Import blog posts from RSS

[Steph Jensen]

i have two questions for the RSS import that create blog posts from external blogs.

1. Is there a way to set how often it will import/check for RSS update, or is there a way to trigger an import?
2. How can i set up the created blog post to also use the feature image of the post it imports from?

[The Old Man]

Hi Steph,

It's been a while since I used that feature or Blogs in general, so I've just tested it. If you're used to Wordpress, you're sadly but probably going to have a shock at the lack of options and features in IPS Blog.

In fact, it's pretty depressing how little there is in the current version compared to past versions. The modern grid view looks really nice, though! Plus you can add the usual widgets to the page as per the forums, so if you have Pages, you can add as many custom blocks as you like, if not, you're now limited to just one per blog (excluding available sidebar widgets).

 

Quote

Is there a way to set how often it will import/check for RSS update, or is there a way to trigger an import?

Using a CNN news feed as an example, it immediately imported 20 articles. There is a task in the task manager which is set to run every 30 mins. However there are no other settings to configure beyond these...

The available RSS import settings.

 

 

I tried to add a second RSS feed from the BBC and found out you can't, it limits you to just 1 feed per Blog! Not good if you want to quickly add some variety or multiple sources. However you could work around that by aggregating multiple feeds into 1 using Zapier or Feedly or something.

6 hours ago, Steph Jensen said:

How can i set up the created blog post to also use the feature image of the post it imports from?

You can't. You would expect to see that option or some settings to map a feed node to it, but there's nada. It doesn't even try to do this automatically for you.

[Steph Jensen]

Hi @The Old Man

Thanks for your reply! that is great with the task! i'll simply trigger that and import. It really felt like longer though, but now i can check and make sure, or trigger it on command.

The featured image is really disappointing though (not to mention all the other features that are missing, like categories, more advanced text editors etc). Currently i am trying to gather a place for bloggers to share their content though, and the lack of featured images, really makes this a half solution for me. Is there an app or plug in that can do this better?

[The Old Man]

You're welcome. I searched before posting and there were only 3 Marketplace add-ons for Blogs. If you have the skills you could tweak it, or extend Blogs more fully or hire a developer, see the appropriate forum on the main index.

There is also Pages which is how they do the corporate blog here but it's limited for members, more of 1 Blog for staff. @Fosters created an app for importing feeds into Pages articles via RSS with image options. I bought it but haven't yet used it.

You mentioned the editor, you can extend that a lot with free plugins from the CKEditor site.

 

[Fosters]

3 minutes ago, The Old Man said:

bought it but haven't yet used it.

Why?😭

[The Old Man]

I was going to use it for a brand new website but never got around to creating it! Nothing to do with the app! 😀

[Steph Jensen]

@The Old Man & @Fosters whats the advantage of using pages as a blog, instead of the blog feature?