Description
Many services (news aggregators, partner platforms, mobile apps, internal tools) read a “feed”: a web address that returns your latest content in a fixed structure. WordPress has a built-in RSS feed, but its structure is fixed. FeedWeaver lets you decide which fields are included, what each one is called and how the document is organized, then gives you a permanent address for the result.
What you can do
- Create any number of feeds, each with its own address of the form
/feedweaver/your-feed-name/. - Choose one or more public content types (posts, pages or custom post types) and optionally narrow a feed to selected categories, tags or other taxonomy terms.
- Map WordPress fields (title, permalink, excerpt, dates, author, featured image, categories, post ID, GUID, custom fields and taxonomy terms) to the names and nesting you need, such as
media/thumbnail. - Output custom XML, JSON or RSS 2.0.
- For XML and RSS, declare namespaces (such as Dublin Core or Media RSS), set attributes on elements, repeat elements for lists such as categories, and control the order of elements.
- For RSS, get a valid channel and items with sensible defaults: RFC 822 dates, a stable GUID, an enclosure from the featured image or a custom field, and an
atom:link rel="self"element on public feeds. - Preview the exact output in the editor before publishing. The preview also explains if any items were left out or adjusted, for example because an RSS item needs a title or a description.
- Keep a feed public, or protect it with a secret token that is sent either in the URL (
?access_key=) or as a Bearer header. Only a one-way fingerprint of the token is stored, the token is shown once when you create it, and you can replace it at any time. - Copy a feed’s address from the feeds list, and copy or open it from the editor.
Safe by design
- Only published, public, non-password-protected content is ever included, whether or not a feed is protected.
- Custom fields whose names start with an underscore, or look like passwords, keys or tokens, cannot be mapped.
- Output is generated from plain text values and checked before it is sent: invalid XML or RSS is never published.
- FeedWeaver makes no requests to outside services and does not collect or send any data.
Good to know before you install
- A feed contains at most 100 items, newest first, and has no pagination.
- All values are plain text. FeedWeaver does not output HTML bodies or
content:encoded. - RSS enclosure sizes are read from files in your own uploads folder. If media is stored elsewhere, keep the size in a custom field.
- Protected feeds do not include
atom:link rel="self"(see the FAQ). - The feed is generated by WordPress, so a caching layer outside WordPress that ignores cache headers can still affect it. Feeds are cached by FeedWeaver for five minutes. See the Help page in the plugin for details.
FeedWeaver includes a Help page (FeedWeaver > Help & Documentation) with step-by-step guidance, examples and troubleshooting.
Screenshots
Installation
- In your WordPress admin, go to Plugins > Add New, search for FeedWeaver and click Install Now, then Activate. Alternatively, upload the plugin folder to
/wp-content/plugins/and activate it from the Plugins screen. - Go to FeedWeaver > Add New.
- Name the feed, choose the content to include, choose the output format (custom XML, JSON or RSS 2.0), and map the fields you want.
- Click Preview output to check the result.
- Tick Enabled and click Save. A new feed is switched off until you do, and its address shows a “not found” page. The feed’s address then appears at the top of the editor, with a Copy button, and in the feeds list.
FAQ
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Where is my feed?
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At
https://your-site.example/feedweaver/your-feed-name/. The editor shows the exact address with Copy and Open buttons, and the feeds list shows it with a Copy button. If your site uses Plain permalinks, the address looks likehttps://your-site.example/?feedweaver_feed=your-feed-nameinstead. -
My new feed shows “not found”.
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A new feed is switched off until you tick Enabled under Preview & Publish and save. Also check that the address is exactly the one shown in the editor.
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Does FeedWeaver replace my site’s normal RSS feed?
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No. The built-in WordPress feeds are left alone. FeedWeaver feeds are separate addresses.
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Can I make a feed private?
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Yes. Under Access Control choose Protected and generate a token. Readers must send it either as
?access_key=TOKENon the address or as anAuthorization: Bearer TOKENheader. The token is shown once; if you lose it, generate a new one, which immediately stops the old one working. A feed has one token at a time. -
Is a token in the URL safe?
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It is less private than a header, because web addresses are often written to server logs and browser history. Use the Bearer header when the receiving service allows it. Protected feeds also require HTTPS, except on a local development site, because a token sent over plain HTTP can be read on the network.
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Does a token change what is in the feed?
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No. It only controls who can read the feed. Drafts, private, scheduled and password-protected content is left out for everyone.
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Why do protected RSS feeds have no atom:link self element?
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The self link is the address a feed reader may use to replace the address it was given. A protected feed’s address needs the key to work, and putting the key into the document would publish it. So FeedWeaver leaves the element out of protected feeds instead of guessing.
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Why is an item missing from my RSS feed?
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An RSS item must have a title or a description. Items with neither are left out, and values that are not valid (a link that is not a full http or https address, an invalid date or an empty GUID) are removed from the item. The editor’s preview lists what was left out or adjusted, by post ID.
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What is the RSS GUID?
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By default it is the post’s WordPress GUID, a unique identifier WordPress assigns when the post is created. It does not change when the post is edited or its address changes, which keeps feed readers from showing old items as new. You can map the permalink or another field to the guid instead.
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Can I use custom fields, including those from ACF?
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Yes. Fields saved as ordinary custom fields can be mapped by their key. FeedWeaver lists fields found on recent posts and lets you type a key for others. It does not know a field’s type or read field-group labels, so values are used as saved.
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Can a feed include HTML or the full post content?
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Not in this version. Values are plain text, and the description is the excerpt.
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Does it work on multisite?
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Each site has its own feeds. The plugin’s automated tests also run in WordPress multisite mode, and its uninstall routine cleans every site on a network.
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Does it add anything to my front end or slow my site down?
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It adds no front-end scripts or styles. The admin scripts load only on FeedWeaver screens. Feeds are generated on request and cached for five minutes.
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What happens to my data if I uninstall it?
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Deleting the plugin from the Plugins screen removes every feed, its settings, the token fingerprints and FeedWeaver’s cached data. Deactivating keeps everything.
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Does FeedWeaver contact other services?
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No.
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Contributors & Developers
“FeedWeaver” is open source software. The following people have contributed to this plugin.
Contributors
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Interested in development?
Browse the code, check out the SVN repository, or subscribe to the development log by RSS.
Changelog
1.0.0
- First public release.
- Custom XML, JSON and RSS 2.0 feeds with visual field mapping.
- Multiple content types and taxonomy filtering, custom field mapping, advanced XML (namespaces, attributes, repeated elements, ordering).
- RSS: stable default GUID from the WordPress GUID, RFC 822 dates, enclosures, and an
atom:link rel="self"element on public feeds. - Public or token-protected feeds, with a one-time token display, URL key and Bearer header support, and token replacement.
- Feed addresses can be copied and opened from the feeds list and the editor.
- Validation errors name the field, highlight it and move focus to it.
- The preview explains which items were left out or adjusted.
- Uninstall removes all plugin data, on single sites and on multisite networks.