Feeds (RSS and JSON)

Perron can create RSS and JSON feeds of your collections.

The feeds helper automatically generates HTML <link> tags for your site's RSS and JSON feeds.

Usage

In your 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, you can exclude collections:

<%= 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.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 file

If you prefer to manage authors in a data file instead of individual content resources, you can create a YAML file in app/content/data/ (e.g., app/content/data/authors.yml or app/content/data/team.yml):

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, your data must include at least name and email keys (or just name for JSON feeds). You can add any additional keys for your own use.

Then override the author method in your resource model:

class Content::Post < Perron::Resource
  def author
    super || Perron::Site.data.authors[metadata.author_id]
  end
end