Feeds (RSS and JSON)

Perron can create RSS and JSON feeds of collections.

The feeds helper automatically generates HTML <link> tags for generated RSS and JSON feeds.

Usage

In the layout (e.g., app/views/layouts/application.html.erb), add the helper to the <head> section:

<head>
  …
  <%= feeds %>
  …
</head>

To render feeds for specific collections, such as posts:

<%= feeds only: %w[posts] %>

Similarly, exclude collections with:

<%= feeds except: %w[pages] %>

Configuration

Feeds are configured within the Resource class corresponding to a collection:

# app/models/content/post.rb
class Content::Post < Perron::Resource
  configure do |config|
    config.feeds.rss.enabled = true
    # config.feeds.rss.title = "My RSS feed" # defaults to configured site_name
    # config.feeds.rss.description = "My RSS feed description" # defaults to configured site_description
    # config.feeds.rss.path = "path-to-feed.xml"
    # config.feeds.rss.max_items = 25
    # config.feeds.rss.ref = "rss-feed" # adds `?ref=rss-feed` to item links for tracking
    #
    config.feeds.json.enabled = true
    # config.feeds.json.title = "My JSON feed" # defaults to configured site_name
    # config.feeds.json.description = "My JSON feed description" # defaults to configured site_description
    # config.feeds.json.max_items = 15
    # config.feeds.json.path = "path-to-feed.json"
    # config.feeds.json.ref = "json-feed" # adds `?ref=json-feed` to item links for tracking
  end
end

Author

v0.16.0+

Feeds can include optional author information. Set a default author for the collection:

class Content::Post < Perron::Resource
  configure do |config|
    config.feeds.rss.author = {
      name: "Rails Designer",
      email: "support@railsdesigner.com"
    }

    # or, for JSON feeds:
    config.feeds.json.author = {
      name: "Rails Designer",
      email: "support@railsdesigner.com"
    }
  end
end

Individual resources can override this using a belongs_to :author relationship:

class Content::Post < Perron::Resource
  belongs_to :author
end

---
title: My Post
author_id: kendall
---

RSS feeds require an email address. JSON feeds only require a name. Both support optional url and avatar fields.

Using a data resource

Prefer to manage authors in a data resource instead of individual content resources, create a YAML file in app/content/data/, e.g., app/content/data/authors.yml or app/content/data/team.yml:

- id: kendall
  name: Kendall
  email: kendall@railsdesigner.com
  url: https://example.com
  avatar: /images/kendall.jpg
  bio: Software developer and writer
  myspace: kendall-rd

For feeds to work, data must include at least name and email keys (or just name for JSON feeds). Then add the class_name option to the belongs_to association:

class Content::Post < Perron::Resource
  belongs_to :author, class_name: "Content::Data::Authors"
end