Requesting a new Open RSS feed

If you find that a web page doesn't have an RSS feed, you can request that we create an Open RSS feed of the web page for you.

A request for a feed must be for a web page that:

• Is publicly available
• Doesn't require an account or login
• Doesn't require payment to access
• Doesn't promote or engage in any illegal activity

We can't guarantee that a feed you request won't be blocked in the future. But we'll try our best to get it resolved if it happens.

You can request a new Open RSS feed using one of the following options outlined below.

You can request a new RSS feed for any website, in two simple steps:

1. Navigate directly to the web page for which you'd like an RSS feed.
2. While on the page, add openrss.org to the beginning of the page URL in your browser bar.
3. Then click Go or Enter to navigate to the updated feed URL.

For example, to request an RSS feed for theuselessweb.com, the URL you navigate your browser to should look like this.

After the page loads, you'll likely see a "Feed not found" page. But behind the scenes, the page request will be added to our queue to be fulfilled in the order received.

Once we complete your request for the RSS feed, we'll announce its availability in our Changelog, which also has an RSS feed to which you can subscribe for updates.

We have a constant growing backlog of feed requests, and developing stable feeds takes time and dedication. So we kindly ask for your patience in fulfilling your requests.

If there's a feed you need, and you'd rather not wait for us to get to it, you can offer a one-time donation to prioritize your request ahead of other requests in our backlog. It's a great way to quickly get a feed you want in as little time as possible. To offer a donation with your feed request:

1. Navigate to any web page that doesn't yet have an Open RSS feed.
2. While on the page, add openrss.org/ to the beginning of the page URL in your browser bar.
3. Navigate your browser to the updated URL to see our "No feed here yet" page below.

Fill out the form at the bottom to offer us a donation for the feed. Submitting the form will not require payment information and is only an offer. After evaluating your offer, we'll respond with an email and a donation payment link if creating the feed is feasible given the time we have available. We can only accept donation payments in USD currency and with a valid credit or debit card.

When the donation is confirmed, you'll get a receipt, and we'll get started on the feed for you, keeping you informed via email every step of the way. Once we complete your request for the RSS feed, we'll email you and announce its availability in our Changelog, which also has an RSS feed to which you can subscribe for updates.

If you're an Open RSS monthly donor, you're already allotted a designated amount of feed requests each month for any web page.

Monthly donors can request a new feed at any time using either our contact form or by emailing us at hey@openrss.org. After receiving your request, we'll get started on the feed, keep you updated, and email you when the feed is available and ready for use. We'll also announce the availability of the new feed in our Changelog, which also has an RSS feed to which you can subscribe for updates.

Every feed we create for monthly donors also comes with prioritized customer support. We'll support resolving any issues with any feed requested during your time as a monthly donor. This includes fixing incorrect feed content, resolving display issues, and providing you with any guidance or assistance when using the feeds if you need it.

When we receive a feed request, we'll likely try to see if there's already an RSS feed (or similar one) available. If a fully working RSS feed is already available on the web, we'll likely update our systems to redirect to that. Redirecting users directly to RSS feeds that website owners have already made available benefits everyone. It saves us from having to use our limited resources to do it, it incentivizes website owners to continue offering their own RSS feeds, and encourages users to continue using RSS feeds directly from websites.

If the feed already exists but is problematic (lacking in content, has invalid or outdated information, etc), we'll create an alternative feed in the meantime. But we'll still try reaching out to the website owner to inform them and encourage them to resolve issues with their RSS feed. We want to encourage website owners to embrace usage of their RSS feeds across the web—not ignore them. If the RSS feed owner resolves all issues with their feeds, we'll begin directing all traffic to their RSS feed.

When a feed is requested, the first thing we do is verify that generation of a feed is technically possible. We test the source of the feed to ensure that the feed won't be blocked or that the website owner won't prevent us from retrieving data for the feed in the future.

If we foresee any potential problems with generating a feed you've requested, we'll communicate this to you beforehand, and give you the option to choose another RSS feed as an alternative or to proceed with your original request.

We work on feed requests in the following priority order:

1. Feeds requested by monthly donors
2. Feed requests with a donation
3. All other feed requests

If a feed isn't requested by a monthly donor or with a donation, the request is automatically placed at the end of the backlog queue, which we fulfill in the order received and as time permits.

When we've fulfilled a feed request, if you've contacted us directly or made a donation, we'll send you an email once the feed is completed. We'll also announce the availability of the new feed in our Changelog, which also has an RSS feed to which you can subscribe for updates.

Our work doesn't stop after your feed request is fulfilled. We'll provide continued support and maintenance for any requested feed as long as the feed's originating source is available. We'll also resolve any issues that are within our control. We're happy to help if you ever need any technical assistance with any feed you've requested, you can just email us.

Requests for RSS feeds are limited to a single web page. But if RSS feeds for other sections or pages on the same website have a similar structure, they may also automatically become available.

Depending on the type of website for which an RSS feed is requested, there could be different types of content within the same feed (e.g. video, articles, podcasts, etc).

If there is a specific content type you'd prefer to see in a feed you've requested, please let us know. If not, we'll usually resort to providing you with the most popular feed type, given the content. If the feed item type you'd prefer isn't obvious to us, we'll contact you to confirm which type you'd prefer.

We'll do our best to provide you with as many of these content types in the requested feed as possible. But if doing so would require a significant amount of time and effort, we'll likely add the additional content types later as time permits. If you'd prefer to see additional content types in a feed beyond what we make available initially, it will be considered a new feed request that will need to be requested separately.

It's our goal to provide an RSS feed for any type of web content. But even when requesting that we complete a feed, we may still be unable to provide it, due to reasons that may include the following.

• Access to the content is blocked
• The content has severe rate limits
• Significant technical issues exist
• Legal issues
• Privacy issues

In the extremely rare case that we're unable to provide an RSS feed for a web page you've requested, we'll let you know. But we'll still try to resolve the issue preventing us from making the feed available. We'll also open an issue for it that logs all our efforts to a resolution. This way, you and any other interested users can follow along as we're working. In the meantime, we'll provide you with some other reasonable alternative, if it exists.

If you have any unique feed requests that aren't mentioned on this page, please feel free to contact us for assistance.

Last Updated: 7 months ago