Changes: Help:Feeds

Revision as of 22:46, 25 September 2017

A web feed is a data format used for serving frequently updated content to users.

A content provider makes feeds available and may publish the feed link on their site. Users can subscribe to the feed using an aggregator application (also called a "feed reader" or a "news reader") running on their computer—something particularly true if you run an Apple device. Some web browsers also have native options for feeds, such as Firefox.

FANDOM provides outgoing RSS and Atom feeds for some pages, and pages can display incoming RSS feeds from other sites.

Which pages provide feeds?

RSS and Atom feeds are available for individual articles and for certain special pages. When you visit the page in question, you can append the page's URL with ?feed=rss or ?feed=atom to access the feed URL. If the URL already has elements that use the ? and = characters, you will need to include the & character in front of the feed elements, like &feed=rss or &feed=atom

Changes to any community

Use the URL for the community's Recent Changes page.

For example, the RSS feed URL for recent changes on Community Central: http://community.wikia.com/wiki/Special:RecentChanges?feed=rss

New pages added to any community

Use the URL for the community's New Pages page.

For example, the RSS feed URL for new pages on Community Central: http://community.wikia.com/wiki/Special:NewPages?feed=rss

New pages added to a specific namespace

Use the URL for the community's New Pages page and append &namespace=namespaceid

For example, the RSS feed URL for new pages from the thread namespace (1201) on Community Central: http://community.wikia.com/wiki/Special:NewPages?feed=rss&namespace=1201

Changes to any wiki article

Use the URL for the article's history page.

For example, the RSS feed URL for Community Central's main page: http://community.wikia.com/wiki/Community_Central?action=history&feed=rss
Note that the addition of the & is needed here, since the feed element follows ?action=history

RSS watchlist

Use MediaWiki API format for your followed pages.

Format: http://community.wikia.com/api.php?action=feedwatchlist&feedformat=rss&wlowner=MyUserName&wltoken=blahblah
- feedformat: can be "rss" or "atom"
- wlowner: your username
- wltoken: the token you set in your Preference > Under the Hood
Note that the addition of the & is needed here, since many other parameters follows ?action=feedwatchlist

More information about this method can be found on API:Watchlist feed on MediaWiki.org.

Advice for Apple users

In the 2010s, Mac devices have increasingly separated RSS feeds from their core functionality. In particular, Safari has removed formatting support for feeds, making most of the above methods obsolete. Try a URL ending in something like ?feed=rss and you'll get content, but it'll be ugly and presented after a stern warning that RSS feeds aren't "ideal" for a web browser.

Instead, Apple users are advised to look for a separate syndicated news reader. These range in price from free to a few bucks, so look around the App Store for something that meets your needs.

Once you've installed a reader, subscribing to an RSS feed is straightforward in Safari.

Just type feed://wikiname.wikia.com/Special:Whatever and most readers will then offer you a chance to subscribe. Or, if you're not a Safari user, you can just subscribe directly in the reader by entering the URL to which you want to subscribe.

Because there are so many different RSS apps, you'll need to check your app's documentation if you run into any problems.

How do I show RSS content from another site?

The basic syntax is <rss>URL goes here</rss>.

See Help:RSS for more details and options.

Social media feeds and widgets

For information about social media feeds, please see Help:Social media integration.

Further help and feedback

Browse and search other help pages at Help:Contents
Check Fandom Community Central for sources of further help and support
Check Contacting Fandom for how to report any errors or unclear steps in this article

@@ Line 2: / Line 2: @@
 A '''web feed''' is a data format used for serving frequently updated content to users.
-A content provider makes feeds available and may publish the feed link on their site. Users can subscribe to the feed using an aggregator application (also called a 'feed reader' or a 'news reader') running on their computer. Some web browsers also have native options for feeds, such as Firefox.
+A content provider makes feeds available and may publish the feed link on their site. Users can subscribe to the feed using an aggregator application (also called a "feed reader" or a "news reader") running on their computer—[[#Advice for Apple users|something particularly true if you run an Apple device]]. Some web browsers also have native options for feeds, such as Firefox.
 FANDOM provides outgoing RSS and Atom feeds for some pages, and pages can display incoming RSS feeds from other sites.
@@ Line 26: / Line 26: @@
 ===RSS watchlist===
-Use [[mw:API:Watchlist_feed|MediaWiki API format]] for your's [[Help:Followed pages|followed pages]].
+Use [[mw:API:Watchlist_feed|MediaWiki API format]] for your [[Help:Followed pages|followed pages]].
 *Format: http://community.wikia.com/api.php?action=feedwatchlist&feedformat=rss&wlowner=MyUserName&wltoken=blahblah
 **feedformat: can be "rss" or "atom"
@@ Line 34: / Line 34: @@
 More information about this method can be found on [[mw:API:Watchlist feed|API:Watchlist feed]] on MediaWiki.org.
+== Advice for Apple users ==
+In the 2010s, Mac devices have increasingly separated RSS feeds from their core functionality. In particular, Safari has removed formatting support for feeds, making most of the above methods obsolete. Try a URL ending in something like <tt>?feed=rss</tt> and you'll get content, but it'll be ugly and presented after a stern warning that RSS feeds aren't "ideal" for a web browser.
+Instead, Apple users are advised to look for a separate syndicated news reader. These range in price from free to a few bucks, so look around the App Store for something that meets your needs.
+Once you've installed a reader, subscribing to an RSS feed is straightforward in Safari.
+Just type <tt>feed://wikiname.wikia.com/Special:Whatever</tt> and most readers will then offer you a chance to subscribe. Or, if you're not a Safari user, you can just subscribe directly in the reader by entering the URL to which you want to subscribe.
+Because there are so many different RSS apps, you'll need to check your app's documentation if you run into any problems.
 ==How do I show RSS content from another site?==
 The basic syntax is <code><nowiki><rss>URL goes here</rss></nowiki></code>.