---
title: Webgen::SourceHandler::Feed
---
## Description

This source handler automatically generates an atom or RSS feed for a set of files from a file in
[Webgen Page Format]({relocatable: ../webgen_page_format.html}) (the format which is also used for
page files).

The following meta information keys are supported:

*   `entries` (MANDATORY)

    A LCN pattern (or an array of LCN patterns) which specify the page files that should be
    used. Other matched files are excluded from the list.

    > Be aware that if you want to include a single file or files in a specific language only you
    > need to include the language part since this is a LCN and not a CN pattern, eg. `mypage.html`
    > won't work but `mypage.en.html` will!
    {.information}

*   `number_of_entries` (OPTIONAL)

    The number of entries that should be included in the feed. Defaults to 10.

*   `atom` (OPTIONAL)

    An atom feed is generated if this key is set to `true`. Defaults to `true`. The generated file
    name derives from the feed file name but the extension is changed to `atom`.

*   `rss` (OPTIONAL)

    A RSS feed is generated if this key is set to `true`. Defaults to `true`. The generated file
    name derives from the feed file name but the extension is changed to `rss`.

*   `rss_version` (OPTIONAL)

    The RSS version that should be used for generating the RSS feed. Defaults to `2.0`.

*   `site_url` (MANDATORY)

    The base url of the website for which the feed is generated.

*   `author` (MANDATORY)

    Specifies the author of the feed.

*   `author_url` (OPTIONAL)

    Specifies the URL of the homepage of the author.

*   `title` (MANDATORY)

    The title of the feed.

*   `description` (OPTIONAL)

    A short description of the feed.

*   `created_at` (OPTIONAL)

    The time at which this feed was created. Defaults to the current time if not set. Has the same
    format as the meta information `created_at`.

*   `content_block_name` (OPTIONAL)

    The name of the block that should be used for the content of the feed entries. If not specified
    the name `content` is used. Be aware that each page file that can appear in the feed needs to
    have such a block!

The following meta information keys of page files are used if they are specified:

*   `created_at`

    The time at which the page file was created, used as the publication time.

*   `modified_at`

    The time at which the page file was last modified, used as the time at which this feed entry was
    updated.

    > This is the field that is used to sort the entries.
    {.information}

*   `title`

    The title of the page file, used as title of the feed entry.

*   `author`

    The name of the author of the page file, used as the author of the feed entry.

*   `author_url`

    The URL of the homepage of the author. Only used if the `author` meta information is also set.

The default implementation supports the generation of atom and RSS feeds by using templates shipped
with webgen (the extension `feed` is changed to `atom` for atom feeds and to `rss` for rss feeds).
The default templates are located under the ALCNs `/templates/atom_feed.template` and
`/templates/rss_feed.template` and are automatically created and used if no such paths exist in the
webgen website. You can also override the default generation mechanism on a file per file basis by
adding an `atom_template` and/or `rss_template` block in the feed file which are then used to
generate the atom or the RSS feed respectively.