Hello and thank you for visiting our ScreenCloud Help Center. This article will go through RSS Feed best practices, whether using an existing feed or you're looking to use a custom-built feed with our RSS Feed app. 

Table of Contents:

Step 1: Check if the feed is valid

Step 2: Learn about Embed.ly

Step 3: Learn how to pull in the images you want

Step 4: Learn the basics of RSS feed code

Step 1: Check if the feed is valid

We recommend checking the validity of your RSS Feed to identify if the feed is okay for use, or if there are parts of the code that show errors or should be adjusted. You can check that the RSS feed being used is valid according to W3 Validator. The W3 Validator will suggest and recommend what to do if the feed is invalid.

Step 2: Learn about Embed.ly

We use the Embed.ly API to extract information from an RSS Feed. To learn more about the parameters that Embed.ly uses to recognize data and pull in content from your feed, please click here.

Step 3: Learn how to pull in the images you want

If your feed doesn't seem to be pulling in the images you would like, or any images, you can click here to learn how Embed.ly ranks and selects images to use in the RSS Feed.

Step 4: Learn the basics of RSS feed code

The most basic RSS Feed will contain standard code as displayed below:

<item>

<title></title>

<description></description>

<link></link>

<meta property="og:image" content="your image URL" />

</item>

If you notice your RSS Feed you're using does not have this basic code, we recommend reaching out to the source of the feed to inquire further on how to resolve this. If it is your own customized feed, adding this type of code into your feed can help you moving forward to pull in the images you desire by altering where it says "your image URL" with a URL to an image you would like to use for each piece of content in your feed. 

For example, here is a sample RSS Feed from the popular news website CNN for your reference. This image shows one RSS feed post which starts with <item> tag and ends with </item> tag:

If you have any additional questions or concerns on RSS Feed best practices, or any other questions or feedback about ScreenCloud, feel free to reach out to our support team at support@screencloud.io or give us a call at +1-415-449-5426, then follow the prompts to connect with support.