RSS feed screenshot

I didn’t realize RSS feeds were still a thing, so (naturally), I wanted one. Turns out Jekyll basically does it for you.


Step 1 - The Plugin

GitHub Pages supports jekyll-feed out of the box — no custom build step needed. Add it to _config.yml:

plugins:
  - jekyll-feed

Push that and your feed is live at /feed.xml. Easy. Like Sunday morning.


Step 2 - Add It - Make It Discoverable

Browsers and RSS readers look for a <link> tag in the page head to auto-detect feeds. Add this to the <head> of your layouts:

<link rel="alternate" type="application/atom+xml" title="Rachel Sprague" href="/feed.xml">

Then add a visible link somewhere on the page — I put mine in the footer:

<a href="/feed.xml">RSS</a>

Step 3 - Rejoice

That’s the whole thing. We did it, Joe.


RSS Readers

It’s been a long time since I’ve used an RSS Reader (RIP Google Reader). Apparantly I already have a Feedly account so I downloaded the app and am trying it out.


Tools & Skills

  • Jekyll
  • GitHub Pages
  • RSS / Atom
  • jekyll-feed plugin