RSS

RSS (Really Simple Syndication) is an XML format for publishing a list of a site's latest items, such as articles or news, so that feed readers and other programs can follow them without visiting the site. In Drupal core, RSS comes from a view: a Feed display turns the view's results into an RSS document at a path of your choice.

How RSS works in Drupal 11

MDN describes RSS as several XML document formats for publishing site updates. Drupal writes version 2.0: the core template views-view-rss.html.twig outputs an rss element with a channel that carries a title, link, description and language, followed by the items.

Three Views plugins do the work:

• The Feed display (plugin ID feed) gives the view its own path and returns the feed as a response instead of a themed page.
• The RSS Feed style (rss) builds the channel, sends the header Content-Type: application/rss+xml; charset=utf-8, and adds a feed icon and a link rel="alternate" tag to the page the feed is attached to. That tag is what lets browsers and readers discover the feed.
• The Content row plugin (node_rss) renders each node as an item. It sets the title, the link, the creation date as pubDate, the author as dc:creator and a guid. Its Display type option picks the node view mode used for the item description, or Title only. When a view mode named RSS exists, it is the default.

Core ships two feeds this way. The Frontpage view has a feed at /rss.xml with ten items, filtered to content that is promoted to the front page and published. The taxonomy term view has one at /taxonomy/term/%/feed, one feed per taxonomy term.

Example

To publish a feed of your blog, go to Structure › Views › Add view. Under Show, choose Content and a content type such as Article, tick Create a page, then tick Include an RSS feed and enter a feed path such as blog/feed. Save the view. The page now links to the feed with an icon, and readers find /blog/feed through the alternate link in the page head.

Common mistakes

• Looking for an RSS settings screen. In Drupal 11.4.10 no core menu link or route is named for RSS. Open the view and edit its Feed display instead.
• Wondering why new content is missing from /rss.xml. The Frontpage feed only lists content with the Promoted to front page flag set, so unpromoted content never appears.
• Putting full text in every item by accident. The item description follows the Display type of the row plugin. Pick Title only or a shorter view mode such as teaser if you want readers to click through.
• Expecting Drupal to read feeds. The feed reader module Aggregator left core in Drupal 10.0; see the questions below.

For marketing and content teams

A feed lets subscribers, newsletter tools and other sites pick up your new posts automatically. Ask your developer which view produces each feed and which content it includes. If you rely on the front page feed, remember that the Promoted to front page checkbox on the node form decides whether a post is listed. Check the feed URL after a change by opening it in a browser; it should show XML, not a themed page.

Sources

• MDN: RSS (glossary)
• Frontpage view with the rss.xml feed, Drupal core 11.4.10
• RSS style plugin, Drupal core 11.4.10
• Node RSS row plugin, Drupal core 11.4.10
• RSS template views-view-rss.html.twig, Drupal core 11.4.10
• Taxonomy term view with a feed, Drupal core 11.4.10
• Drupal.org: Aggregator project (checked 2026-10-26)