Rich Site Summary (RSS) is a method of publishing frequently updated information (typically blog entries or website posts) through a feed, including a summary of the content and related metadata. RSS-based emails allow you to include the feed (and related data) within an email that can be delivered to a list of subscribers.
The email designer within Lead Gen & CRM allows for the creation of RSS emails that populate with content from a blog, or posts from a website. These RSS emails can be sent automatically to a list on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis. This article provides information on setting up RSS emails within Lead Gen & CRM.
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Locating Lead Gen & CRM Blog Feed URLs
RSS Feed URL locations can vary depending on where your blog is hosted, or your content management system (CMS). To locate the Feed URL of your Lead Gen & CRM blog, do the following:
- Go to your published blog's landing page.
- Scroll to the bottom of the landing page.
- Locate the RSS Feed link.
Locating Non-Lead Gen & CRM Blog Feed URLs
RSS Feed URL locations can vary depending on where your blog is hosted, or your content management system (CMS).
To locate the Feed URL in the majority of CMS platforms, access your blog and login as an administrator.
- Right-click on your blog's page and choose the option View Page Source.
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- Search for RSS in the HTML source page that appears until you find a code that resembles the following:
href="http://www.example.com/rss.xml"
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- Select and copy the content following
href=".
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wpblog.yourdomain.com/feed/.
Adding the RSS Widget to an Email
Once you have copied the feed URL from your blog, you can add the RSS widget to emails.
To set an email as RSS-based, create or edit an email from the Email tab in the left toolbar.
- Click
RSS Subscription in the main settings menu of the email designer.
Note: The RSS Subscription menu is not available in email templates. - Click the Settings tab.
- Click the checkbox for Enabled.
- Enter the RSS feed URL to pull content from in the Feed URL box.
- Enter the list name in the List box.
- Set the frequency for the email send in the Frequency section, Send menu.
- Select the date the email should be sent in the Frequency section, At and On menu.
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- Click the Style tab.
- Change the font family, size, weight, and color of the article title in the RSS Title Styles section.
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- Change the font family, size, weight, and color of the article paragraph text in the RSS Body Styles section.
- Add padding or additional space between the images and text of your blog articles in the Image Styles section.
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- Click the Layout tab.
- Select the number of blog posts to show in the email in the Number of Posts to Include menu.
- Drag and drop a display widget into a layout section or content block of the email.
Note: Emails will only be sent if there are new posts.
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The following display widgets are available:
| Widget | Description | ||
| Top Story |
Shows the image and description for your most recent blog post and links to the four other most recent blog articles. |
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| Titles Only |
Shows only links of your most recent blog post titles. |
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| Titles and Summary |
Shows links of your most recent blog post titles and a description for each. |
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| Images and Summary |
Shows links of your most recent blog posts, an image, and a description for each. |
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Once you have dragged and dropped one of the four widgets into the email, something similar to the following code will be added to your email:
{!Widget_RSS_Items_5_top}
When your email is received, this widget code changes to display your blog articles in the format you selected.
Testing and Scheduling Emails
Once an RSS email has been created, you can test it to see how it looks when it is sent. These tests can be sent to specified test lists and be scheduled to send at specific times.
The following are options for testing and sending emails:
| Option | Description | |
| Litmus Tests | Perform Litmus tests (at monetary cost) to view the email across different platforms and devices. | |
| Send to Lists | Immediately send emails directly to a list. | |
| Schedule Emails | Schedule emails to send at a later date and time. |