Campaigns · 3 min read
Use RSS Blocks in the Email Builder
RSS blocks fill your email with content from an RSS feed, such as your latest blog posts.
- RSS Header shows information about the feed itself, such as its title and description.
- RSS Items shows the individual posts, such as titles, excerpts and links.
You can use either block or both.
Before you start
- Have a valid, public RSS feed URL.
- Fields only fill in when the feed provides them. A post with no author won't show an author.
- Send live RSS emails with RSS Schedule. Other sending options leave RSS fields empty.
RSS Header fields
| Feed information | Variable | | --- | --- | | Feed title |
{{rss_feed.title}} | | Feed description | {{rss_feed.description}} | | Feed link | {{rss_feed.url}} | | Last updated date | {{rss_feed.date}} |Under RSS Editing Options, choose Basic for the preset header or Custom to edit and arrange it. You can also use these variables in the subject line of an RSS campaign.
RSS Items display options
- Excerpts: a short preview of each post
- Excerpts with Image: previews with images, when the feed has them
- Title: a compact list of post titles
- Full Content: the full post as provided by the feed
- Custom: your own arrangement of post fields
Custom layout fields
| Post information | Variable | | --- | --- | | Title |
{{rss_item.title}} | | Summary | {{rss_item.content}} | | Full content | {{rss_item.content_full}} | | Link | {{rss_item.url}} | | Publication date | {{rss_item.date}} | | Author | {{rss_item.author}} | | Image URL | {{rss_item.imageUrl}} |{{rss_item.imageUrl}} gives you the image's address, not the image itself.A custom layout looks like this. Keep the opening and closing loop tags so every post is shown:
``
{{#rss_items rss_items}} <a href="{{rss_item.url}}">{{rss_item.title}}</a> <p>{{rss_item.content}}</p> {{/rss_items}} ``Add RSS blocks
- Go to Marketing → Emails → Templates and open or create a template in the Design Editor.
- Open Add Elements (+) and drag in RSS Header if you want feed details.
- Select the header and choose Basic or Custom under RSS Editing Options.
- Drag RSS Items below the header, or use it on its own.
- Select RSS Items and choose a display option.
- For a custom layout, arrange the fields and keep the loop tags.
- Adjust formatting and padding, then save.
Test and send
- Click Preview to check desktop, tablet and mobile layouts.
- Open the three-dot menu next to Preview and select Test Email.
- Fill in the test details and paste your feed into the RSS Feed URL field.
- Send the test and check titles, dates, images, links and formatting.
- To send for real, create a campaign with this design and choose Send or Schedule → RSS Schedule.
Troubleshooting
- Blank RSS fields: add the feed URL to the test email or the RSS Schedule.
- Missing images: check that the feed includes image data and that your layout shows images.
- HTML tags showing as text: see the article on fixing HTML tags in RSS emails.
- No email sent this cycle: the send is skipped when there are no new posts.