles plugin on your WordPress site. This is not the official plugin, but the one we recommend if you’re concerned with performance.
One of the most useful and interesting features is content parsing, which corrects for some of the unstructured nature of WordPress content. By adding proper structure and formatting, WP Native Article’s content parsing feature helps content load even faster than the standard plugin offering. It also lets you integrate Google Analytics, ads, etc.
WP Native Articles WordPress plugin
Though the core WP Native Articles plugin is free, there’s a premium version available starting at $49 for a single site. The premium version comes with API syncing, advanced article analytics, and premium support if you run into any issues with deployment.
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Take the Page ID you copied in Step 2 and paste it into the Authorization ID field of the WP Native Articles WordPress plugin.
Facebook Instant Articles authorization ID
Then click “Save Changes.”
Step 5 ★
After adding your page ID to the plugin settings, go back to the publisher tools on your Facebook page. Add your website URL below the code you copied earlier and then click on the claim URL button. Note: You might need toclear the cache on your WordPress site first for it to pick up the changes.
Claimed Facebook Instant Articles URL
If you receive the following error, it appears this is aknown issuefor some.
Here are a few tips on getting approved for Facebook Instant Articles:
Ensure you have a decent amount of content already on your WordPress site.Don’t try applying with a blank website.
Content can’t be behind a paywall.
Have a link to your site’s privacy policy visible.
Step 6
You should then style your Facebook posts to match the branding of your site. We recommend at least adding your logo and changing the colors. Go got the Facebook Publishing Tools and under “Instant Articles → Configuration → Tools → Styles” you can create and edit the default style.
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Facebook Instant Articles style editor
Step 7
The WordPress plugin will automatically generate an Instant Articles feed for your WordPress site. To get the feed URL, add the extension/feed/facebook-instant-articles/after your website URL. You can also find this under the “Feed” tab in the WP Native Articles plugin.
Copy that URL and switch back to the Facebook page Publishing Tools section. Then go to “Instant Articles → Configuration → Tools → Production RSS Feed”. Paste the URL there and save your changes.
Facebook Instant Articles production RSS Feed
It can take up to an hour for Facebook to ingest posts via the RSS Feed method.
Step 8
When Facebook has ingested 10 articles you can then submit them for review from the Configuration page. Reviews normally take 3-5 days and once approved your Instant Articles will be live. Any posts you share to your Facebook page will now automatically use the Instant Article version if it is available.
Facebook Instant Articles submit for review
Alternative Facebook Instant Article Plugins
As with any WordPress site, sometimes one plugin might work better than another with your current mix of installed plugins and your theme. If you have any issues with the already-mentioned plugin, you might want to also check out these other up and coming options:
LH Instant Articles
LH Instant Articlesprides itself on creating “bloat free” Facebook Instant Articles thanks to the way it creates a Facebook-compliant RSS feed for your existing WordPress content.
LH Instant Articles WordPress plugin
Advanced functionality includes the ability to add related posts, analytics, and advertisements. Compared to some of the other options, it also claims to be easier to implement—making it ideal for someone who isn’t super handy with coding and troubleshooting.
Facebook Instant Articles for WordPress
The Facebook Instant Articles feature is helpful for both giant and independent publishers that want to reach new audiences with their content.
Being on Facebook’s Instant Articles platform (despite some backlash andpublishers pullingout) can give you an extra advantage now that Facebook has introduced a new feature calledExplore Feed(which allows you to discover content relevant to your interests). Furthermore, Instant Articles are easier to share than regular WordPress content, load faster, and integrate with Facebook for (perceived) higher prioritization in the news feed.
What are your thoughts? Have you given Facebook Instant Articles a try yet on your WordPress site?
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