WordPress Plugin for Category Specific RSS feed subscription menu

Categories: Wordpress Plugin

The ‘Category Specific RSS feed subscription’ WordPress Plugin allows you to add a menu with multiple RSS feed subscription option to your site in addition to the normal RSS subscription option. The category specific RSS feed menu can be added to a post, page or sidebar. Through this menu your visitors will be able to subscribe to the RSS feed of a specific topic/category of your blog/site that particularly interest them.

Why use category specific RSS subscription?

The reason is very simple… you don’t want to be served with Meat when you are a Vegetarian! If your site covers multiple topics then your subscribed readers may get annoyed when you update your site with content that they are not interested in and they get a notification in their RSS reader. With category specific RSS subscription option, your readers can choose which topic they want to subscribe to and will only get notified when you update/add content to your site with that specific topic. Apart from the Search Engine Optimization (SEO) advantage, this is a much more neat and clean RSS subscription option. Most of the time, your visitors will not subscribe to your RSS feed if they can not choose a topic/category specific subscription, specially when your site covers multiple topics which are not related.

Installation

Unzip and Upload the folder ‘Category-specific-rss-wp’ to the ‘/wp-content/plugins/’ directory.
Activate the plugin through the ‘Plugins’ menu in WordPress.
Go to Settings and configure the options eg. your category names and RSS link of the specific topic.
Go to the Widgets menu and add the ‘Category Specific RSS’ widget to the sidebar or add the trigger text <!– category_specific_rss_menu –> to a post or page where u want it to appear.

Usage

There are three ways you can use this plugin:

Add the Category Specific RSS Widget to your sidebar from the Widget menu.
Add the shortcode category_specific_rss_menu] to your posts or pages.
Call the function from template files: <?php echo show_cat_specific_rss_menu(); ?>

Screenshot

Category Specific RSS Feed Screenshot

Download Latest Version (v1.5)

Download the Category Specific RSS plugin.

Additional Documentation

Display category specific RSS for all categories

To show a list of all categories and a RSS feed for each of them simply check the ‘Show Category RSS for All Categories’ option from the settings menu.

cat_rss_new_tick_box

You can also toggle the display of the current count of posts in each category from the settings menu of the plugin.

Changing the default RSS image

To change the default RSS image simply overwrite the ‘rss_small_icon.png’ image in the plugin directory with the image that you want to use

Why doesn’t the Plugin Give an RSS feed?

One thing to keep in mind is that the ‘Category Specific RSS’ plugin won’t be able to give you an RSS feed if you are using the default dynamic URL structure (eg. ?cat=7 or ?p=127 etc.)

Change your permalink structure to fancy permalink (eg. www.yourdomain.com/title-of-your-post instead of www.yourdomain.com/?p=12)

You should be using fancy permalink for Search Engine Optimization too (read the following post when you get some time )

Search engine optimization tips for WordPress blog

Change your Permalink structure from the Settings->Permalinks menu (choose anything but the default one and then the feed will work fine).

Checkout the list of best WordPress plugins to find out what other plugins you should be using.

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#1 by Sean on January 11, 2012 - 10:48 am

I really like this plugin. It helps me organize my feeds and categories very nicely. Currently perusing your site for more of your awesome plugins.

thnks

sean

#2 by Aamir on July 17, 2011 - 7:44 am

So nice of you, thanks for great work,

#3 by Molly on July 6, 2011 - 11:51 am

Oh man, your plugin saved my day. I have been having major issues with my wordpress feed, and so I decided to push it over to feedburner. However, when I do this, it only showed the latest 10 posts. The posts are to be imported onto another blog, and now, thanks to your plugin, I can pull over several RSS feeds, getting all of my posts, vs. only the last 10. Thank you so much for this plugin. A true life saver.

#4 by Steve Williams on June 24, 2011 - 10:37 am

This software surely did the trick for me. Many of my subscribers and clients found it very useful to subscribe to all the topics in my blogs and sites. When they wanted to talk about e.g. new electronics that have hit the market, they would only get notified about that topic only, nothing else.I recommend this for everyone who deals with SEO.

#5 by Juron on June 24, 2011 - 2:56 am

Thanks!

this is a very useful tool for my blog..

#6 by Diego (Web SEO) on June 20, 2011 - 4:29 am

Big thanks!

Exactly what I was looking for.

Different feeds per category are essential from an usability point of view and it’s also useful for “theming” in search engine optimization.

#7 by toto on June 3, 2011 - 8:55 pm

thank you. very nice rss plugin

#8 by syoof on May 29, 2011 - 10:52 am

Nifty plug-in, this’ll be useful for many of my clients. As a matter of fact, I’ll be recommending it to a number of my favorite blogs, as I don’t always want all of their RSS topics, just some of them.

#9 by pating on May 19, 2011 - 5:12 pm

thanks for the info bro

#10 by peter on May 7, 2011 - 12:03 am

Excellent plugin works like a charm -now I have a great feed for every category -wonderful addition to SEO.

#11 by Marina on February 20, 2011 - 12:23 pm

Aha…ok! I found out that we can actually put any RSS link on “RSS Link” space..

But then how to make it more than 8? x)
Because my pages are really a lot… close to 50…

Thank you very much!!

#12 by Marina on February 20, 2011 - 11:11 am

Wonderful plugin!

But by the way, is there any way of having page-specific RSS feed? (Or any other RSS in the website? I am using Simple Press Forum and I wonder if the RSS at each of the group/topic in the forum can be gathered in a list)

Thanks a lot!
Keep up the good work!

#13 by voice conferencing services on January 17, 2011 - 11:06 am

wow been looking for wordpress category specific RSS solution for days! Thanks loads!
.-= voice conferencing services ´s last blog ..PageOne adds a national touch of Flare to the British Red Cross =-.

#14 by Interactive Intelligence on January 6, 2011 - 3:27 pm

For those who may wonder if Category Specific RSS feeds are of any benefit, let me tell you that they are. I recently switched from a single feed to the Category style feed, and I can’t tell you how many people have told me how much they have enjoyed being able to get only what they want. I think the “Meat to a Vegetarian” scenario is a perfect example. By allowing specific feeds, you can increase your following by picking up those people who didn’t want all the “noise” that comes along with subscribing to an all inclusive feed.

#15 by John Gamings on January 3, 2011 - 11:38 am

Interesting, I never knew this was possible. I personally think it’s easier just to subscribe to one conglomerated feed of all the posts, but I suppose for sites with a very broad array of topics, this could be quite useful

#16 by admin on December 17, 2010 - 10:40 pm

The settings option for this plugin can be found under the “Settings” option of WordPress. So look for “Settings” -> “Category Specific RSS”

Yes you can change the widget title from the settings.

#17 by darrell kay on December 17, 2010 - 7:01 pm

first, i do not have a settings option available to me inside wordpress, for editing the plugin or making changes.
is this because it did not pay for it? i am willing to pay in order to be able to make changes.

first question/change: i want to change the name of the title of the widget. i don’t want it to say “category specific rss”. i want to say categories and rss” or something else. how do i do it? thank you.
.-= darrell kay´s last blog ..What Is A Perfect 401K =-.

#18 by admin on November 30, 2010 - 3:32 am

@Eric, This plugin do not control the timing of the delivery. It just controls the categorization of the RSS feed.

@Ism, I am not sure I understand your question.

#19 by lsm on November 29, 2010 - 9:17 pm

hi there,

nice plugin and very useful
but the RSS link are writen that way ; http://example.com/categorie/secteurs/feed/
by me, it shoud be http://example.com/categorie/secteurs/feed/rss/

how can I fix it ?
thanks in advance

#20 by Eric on November 29, 2010 - 3:54 pm

I LOVE LOVE LOVE this plug in. Our only concern is timing. We run an Investment Firm and we do trade alerts that are very time sensitive. The fastest we can publish a newsletter and get it to people is 10minutes. Is there any way to speed up the delivery for our publications?

Great app. Congrats!

ERIC

#21 by Paul Web on November 22, 2010 - 3:35 am

#22 by Ben Stovall on October 31, 2010 - 2:15 am

Thank you very much for your excellent plugin! It worked like a charm!
.-= Ben Stovall´s last blog ..Violist Christen Lien’s ‘Ode’ to Detroit—A City in Tatters =-.

#23 by admin on October 31, 2010 - 12:23 am

You can create feedburner feeds for your different category and use them with this plugin

#24 by Ben Stovall on October 30, 2010 - 7:18 pm

This is exactly what I was looking for! I have a site with diverse categories, but I use Feedburner for analytical/statistical purposes. Is there a way to leverage Feedburner with your plugin?
.-= Ben Stovall´s last blog ..Violist Christen Lien’s ‘Ode’ to Detroit—A City in Tatters =-.

#25 by Gene Alexander on September 13, 2010 - 7:22 pm

Thank you! I just realized today we needed a categorized feed for our company web log and this does the trick. Very much appreciated.

http://blog.eracc.com/rss-feeds/

#26 by admin on August 26, 2010 - 12:02 am

@Zach, When I got to your site and click on the category feeds I can see the feed fine. What issue do you get?

#27 by Zach K on August 25, 2010 - 1:11 pm

My feeds aren’t working on my website…..don’t know why

#28 by admin on August 14, 2010 - 10:59 pm

@Joel, that is a bit strange. Do you get page not found for the image or the category or the whole page where the widget is embedded?

#29 by Joel Galbraith on August 14, 2010 - 1:22 am

Odd thing happening. I upgraded the blog to 3.x, and my theme as well. Now when image is on left, I get “page not found” error. If RSS image is on right, everything works fine–switch it back to left, all category links broken again.
.-= Joel Galbraith´s last blog ..Copying video clips from DVDs for course use–It’s now ok! =-.

#30 by Patrick McGuire on August 12, 2010 - 12:07 am

Ruhul, I am a huge fan of yours. Always using your plugins (eStore, eMember, Affiliate) and loving them.

I have yet to load this one, but want to say, although I agree that a plug-in without your tagline and link at the bottom would be nice, I totally understand the reasons for your tag line and link.

its called MARKETING people! Wake up, you are getting a serious kick butt RSS plug-in for free and increasing your potential to make money, share your message and grow your network.

I can’t wait to get this working to my advantage on my sites. Thanks Ruhul, you are always a pro.
.-= Patrick McGuire´s last blog ..405 Pound Bench Press Video =-.

#31 by Uwe Raabe on August 10, 2010 - 5:58 am

This is exactly what I was looking for, thanks!
Hint: it doesn’t work when a user defined name is used for the categories in permalink settings.
.-= Uwe Raabe´s last blog ..“simulating a computer with an infinite amount of memory” =-.

#32 by admin on August 8, 2010 - 11:01 pm

Yes you can place your category specific rss in a post or page too. Simply use the following shortcode on your post or page:

[category_specific_rss_menu]

#33 by Sean Hoey on August 8, 2010 - 7:40 pm

Hi, just wondering if its possible you could add a page option. A bit like ezinearticles where it lists the category feeds in a page. That would be a great option.
.-= Sean Hoey´s last blog ..Alaska Black Bear Hunting- From Danger to Darkness =-.

#34 by admin on May 30, 2010 - 10:21 pm

you can use a select input field so show the categories in a dropdown.

#35 by mssbee on May 29, 2010 - 10:02 pm

I have lots of categories and would like to have the feeds in a drop down. How would I alter the code for that?

#36 by Karen on May 27, 2010 - 10:20 am

Thank you for the quick response.

#37 by admin on May 26, 2010 - 5:09 am

@Karen, Please check the checkbox that says “Show Category RSS for All Categories” and you don’t have to worry about the 8 custom categories that you can setup RSS for.

#38 by Karen on May 25, 2010 - 12:17 pm

Just downloaded latest version 1.5 and it still shows just 8 categories. Am I missing something? Thank you ahead of time.

#39 by admin on May 22, 2010 - 12:46 am

@Joel, fixed this issue in v1.5 (please download it from this page)

#40 by Joel Galbraith on May 21, 2010 - 11:07 am

I’m delighted to have v.1.4 and like the image on the left. Not sure if this is a glitch, but when I try to uncheck the show post count box, I get the post counts don’t go away…maybe a page caching issue. I’ll keep investigating. Sorry if this is just user error.
-JG
.-= Joel Galbraith´s last blog ..this is a test of adding a youtube video =-.

#41 by admin on May 21, 2010 - 4:21 am

@Chris, There is no option to not show the RSS icon (without the icons how can the plugin link to your RSS feed?)

You may have unchecked the “Show RSS Feed Image on the Left” option. This option is only to determine if the icon should be displayed on the left side of the category name or right side.

#42 by Chris on May 20, 2010 - 5:27 pm

Although I have disabled the option to show the rss icon ( I don’t want to show it), it is shown

#43 by admin on May 19, 2010 - 4:53 am

@Rich, I don’t know of any way to show a teaser for category.

#44 by Rich on May 18, 2010 - 11:11 am

Hi – just been playing with your plugin – is there any way to add a teaser to each RSS feed as it only produces the title of each piece – or is this pilot error on my part?!
Thanks
Rich
.-= Rich´s last blog ..ANA pilots are first customer crew to fly Boeing 787 Dreamliner =-.