RSS and Atom Glossary

Learn core RSS and Atom concepts, common feed issues, and how FeedInspector checks them.

Use this glossary to understand feed fields quickly, debug failures, and improve how your feeds perform in readers, pipelines, and search systems.

Understand how RSS 2.0 and Atom differ and how to support both safely.

Why clean XML is required before any feed field can be trusted.

How title values identify your feed and help users trust the source.

Use a short summary that explains feed scope and content type.

Unique identifiers prevent duplicate stories and update collisions.

Absolute links keep readers and crawlers pointed to the correct item page.

pubDate, updated, and lastBuildDate fields support ordering and freshness checks.

rel self links tell clients the canonical feed URL.

Use full content fields when your feed should include complete article text.

Enclosures and media tags connect feed items to audio, video, and image assets.

Namespaces define extension vocabularies like content, media, and itunes.

Redirect behavior and XML content types affect feed fetch reliability.

FAQ

What is the difference between RSS and Atom?

Both are XML feed formats. Atom has a stricter base schema and uses id and updated fields by default.

Why does my feed fail validation?

Common causes are broken XML, invalid dates, duplicate GUIDs, and non XML content type headers.

What is a GUID and why must it be unique?

A GUID or Atom id is the stable item identifier. Reusing one value can cause duplicate or missing items in readers.

What is content:encoded?

content:encoded is an extension field for full HTML article content in RSS items.