Support » Fixing WordPress » RSS button has started linking to a blank page at Feedburner

  • I am not expert on rss/feeds etc. I have been using Feedburner to help readers subscribe, and the subscribe-by-email form seem to work, but the rss button now links to a blank page.

    This is the URL that leads to a blank page:
    http://feeds.feedburner.com/speechtalk

    This is the page on my blog where I have the button.
    http://www.englishspeechservices.com/blog/?page_id=110

    Feedvalidator says the links are OK.

    I have spent most of a day trying to find solutions to this online, but I understand very few of them. I’ve tried de-activating and re-activating Feedburner FeedSmith (which I have installed even though I don’t understand what it is).

    Any suggestions gratefully received. If they involve editing code, please be as explicit as possible about what and where. THANKS.

Viewing 15 replies - 1 through 15 (of 35 total)
  • The base RSS link to your feed is good:

    http://www.englishspeechservices.com/blog/?feed=rss2

    However, Feedburner doesn’t like the XML it makes. I know that because I just ran your feed through Feedburner and it said so.

    http://i.imgur.com/OSdsz.png

    Specifically, there’s a problem with the embed code for an embedded Google Player file in one of your entries that is making Feedburner puke.

    http://feedvalidator.org/check.cgi?url=http%3a%2f%2fwww.englishspeechservices.com%2fblog%2f%3ffeed%3drss2

    Your best fix is to find a way to not have to embed the player like that. An option is something like the Audio Player plugin:

    http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/audio-player/

    The short of it is, get rid of that embedded Google Player, go back to the Feedburner login panel, make sure the RSS link there is correct, and get rid of Feedsmith.

    Thread Starter deadpeasant

    (@deadpeasant)

    Thanks very much for the help. Unfortunately my blog is based on audio clips and that Audio Player, which I’ve just tried, isn’t reliable. When I try to edit its settings, the changes won’t save, and when I try editing my posts to use it, the changes won’t save. I realise that Audio Player isn’t your responsibility (!) but I mention this as it might flag up a problem on my blog for an expert like yourself.

    I can’t abandon the player I’m using until I have a viable alternative, even if it means new readers can’t subscribe.

    Your readers can subscribe using the built-in rss feed:

    http://www.englishspeechservices.com/blog/?feed=rss2

    You just can’t use Feedburner. That limits your ability to get metrics and do some social sharing, but it’s not the end of the world.

    If what you want is to be able to enable email subscriptions to your blog, there are several other options out there, such as Jetpack. Check the extend directory.

    Thread Starter deadpeasant

    (@deadpeasant)

    Thanks for this. In the meantime, I’ve discovered some kind of hacking: when readers try to post comments, it goes to a page of Canadian viagra pharmacy stuff.

    Do you think this is a coincidence, or connected to the subscribing issue?

    Anyway, I’m even more at sea when it comes to resolving the hack than I was/am with the audio/rss problem! The FAQ on ‘my site was hacked’ begins with ‘stay calm’ and then goes on for screen after screen with stuff I don’t understand. Why did I start this blog? I’ll post another question when I can formulate one……………

    Separate issue.

    I have a question about the RSS feed. My site has recently been upgraded to a new WP theme and WP 3.3.2. How do I get the RSS feed working?

    I have a second question: How do you increase the amount of audio which can be uploaded? I had 8 MB, then it went down to 4 MB with the new them; not sure why. How can that be changed?

    If you’re the same uses as deadpeasant, your site is throwing a 500 error, so I can’t answer your question right now.

    If you are not the same user, the short answer is, WordPress creates RSS feeds automatically. If you have enabled permalinks, it is always at /feed ; otherwise, it is at ?feed=rss2.

    In other words, if your WordPress site is at http://www.example.com, then your RSS feed URL is either http://www.example.com/feed or http://www.example.com?feed=rss2

    As far as upload max size goes, that’s a function of your PHP installation, not WordPress.

    It should not have changed due to a template switch. It’s possible for your theme to reset the PHP max upload size setting, but that would be an odd thing for it to do.

    Thank you so much for your response. I am not “deadpeasant.”

    I am not very technically knowledgeable. Why would my site be giving off an error? (I’ve had plenty of problems with this with my subscribers, so I do believe you.)

    How would I make the RSS feed work? I remember my web technician said it was set up, but it isn’t functional as far as I know.

    If you’re not deadpeasant, your site isn’t giving an error. Sorry if that wasn’t made clear.

    Your RSS feed works automatically. Just enter the appropriate URL, as I described above, into your browser and you should see an XML document. Since you haven’t provided a link to your site, I can’t give you better instructions than that.

    Thread Starter deadpeasant

    (@deadpeasant)

    SeekingtheTruth is nothing to do with me.

    Thanks Doug for all your help. I’ll try and think about rss and audio if I ever solve this hacking problem. I really would never have started a blog if I’d known it was this complicated! It’s like not being able to drive a car without a masters in engineering…

    NP and YW, deadpeasant. Best of luck.

    An option would be to use WordPress.com for your blog; it’s managed, so a lot of the headaches go away.

    Thread Starter deadpeasant

    (@deadpeasant)

    Of course I wanted to embed my blog in my website. I also seem to recall that using audio clips (my main raison d’etre) required org rather than com – is that right?

    Btw is com less hackable than org? Every solution I’ve read requires a special education to understand it and/or a full-time job to implement it. Frankly right now I just want to delete my entire blog.

    My site is http://www.thepostemail.com. How can people subscribe to the RSS feed? I know it worked before, but the web tech said it wasn’t connected to anything after upgrading/relocating the site.

    Thank you very much for your help.

    Wanting to keep the blog under your site is a good reason to self-host, so I get it.

    Your top-level domain (com, net, org, etc) has no bearing on your ability to host audio files. It also has no bearing on how susceptible your Web site is to hacking.

    Hosting audio files requires you to have enough space on your Web server to do that. But no, what domain name you use has no bearing on anything technical that you are dealing with.

Viewing 15 replies - 1 through 15 (of 35 total)
  • The topic ‘RSS button has started linking to a blank page at Feedburner’ is closed to new replies.