File: README.md

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README.md

File:	`README.md`
Role:	Documentation
Content type:	`text/markdown`
Description:	Documentation
Class:	RSS Fetch XML Fetch and cache an RSS or an Atom feed from a URL
Author:	By Mike Jordan
Last change:	Change cache directory path in configuration Updated cache directory path in rss_config.php. Fix formatting issues in README.md Revise application description and configuration details Updated the README to reflect changes in the application description and configuration settings. Fix typo in README regarding RSS APIs Update README to clarify cached XML file saving Update README to clarify CDN handling of requests
Date:	3 months ago
Size:	`5,436 bytes`

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<h3 align="center">rssFetchXml</h3>

rssFetchXml is an RSS and Atom reader that uses PHP, Javascript and HTML to display XML feeds
<br />
<a href="https://github.com/github_username/repo_name">View Demo</a>

</div>

<details> <summary>Table of Contents</summary> <ol>

<li>
  <a href="#about-the-project">About The Project</a>
  <ul>
    <li><a href="#built-with">Built With</a></li>
  </ul>
</li>
<li>
  <a href="#getting-started">Getting Started</a>
  <ul>
    <li><a href="#prerequisites">Prerequisites</a></li>
    <li><a href="#installation">Installation</a></li>
  </ul>
</li>
<li><a href="#usage">Usage</a></li>
<li><a href="#license">License</a></li>
<li><a href="#contact">Contact</a></li>

</ol> </details>

About The Project

rssFetchXml Features:

Avoids using commercial RSS APIs that may require a subscription and fees
Compact code that simplifies adding an RSS feed to a webpage utilizing PHP's simplexml, cURL and Javascript.
Does not require allow_url_fopen enabled.
Using simplexml with cURL sends "friendly" RSS requests that CDNs such as Cloudflare may treat as bots with other methods.
Auto saves cached XML files.
Cache dir, cache expiration time, max number of feed links and custom error message set in config file.

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Built With

Javascript
PHP (v8.2)

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Getting Started

Prerequisites

PHP (v7.2+)
cURL extension enabled
libxml extension enabled

Installation

Upload rssFetchXml.php, rss_config.php and rss_fetch.js to a directory on your server. rssFetchXml.php and rss_config.php must be in the same directory.

Open `rss_config.php` and edit the following variables
return [
 "cache_dir" => "path/to/cache/", //Path to cache dir
 "cache_expire" => 3600, //Cache expire in secs - ie: 3600 = 1 hr
 "rss_error" => "RSS fetch failed - RSS Url or feed may be unavailable", //Custom error message on feed failure
 "rss_max" => 12 //Max number of links displayed
];

Open `rss_fetch.js` and edit the following variable
let rssUrl = "https://somesite.com/rss/rssFetchXml.php";

Add `rss_fetch.js` script link to your HTML template right before the closing `</body>` tag
<script src="https://somesite.com/rss/rss_fetch.js"></script>

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Usage

Add an empty HTML div where you want to display the RSS feed. Set its class as `rss-feed` and the data attribute `data-rss` value as the RSS feed URL.
<div class="rss-feed" data-rss="https://somesite.com/rss/feeds/feed.xml"></div>

This will return a HTML formatted block with the following structure:
<div class="rss-feed" data-rss="https://somesite.com/rss/feeds/feed.xml">
 <div class="rss-header"><a href="https://somesite.com/" target="_blank">Channel Title</a></div>
 <div class="rss-wrapper">
   <div class="rss-link"><a href="https://somesite.com/item.html" target="_blank">Item 1 Title</a></div>
   <div class="rss-link"><a href="https://somesite.com/item2.html" target="_blank">Item 2 Title</a></div>
   <div class="rss-link"><a href="https://somesite.com/item3.html" target="_blank">Item 3 Title</a></div>
 </div>
</div>

Add the following CSS properties to your CSS file to format your feed
.rss-feed {
 padding: .5rem;
 background-color: #fff;
 border: .063rem solid #aaa;
}
.rss-header {
 padding: .5rem;
}
.rss-header a {
 font-weight: bold;
 padding: .5rem;
 color: #000;
 text-decoration: none;
}
.rss-wrapper {
 height: 10rem;
 overflow-x: hidden;
 overflow-y: scroll;
 padding: .5rem;
}
.rss-link a {
 text-decoration: none;
}

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Troubleshooting

If your are displaying the custom error message, check that the RSS feed URL is correct. Some site's CDNs may use strict security and are treating you request as a bot and returning forbidden codes. You will need to create a proxy feed from a site such as Google's <a href="https://feedburner.google.com/">Feedburner</a>.
If no RSS content or error messages are being displayed, check the cache dir path you set in `rss_config` is valid and exists. Also check the URL set in `rss_fetch.js` is correct as well the script URL.

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