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 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.

Category Specific RSS Plugin 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.

Category Specific RSS Plugin 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(); ?>

Plugin Screenshot

Category Specific RSS Feed Screenshot

Download Latest Version (v1.5)

Download the Category Specific RSS plugin.

Plugin Compatibility

Works with the latest version of WordPress.

Plugin Requires

Requires WordPress 3.0 or higher.

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).

Check out the list of Best WordPress Plugins to find out what other plugins you should be using.

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

Thank you for the quick response.

#2 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.

#3 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.

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

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

#5 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 =-.

#6 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.

#7 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

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

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

#9 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 =-.

#10 by admin on May 13, 2010 - 1:27 am

The new version is definitely up here as I just tested it. I have a feeling your browser may be serving you a cached version if you have already downloaded this a few days ago from here (the URL is exactly the same so it’s a possibility). Please try the following link from a different browser:

http://www.tipsandtricks-hq.com/wp-content/uploads/plugins/category-specific-rss/Category-specific-rss-wp.zip

I will try to upload it on WordPress.org tonight too.

#11 by Joel Galbraith on May 12, 2010 - 11:28 am

Thanks for working on this change–however, version 1.4 doesn’t seem to be on this site yet. The two download links still seem to point to a 1.3 version. we’ve installed them both, but see no difference yet in the widget or settings menu, nor in what version the plugin says it is. (the WP plugin page still shows v1.3 as well…thought we’d check just in case)
Again, thx for addressing this.
-JG

#12 by jagbo on May 12, 2010 - 11:19 am

Hello

I followed your instructions above for downloading version 1.4 with the fixed option for displaying rss feed on the left side. When I activate the plugin it said it still was version 1.3 and there was no option to set the image on the left side.

Thank you

Jagbo

#13 by admin on May 12, 2010 - 5:03 am

Hi Joel, I have been meaning to update this plugin and include the option to show the RSS feed image on the left.. just couldn’t make time for it.

Anyway, I have just updated the plugin. Please download v1.4 from this page and you should have an option to set the image on the left side (look in the settings menu of this plugin.

Hope this helps.

#14 by Joel Galbraith on May 11, 2010 - 2:05 pm

trying to get this working right on the blog..and it is, but our authors sometimes have long category names that wrap in the sidebar. It would help if we could display the rss image *before* the category name, (like you show in your sample images on this site…maybe an older version) Others have mentioned this same issue, and I diligently read the posts, but could not find your answer.
Some help would be much appreciated.
-JG
.-= Joel Galbraith´s last blog ..this is a test of adding a youtube video =-.

#15 by fast websites on May 4, 2010 - 9:46 pm

Sorry I just nade a post about an error please be advised its not your plugin it has to do with a plugin called feed wordpress thanks wayne

#16 by fast websites on May 4, 2010 - 9:06 pm

Hi I am trying to fit this to a website for a customer but are getting this error on the rss feed when I check it any ideas.

This page contains the following errors:

error on line 23 at column 42: EntityRef: expecting ‘;’
Below is a rendering of the page up to the first error.

I am testing it on the default template I can add a url but it is an adult site not sure if you would want that

#17 by TocarGuitarra on April 23, 2010 - 3:08 am

Really good plugin, we used it extensively on our sites about tocar guitarra, and we’ve got very positive feedback from users.
.-= TocarGuitarra´s last blog ..Tocar Guitarra: qué tipo de guitarra es mejor para empezar a tocar? =-.

#18 by insurance on April 22, 2010 - 12:18 pm

Thank you. this is very good tip.

#19 by admin on March 13, 2010 - 1:09 am

Yeah you can use FeedBurner URL but you will have to create a FeedBurner for each category though.

#20 by Gautam Jain on March 11, 2010 - 9:17 am

Your plug in seems great.

But can I change the the category RSS url to FeedBurner URL?

I don’t want WordPress to use the default RSS url for the categories.

I want to use my own URL.

Please help.

#21 by Ivy on March 2, 2010 - 7:56 pm

Hi Victor, This plugin should work fine with ‘Day and name’ Permalink ‘structure.

Cheers,
Ivy

#22 by Victor on March 2, 2010 - 5:08 am

hi,
will this plugin work with ‘Day and name’ Permalink structure???

#23 by sembako on January 13, 2010 - 7:06 pm

Hello,

Thx for this plugin..really help me a lot.

#24 by Esteve on December 31, 2009 - 11:20 am

I found the problem, path to image was wrong, should be: category-specific-rss-feed-menu instead.
.-= Esteve´s last blog ..Col.laboreu en l’elaboració del PAE =-.

#25 by Esteve on December 31, 2009 - 11:12 am

Hi Admin, when using the categorys setup by myself everything works perfect, except that the icon does not appear.
Thanks,
Esteve.
.-= Esteve´s last blog ..Col.laboreu en l’elaboració del PAE =-.

#26 by Kyle D. on November 12, 2009 - 5:08 pm

Thanks. Don’t know how I missed that. I do have another question. I would like for the RSS images to appear in front of my categories instead of after. I’m thinking I will have to change the code, which I am comfortable doing. I just need to know exactly which line of code needs changed.

#27 by TwtrPimp on November 12, 2009 - 4:31 am

luv the plugin, just what I was looking for. I am using it with WP 2.8.5 with a cat/post permalink structure just fine. I love the fact that it will show all cats. I will surely put it to the test, as I have over 2500 categories! I use it on my wp posting engine for all of my blogs, and each cat is a blog I run. Now I can grab a content feed off the front page of my engine w/o leaving the site. I can also create dev feeds on the fly and simply shoot them over to a new blog when I feel they are up to par. Thanks a lot.

#28 by admin on November 11, 2009 - 9:38 pm

@Kyle, please the see the reply above your comment.

#29 by Kyle D. on November 11, 2009 - 8:22 pm

When I attempt to access the Settings menu for this widget i get the following error: “You do not have sufficient permissions to access this page.” I have changed permissions for the php file with no success. Please advise.
.-= Kyle D.´s last blog ..Postin From My Blackberry =-.

#30 by admin on November 10, 2009 - 3:40 am

@Frank, Yeah the link to the settings page from the widgets menu is out of sync. Please go to the settings menu of this plugin from the “Settings” menu of wordpress dashboard:

Settings->Category Specific RSS

#31 by Aleksandra on November 9, 2009 - 5:32 pm

Great post and the plugin is exactly what I’ve been looking for.

Thanks!

#32 by Frank Thomas on November 9, 2009 - 1:56 pm

I too am encountering an issue. When I try to modify the widget in the sidebar, by choosing ‘settings’, I do get a “You do not have sufficient permissions to access this page” error?

Help?

Frank

#33 by Lucy Felthouse on November 3, 2009 - 4:54 pm

Hi, the plugin will be going on my website http://www.lucyfelthouse.co.uk.

#34 by Fabios on November 1, 2009 - 7:21 pm

Thank you that did the trick. I reinstalled the plugin ” Category Specific RSS ” and added it as a Widget… I tried to open the settings option in the ” Category Specific RSS ” and i the received the fallowing message
” You do not have sufficient permissions to access this page.”

So i think the error i received earlier might be related to the permissions issue

#35 by admin on November 1, 2009 - 6:01 pm

@Fabios, not sure what line you included but remember anytime you do something and a plugin starts to give you error, you can always log into your site through FTP and rename the directory of the plugin in question and it will automatically deactivate. Once you have your site back to normal you can start investigating what went wrong. Let me know what exactly you included using exec and I will have a look.

#36 by Fabios on November 1, 2009 - 10:07 am

I included the this line using exec.
Now i am not able to update anything at all in my WP. I am getting this error:

Warning: Cannot modify header information – headers already sent by (output started at /home/absolute path to/wp-content/plugins/category-specific-rss-feed-menu/category-specific-rss-wp.php:651) in
/home/absolute path to/wp-includes/pluggable.php on line 865

The reason i included the “Category Specific RSS feed” in a post page is because i want a nice clean overview with all available Rss feeds.

If you guys have any advice please,i am really stuck now

#37 by admin on November 1, 2009 - 7:40 am

use target=”_blank” in the href.

#38 by Keith on October 29, 2009 - 2:40 pm

How do I make the specific category feed open a new page? Thanks!

#39 by admin on October 27, 2009 - 9:32 pm

Hi Lucy, Please post the URL of the page where you are trying to use it and I will have to look to see what is needed.

#40 by Lucy Felthouse on October 26, 2009 - 3:48 pm

I managed the line break no problem, but how exactly can I add in the alignment? Every time I add it, it breaks the code completely… I’m a bit of a novice I’m afraid!
.-= Lucy Felthouse´s last blog ..Latest New Moon Trailer… I’m VERY Excited! =-.

#41 by Jos Velasco on October 24, 2009 - 3:54 pm

I would like to make a suggestion. The ability to show a random link per category nexto the RSS.

Cheers.
.-= Jos Velasco´s last blog ..Insertar encuestas en tu página web =-.

#42 by admin on October 20, 2009 - 11:34 pm

Hi Lucy, It doesn’t specify any alignment so it should take the alignment of the container that you are putting it in. You can always manually force the alignment though. Putting a line break around line 70 of the plugin file should help you add some space.

#43 by Lucy Felthouse on October 20, 2009 - 2:41 pm

Hi. I’ve got the plugin installed with no problem, but it’s centred the text, which looks different to the rest of my theme. How do I make it align to the left, and also drop it down a line as it’s too close to the widget title?

Thanks in advance.
.-= Lucy Felthouse´s last blog ..A Fresh Start =-.

#44 by James on October 18, 2009 - 3:56 am

Ha ha! Made it work. Excellent. One last question – my feed icons appear on the right of the links, rather than on the left, which makes it look a tiny bit scruffy – it looks as though another poster had this problem, and the solution was to upgrade to 1.3 – but I am using 1.3. Any advice?

Lots of thanks again,

James