Create an RSS feed from any website, or publish your own

To create an RSS feed from a website, first check whether it already has one: most sites do, at an address like example.com/feed. If it has none, an RSS reader like Feeder can build a feed from the page for you. If the site is your own, your platform most likely makes a feed already, and you can also write one by hand.

Does the website already have an RSS feed?

Often it does, even when you can't see an RSS icon. Check these before you build anything:

1. Paste the address into your reader. Most readers look for the feed for you. In Feeder, click Add feed and paste the website's address.
2. Try the common feed addresses. Add one of these to the site's address: /feed, /rss, /feed.xml, /rss.xml, /atom.xml or /index.xml. If a page of XML code opens instead of an error, you have found the feed.
3. Look in the page source. Right-click the page, choose View Page Source and search for application/rss+xml (or application/atom+xml). A site with a feed announces it in a tag like this one from WordPress News. The href is the feed's address.

<link rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml" title="WordPress News &raquo; Feed" href="https://wordpress.org/news/feed/" />

You can also look for an RSS icon or a "Subscribe" link, often in the footer. Feeder's browser extension checks the page source for you: it looks for a feed on the page you are on.

Where is the RSS feed on WordPress, Substack, Medium and other platforms?

Blogging platforms put their feeds at fixed addresses. Swap in the site or name you want to follow.

For playlists, user pages and other options, see YouTube RSS feeds and Reddit RSS feeds.

How do I create an RSS feed for a website that doesn't have one?

When a site has no feed, Feeder can make one. Click Add feed, paste the site's address, and pick one of two ways.

Let Feeder's AI build the feed

Feeder's AI reads the page, works out where the posts are and builds a feed from them, even on pages that load their content with scripts. The result shows up with an AI powered label, and you follow it like any other feed. Because it is built from the page's layout, a redesign of the site can throw it off for a while.

Pick the part of the page yourself

1. In Feeder, click Add feed and paste the website's address.
2. Click Create a custom RSS feed for this website.
3. Click a repeating element you want to follow, like a headline in a list of articles. Feeder shows a preview of the feed.
4. Click Save feed, then name the feed and add filters if you like.

For exact control, you can set your own CSS selectors for the entry, title and link. The step-by-step guide has screenshots. Some sites are hard to crawl, for example sites that block automated visitors. If one gives you trouble, write to support@feeder.co.

Other tools

Services such as RSS.app and FetchRSS also turn web pages into feeds. They give you a feed address that works in any RSS reader, Feeder included.

How do I publish an RSS feed for my own website?

You probably have one already. Most website platforms make a feed for your site and update it each time you publish:

• WordPress publishes one at /feed/. See How to create RSS feeds for WordPress.
• Ghost, Substack, Blogger, Medium and Tumblr make feeds at the addresses in the table above.
• Hugo builds feeds by default, at index.xml. Jekyll makes one at /feed.xml with the jekyll-feed plugin.

Open that address in your browser to check that it works. Most of these platforms also announce the feed for you, with the tag shown below.

Write an RSS feed by hand

On a custom-built site, an RSS feed is a single XML file. This is a complete, valid RSS 2.0 feed with one post:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<rss version="2.0" xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom">
  <channel>
    <title>Example Blog</title>
    <link>https://example.com/</link>
    <description>New posts from Example Blog</description>
    <atom:link href="https://example.com/feed.xml" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml" />
    <item>
      <title>My first post</title>
      <link>https://example.com/my-first-post</link>
      <guid>https://example.com/my-first-post</guid>
      <pubDate>Sat, 26 Sep 2026 09:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <description>A short summary of the post.</description>
    </item>
  </channel>
</rss>

• The channel describes your site: its name, address and a short description.
• Each item is one post. Add a new item each time you publish.
• The guid is the post's ID. Readers use it to tell new posts from old ones, so make it unique and never change it. The post's permanent address works well.
• The pubDate must look like Sat, 26 Sep 2026 09:00:00 GMT, with English day and month names.
• In titles and text, write & as & and < as <. Use full addresses, with https://, for links and images.
• The atom:link line gives the feed's own address. It is optional, but validators recommend it.

Save the file as feed.xml, upload it to your site and serve it as application/rss+xml or application/xml. Most sites generate the file from their posts, so it stays up to date without hand edits.

Announce the feed on your site

Add this tag to the <head> of every page, with your site's name as the title. Readers and browser extensions use it to find your feed when someone pastes your site's address.

<link rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml" title="Example Blog" href="https://example.com/feed.xml">

A visible RSS link or icon helps people who look for one. You can also list your feed in an RSS directory.

Validate the feed

Paste your feed's address into Feeder's free RSS feed validator. It lists any mistakes, line by line, with how to fix them, and the W3C Feed Validation Service is a good second check. Then add the feed to a reader like Feeder to see it the way your readers will.

Common questions

Can I turn any webpage into an RSS feed?

Most of them. Feeder can build a feed from a page that lists posts, headlines or listings. Sites that block automated visitors are the main exception.

How do I find the RSS feed for a specific site?

Paste the site's address into Feeder, or add /feed to it. The feed for MakeUseOf, for example, is https://www.makeuseof.com/feed/.

Do I need to know how to code to make an RSS feed?

No. Blogging platforms make feeds for you, and Feeder builds feeds for sites that have none. You only write XML yourself on a custom-built site.

Try Feeder

Paste any website's address into Feeder and it finds the feed, or builds one when the site has none. Feeder is an RSS reader for the web, iOS and Android, with extensions for Chrome, Firefox and Edge. The free plan follows up to 200 feeds, updated as often as every 30 minutes, with no ads. Plus is $7.99 a month, billed yearly, for 2,500 feeds, updates as often as every 5 minutes and e-mail summaries.

Get started with Feeder for free

Read next

• RSS feed validator: check and test any RSS or Atom feed
• How to create RSS feeds for WordPress
• How to follow a website without an RSS feed
• What is RSS? RSS feeds explained