RSS feeds are a classic technology that we still use frequently today, but they can come with common issues—here’s how to troubleshoot and resolve them effectively.

1. Feed isn't updating

If your feed isn't updating or is missing content, there are several common reasons that could be causing the situation. Follow these steps to help you troubleshoot.

1. Check your Refresh Rate

What it means: The refresh rate refers to how often your feed checks for new content from the source website. Depending on your plan, updates are fetched every 15 to 60 minutes. If new posts are available, they will be added to your feed during the next refresh cycle.
What to do: Ensure you understand your plan’s refresh rate by checking the Pricing Page and wait for the next scheduled update to include the new posts.

2. Allow time for new feeds to catch up

What it means: Initially, we can only fetch a limited number of posts from the source website. This limitation is due to restrictions from the original source website which we can't bypass. New posts will be added during each refresh cycle if the source website is updated.
What to do: Wait for the feed to pull in new content from the source.

3. Check the source website

What it means: The source website must be publicly accessible and show the content you're expecting in the feed.
What to do: Confirm that the source website is accessible and there are no login requirements by opening the URL in incognito mode. If the website is down or restricted, the feed will not update.

4. Verify filters are not hiding content

What it means: Filters may unintentionally exclude content from your feed.
What to do: Double-check your feed filters to make sure no content is being unintentionally excluded. Don’t forget to check Global Settings as well.

5. Clear Feed Cache

What it means: Cached content might prevent your feed from displaying the latest updates.
What to do: Clear the feed cache by pressing the Clear Cache button. This will force the feed to fetch new content.

6. Check if source website layout has changed

What it means: If the source website has undergone a layout change, the feed may not be able to fetch content correctly.
What to do: If the website's layout changed, regenerate the feed using the RSS Generator or update the rules in your RSS Builder to reflect the new layout.

7. Validate the Native RSS Feed

What it means: If you're using a Native RSS feed, it may have issues that prevent it from updating correctly.
What to do: Validate the RSS feed using the W3C Validator. This tool checks whether the feed is properly formatted and functional.

If you've tried all of the above and the feed still isn’t updating, please reach out to support. Be sure to include the URL of your feed so we can investigate more efficiently.

2. Can't create feed

If you're unable to create a feed, there could be several common reasons behind the issue. Follow these steps to help identify and resolve the problem.

1. Check the source website

What it means: The source website must be publicly accessible and display the content you're expecting in the feed.
What to do: Ensure the website is online and doesn’t require a login to access the content by opening the URL in incognito mode. If the website is restricted, the feed won’t be created.

2. Regenerate the feed

What it means: There could be a temporary issue preventing the feed from being created.
What to do: Try generating the feed again after some time using the RSS Generator. This can resolve any temporary issues with the initial creation.

3. Use RSS Builder

What it means: For more customization and control, the RSS Builder allows you to create your feed with specific settings.
What to do: If the Generator is grabbing the wrong information, use the RSS Builder to manually create your feed. Refer to the RSS Builder Guide or watch the tutorial video for detailed instructions.

4. Check Native RSS Feed using a validator

What it means: If you're using a Native RSS feed, there might be issues with its formatting or validity.
What to do: Use a validator like the W3C Validator to ensure the feed meets RSS standards. If there are errors, the feed may not create correctly.

Still can't create a feed? Reach out to our support team for assistance. Be sure to include the URL you're trying to create the feed from so we can investigate more efficiently.

3. Duplicate or unwanted content

If you're seeing unwanted content in your feed, explore the following potential solutions.

1. Remove Duplicate Content

Enable the Duplicate Title or Duplicate Description in the Filters tab to automatically remove identical posts from your feed.

2. Remove or Hide Specific Posts

Use the Hide button to hide specific posts or Block Domain to block certain websites from appearing in your feed.

3. Use Whitelist Filter

Add keywords to the whitelist to make sure that only posts containing your keyword appear in your feed.

4. Use Blacklist Filter

Add keywords to the blacklist to automatically hide posts that contain them.

5. Enable Estimate Dates

If your feed doesn’t have timestamps, enable the Estimate Dates feature in Feed Output to help improve sorting and filtering of posts by estimated publishing dates.

6. Remove Old Posts

Sometimes, old posts linger in your feed even after they are no longer available on the source feed. Enable the Purge Old Posts feature in Expanded Feed Settings to automatically removes posts that are no longer present on the source feed.

7. Use Regex Filters

What it means: Regular expressions (Regex) allow for advanced content matching and filtering.
What to do: Enable Regex by clicking on .* and input Regex filters to create more specific and customized rules.

Still have questions? Reach out to our support team for further assistance.

4. Feed displays incorrect order

If your feed content is appearing in the wrong order, follow these steps to adjust and fix the sorting:

1. Use Sorting Options

Look at the sorting options in Feed Overview and select the one that best fits your needs.

2. Check for changes on the source website

Some websites update their content rankings or order frequently. These changes might affect how content is displayed in your feed. If this happens, the order of your content might not align with what you expect.

5. Feed isn't working with external apps

If you're trying to integrate your RSS feed with external websites and run into any issues, try the following steps.

1. Check app compatibility

Some applications may only support specific formats, so ensure that the app you're using supports RSS feeds in the format you're providing (XML, JSON, CSV). You can change the format of your feed by clicking the XML button on Feed Overview.

2. Check out our step-by-step guides

Check out our Integrations section for detailed guides on Notion, Make.com, Mailchimp, Wordpress, etc.

3. Contact external app support

If the feed is working within RSS.app but still doesn’t load in the external app, contact the app’s support team for further assistance.

Troubleshooting RSS feeds