Integrating an RSS Feed (Content)

To integrate an RSS Feed as a content provider (to enable you to make its content available within your HelpShelf widget) you will need to set the RSS Feed URL.

Linking an RSS Feed to your HelpShelf widget opens up a whole world of possibilities. You can link your company blog (so that product updates and write-ups are available for your users to search for and read) right through to syncing specific page categories within your Wordpress site (such as your in-house FAQ, Knowledge base or tutorial section).

Locating your RSS Feed URL

Almost all websites and blogs will have an RSS Feed. Locating yours though, will vary depending on where you have your site or blog hosted.

If you use Wordpress, your primary RSS feed is always installed in the /feed/ directory. For example, if your site is www.mywebsite.com, your RSS feed URL would be www.mywebsite.com/feed/.

A more universal way to locate your RSS feed is to actually look at the HTML Source Code of your website. How you view it in your web browser will differ, but in most browsers, you'll choose the Page Source or Source option under the View menu near the top of the window.

Once the window appears with the HTML for your page, use the "Find" feature (typically Ctrl-F on a PC, Command-F on a Mac) and search for RSS.

You should be taken to a line that reads something like:

<link rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml" title="Example" href="http://www.mywebsite.com/blog/feed/" />

The RSS feed's URL address is found between the quotes after href=. In this case, it would be http://www.mywebsite.com/blog/feed/

Once you have located your RSS Feed URL, enter it into your HelpShelf setup form in the URL field.

You should now be setup :)