Is there an RSS feed option?

[AnthonyVO]

Thank you very much for the two updates/fixes this morning. Is there an RSS feed option for the simpleBlog?

Anthony

[risingisland]

I dont think so, but might have to ask Mutli, I dont know if he has plans for that or not.
I added the new gallery, recent UI improvements and slug and date fixes. But tbh, I havnt used this much.

[risingisland]

I can confirm that this does not exist.
I dont think that this will be added soon.
To many variable need to be added. Not a small update.
For now it will have to remain Simple.

[AnthonyVO]

Thanks, I will attempt to convert the NewsManager RSS plugin to serve SimpleBlog. Three reasons:

1. The RSS feed is useful by itself.
2. I use the RSS feed to drive other functionality, such as sending out a newsletter if a new BlogPost appears.
3. I want to pull the RSS feed from my two blogs and combine them so that both blogs show signs of life when either is updated. This increases my motivation to post.

On that note, how can I mark a plugin as being dependent on another, and force it to be loaded after its dependency, specifically for admin menu generation? Note: I already found: https://github.com/GetSimpleCMS-CE/GetSimpleCMS-CE/wiki/Plugin-Creation

[AnthonyVO]

Rather than another plugin with dependencies, it might be simpler to merge the code into the SimpleBlog itself after...

[risingisland]

I thought of possibly a simpler way to create an RSS, but I doubt that I will have it this weekend.
If that is of interest, and you want to test it when its ready, let me know.
As far as a plug with a dependency on another, I have no idea. Never needed it, never thought about it.

[AnthonyVO]

Just found a simpler solution; I'll have it to you shortly.

[risingisland]

Oops, I didnt see your last message.
I added a new update, go to blog settings and see new info/option.
If your feeling generous, you can send me a coffee.
Hope this works out for you ok.

[AnthonyVO]

I am done for the weekend. Will look at your solution on Monday and compare with what I assembled.

I basically added a get_rssFeed() function (snippet) to the simpleBlog.php to generate the RSS content (forked from the NewsManager RSS code), and then added a template file to call that RSS function. In the CMS you create a page which uses that template file to populate the RSS content. Very similar to the NewsManager functionality but simpler.

Also added a separate file to merge multiple RSS feeds. Still working on the layout.

I already keep the perk going monthy and happy to do that. :)

[AnthonyVO]

Morning, I have a busy day (too many pans) but will try to get things settled and fire over what I have built.

[AnthonyVO]

After comparing solutions, yours looks better from an implementation perspective. Users only need to make a small change to their .htaccess file and check a box to make it go. 👍

In addition, because you write a static rss.xml file rather than generating it on the fly, yours is more efficient. 👍

I made a change to a small section of your code (4 lines). I included your code in the false side of the if and mine on the other side.

The changes I implemented on my side are as follows.

• It allows for the inclusion of the cover photo,
• It allows for a variable snippet length depending on [(int)get_setting($db, 'rss_max_content')]
• It optionally allows for the full blog content, which is handy to enable other functionality,
• It uses safe_strip_decode(), which is not as restrictive as strip_tags().

Exposing the full blog content enables advanced functionality such as automating the creation of email newsletters based on an RSS feed, something I do.

Note: I am still debugging as I move from the NewsManager to SimpleBlog, so I may discover/fix other issues.

		if (false) {
			// Prefer the post's own excerpt field; fall back to a stripped,
			// truncated snippet of the full content via GS's own getExcerpt().
			$desc_source = !empty($row['description']) ? $row['description'] : getExcerpt($row['content'], 300);
			$desc_source = str_replace(']]>', ']]>', strip_tags($desc_source)); // CDATA can't contain a literal "]]>"
		}
		else {
			// This is a semi-standard way to make the cover image available in RSS feeds.  Readers will pull the first image from the content and use that.
			if ($row['cover_photo']) {
				$desc_source .= '<img src="' . sb_resolve_image_url($row['cover_photo'], $SITEURL) . '" />';
			}

			// Some prefer to make the full content available, others prefer only a short snippet.
			$maxContent = (int)get_setting($db, 'rss_max_content');
			if (!isset($maxContent) || $maxContent < 1)
				$maxContent = -1; /* -1 = Use full content */
			if ($maxContent == -1) {
				$desc_source .= $row['content'];
			}
			else {
				// Need to decide if the image link counts as content for truncation.
				$description = $row['description'];
				$desc_source .= getExcerpt($description ? $description : $row['content'], $maxContent);
			}
			// Retain the safe tags via GS's safe_strip_decode()..
			$desc_source = str_replace(']]>', ']]&gt;', html_entity_decode(safe_strip_decode($desc_source), ENT_QUOTES, 'UTF-8'));
		}

Likely more to come.