RSS Feeds

A collection can publish its objects as an RSS feed at:

/feed/rss/{collection}

The feed is off by default. A collection publishes one only when Publish RSS Feed is turned on in its settings. For every other collection the URL returns 404, the same as for a collection that does not exist.

Collections created from the blog and feed schemas are the exception: they are created with the feed already on.

Configuring a Collection

Each collection has an RSS Feed card on its edit form (/admin/collections/{collection}/edit). Turning on the toggle reveals the rest of the settings:

Setting	What it does
Publish RSS Feed	Master toggle. Off → /feed/rss/{collection} returns 404.
Feed Name	The feed’s title in a reader. Defaults to the site name.
Language	The language the feed is written in, picked from the site’s locale list.
Feed Description	A short description. Defaults to the feed name.
Link to Website	The page the feed belongs to. Defaults to the site’s homepage.
Feed Image	URL of an image that represents the feed.
Include Filter	Only include objects matching this expression (e.g. featured:true).
Exclude Filter	Skip objects matching this expression (e.g. category:internal).
Item Limit	The most items the feed lists, newest first. Defaults to 25; -1 for no limit.
Hidden Field	Objects with this property turned on are left out of the feed. Defaults to draft.
Title / Date / Content / Author / Media Property	Which object property supplies each part of an item. Defaults: title, updated, summary, author, media.

Saving the collection writes these into its .meta.json under a feed block.

If the Content Property is a markdown or styledmarkdown field, its Markdown is rendered to HTML for the feed, the same way the |markdown filter renders it. Other field types go out as written.

The feed reads the collection’s index, not the full objects. A property you map, filter on or name as the Hidden Field must be in the schema’s index.

What Is Left Out

• Hidden objects. An object is left out when its Hidden Field is on. That field is draft unless you choose another, so drafts are left out of every feed by default, for every schema.
• Objects without a URL. An item needs a link, so the collection needs a URL and the object needs a complete one.

Choosing a different Hidden Field replaces draft. If a collection uses archived instead, objects with archived on are left out and draft no longer hides anything. To leave out both, keep the Hidden Field on one and add the other to the Exclude Filter, for example draft:true.

That is also how to publish a feed that includes drafts: point the Hidden Field at another property. Remember the feed is public.

The Hidden Field must be in the schema’s index to take effect, and it can only be set on the collection. A URL cannot change it.

URL Parameters

The saved settings are the feed. A URL may adjust only these, to build a variant of an enabled feed, such as one category or a shorter list:

Parameter	Effect
include	Replaces the Include Filter
exclude	Replaces the Exclude Filter
limit	Replaces the Item Limit
name	Replaces the Feed Name
description	Replaces the Feed Description

/feed/rss/blog?include=category:news&name=News%20Only&limit=10

Every other parameter is ignored. In particular, a URL cannot turn a feed on, cannot choose which properties appear, and cannot bring back hidden objects.

The Feeds utility on a collection (/admin/collections/{collection}/-feeds) builds these URLs for you.

Locking a Feed Down Further

Anyone who can reach an enabled feed can use include and exclude to filter it by any indexed property. If that is more than you want, leave Publish RSS Feed off and serve the feed from a Site Builder page with cms.feed.rss() instead. The template then decides exactly which objects and fields go out, and no URL parameter can change it.

Upgrading from 3.6.1 or Earlier

In 3.6.1 and earlier, every collection that had a URL served a feed, and the URL’s parameters chose the fields. That made every indexed field of those collections public, and drafts were only left out for blogs. On upgrade:

• Blog and feed collections keep their feed. A migration turns Publish RSS Feed on for collections using the blog, blog-legacy or feed schema, or a schema that inherits from one.
• Every other collection’s feed stops. Its URL returns 404 until you turn the feed on in that collection’s settings.
• Field mapping moves into the collection. title, content, date, author, media, link, image and language in a feed URL are now ignored. If a feed URL used them, set the same values on the collection’s RSS Feed card. A feed that mapped content to another property shows summary until you do.
• Drafts are left out on every collection, not only blogs, unless you change the collection’s Hidden Field.