RSS logo/link vs. RSS Widget (?!)

  • I just want to add a large orange RSS link to my sidebar. I used the RSS widget, and used my own RSS URL. So, it just shows my own posts in the sidebar. I’m not sure this is what I want. I’m not even sure what external RSS content someone would want to display in their own sidebar, but whatever.

    What’s the best way to make an RSS icon/link for people to click?
    https://example.com/?feed=rss

    Wait, in fact, I don’t even know how people use this icon, now that I think about it. I use Google reader, and just type the website URL directly there. So, I have never even used the orange RSS icon myself. Does it open your RSS reader automatically? Is that just a link that is supposed to be displayed somewhere on your homepage, so that a feed reader can access it? ie: Tt’s not even meant to be clicked? (B/c you just see XML if you click it)

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  • Usually an RSS link is simply a graphic or piece of text which is a link to your site’s feed, such as the example URL you gave below. What happens when someone clicks on this link depends on the person’s browser settings. The link will open the person’s default RSS reader – that may be Google Reader, or the Google or Yahoo start page, or something else.

    How to create one? Same way you would add any other type of image or text link. You can hard-code it into your template, or pop the HTML code into a sidebar text widget.

    Thread Starter mathwriter

    (@mathwriter)

    The odd part was I could not add my site to my RSS reader until I added the RSS widget that showed my own content. However, I removed it, and tried again. In my RSS reader, I can simply add my website URL or the RSS URL. Both work.

    So, I guess the RSS link is useless except for people who have some file association that adds the link directly into their RSS reader. In my browser, clicking an RSS URL simply opens the XML file.

    I guess I will skip using the RSS widget, b/c I don’t want to show my own content in the sidebar. I will add a RSS icon just to show my website is RSS enabled. For those who have some sort of RSS auto-add, I will include the hyperlink in the icon.

    Do I have that right?

    I guess I will skip using the RSS widget, b/c I don’t want to show my own content in the sidebar.

    Correct.

    I will add a RSS icon just to show my website is RSS enabled. For those who have some sort of RSS auto-add, I will include the hyperlink in the icon.

    Sounds good!

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