iPost’s RSS functionality allows you to automatically insert your RSS feed into emails you send. Simply configure your RSS content parameters and then add it to your email. Once the email is ready, you can schedule it to send on a recurring basis, ensuring that the most recent content is sent to your customers on regular basis.
RSS Content
RSS content is created independently from the email in the RSS folder under Content and can be used in Email, Snippets, Headers, and Footers.
To create RSS content, enter the name in the Create New RSS input box and click Create. From here, you will be brought to the RSS Properties to configure the RSS Content.
Properties
The table below lists the RSS configuration properties with their descriptions.
| Field | |
|---|---|
| Name |
The name of the RSS content. The RSS name is what you and other users see in your RSS folder. |
| RSS URL |
The URL for your RSS feed. Once the URL is entered, you have the option to validate the URL using the Validate button. The URL will also be validated when you continue to the Edit page. |
| Min # of Articles |
The minimum number of articles that you want displayed in the RSS content. This will default to 1 article. |
| Max # of Articles |
The maximum number of articles that you want displayed in the RSS content. This will default to 1 article. |
| Folder Location |
The name of the folder in which the RSS is stored. To change the folder, click the Select Folder button and choose a different folder. |
| Content Polling |
Content Polling determines how often the RSS feed is checked for new content. This is defaulted to Weekly. |
| Content Freshness Criteria |
Content Freshness Criteria allows you to pull content from your RSS feed based on publication date. The default is to pull content that was published within the 7 days, but you have the option to change this selection as needed. You also have the ability to determine the behavior of the email send if content does not meet the criteria that you have selected. |
Once all the information has been entered on the properties page, click on Continue to save your RSS Content and proceed to the Content Page.
Content
Once on the Content page, the editor will be populated with the content from your RSS feed populated into an editor. You may make modifications to the layout, including what items should display, as well as, preview the RSS feed by clicking on the Preview Feed button.
Variables List provides you with various variables that are found in your RSS feed. You are able to drag these variables into the HTML content if needed.
NOTE: Any variables in your RSS feed that use ‘camelCase’ formatting (e.g., pubDate) will be rewritten and accessible as ‘camel_case’ (e.g., {\rss:pub_date}).
Click Save if any edits have been made, or Exit to leave the RSS content.
Inserting RSS Content into an Email
To insert RSS Content into your Paste HTML, Snippet, Header, or Footer, follow these steps.
- In your HTML, place your cursor where the RSS content should be inserted.
- Click on the Insert RSS Content widget in the Content Panel.
The corresponding iTL for the RSS Content will be inserted into the HTML like {\rss:variable} which can be treated like any other iTL. For example:
{\if {\rss:image} {
<tr>
<td class="content" align="left" valign="top">
<a href="{\rss:link}" target="_blank"> <img src="{\rss:image}" width="300" border="0" alt="{\rss:title}" class="img_scale"></a>
</td>
</tr>
} }Currently, RSS namespaces like media:content or dc:creator are not directly accessible. If this is a concern, contact support and we can walk you through some available options to access your content.
The RSS Content can be viewed with the Preview Feed button in the RSS Content editor, in an Email Preview, in a Test email, or in a Live send.
NOTE: If expected RSS content is missing from the preview or test emails, double-check the Content Freshness Criteria settings to see if the missing content's pubDate falls before that time limit.