ScreenCloud RSS Feed App Guide

Please note, if you are using the older version of ScreenCloud (signage.screencloud.com) you can download the alternative RSS Feed guide here.

ScreenCloud’s RSS Feed app allows you to show the latest updates, news, and information from any RSS feed; be it from the New York Times, NASA, or your own. This is one of the easiest ways to share blog posts, weather updates, news, company news, and more from your digital signage screens. 

With RSS feeds, the content is updated automatically so once set up that’s it! A steady stream of the latest content for your screens to share. 

With the ScreenCloud RSS Feed app you can:

• Add any RSS feed URL
• Custom brand your feed display
• Add multiple RSS feeds to your display by repeating steps 1-4 

Here’s how it works:

1. Select and install the ScreenCloud RSS Feed app

1.1. Get started by logging into your ScreenCloud account here and choosing the ScreenCloud App Store from the left-hand menu.

1.2. By searching “RSS Feed” you can find the RSS Feed app and choose the “Install app” button to add a new instance.

2. Choose your RSS Feed to show

2.1. Next, you’ll see the below screen asking you to add your RSS feed URL. If you have the URL of the RSS feed you wish to show you can copy and paste it here. 

2.2. If you aren’t sure how to get the RSS feed URL of your chosen blog, website, or news feed, try the steps below:

• Open the blog or website of your choice
• On the webpage, right-click and select ‘Show page source’
• Click ‘Ctrl + F’ or ‘command + F’ depending on whether you are using Windows or Mac
• Type in ‘RSS’ and hit enter
• This should take you directly to, or highlight, the RSS feed URL of that page which you can copy and paste into the ScreenCloud RSS Feed app. For example, you would use https://techcrunch.com/comments/feed from the source code you've found as pictured below.
  

The RSS feed of the popular news site TechCrunch. 

3. Choose your settings

In the settings panel you will need to choose your settings for the below options:

i) Next post delay (seconds): this is how long you want to show each piece of news for

ii) Enrich RSS data using Embedly: this gives you the option to enhance your updates with other images or media items available. Turning this on will help your RSS feed to return a larger set of attributes that were available, such as multiple images, caching, and other rich RSS content sources. 

iii) Stretch images to fill: this stretches images halfway across the app, however, if you want to maintain the aspect ratio and avoid cropping the image you can disable this.

Revert to the old app - these options are only available with this switched on:

iv) Design: here you have the default option which is our latest design or the original option which is the previous RSS app design.

v) Image blending: full, medium, or none. This is how much you would like the headline and image to blend into your news display.

vi) Posts per page: you can select up to three posts per page to show side-by-side together on screen.

You also have the option to create your own custom theme. To create a custom theme, check out our guide on how to use the App Theme Editor.

4. Preview your RSS Feed app

Once you’ve added your RSS Feed app you have the opportunity to preview it before it gets added to your screens.

Click ‘Preview’ and a popup will display your RSS Feed app.

5. Add the RSS feed to your Channel or Playlist

Once you have configured your RSS Feed app it can be easily added to a Channel or Playlist to be played on screen. 

Simply select “Add Content” to open the Media Picker and under Apps, you will see all of your app instances, ready to be installed. You can also view ways you can set content on your digital screens using ScreenCloud by clicking here.

Frequently asked questions:

Does the RSS app support posts which contain video and audio files?

Yes, the RSS feed app supports Media RSS (MRSS), which will allow video or audio files to play from your MRSS feed. To enable this, toggle off the "Revert to original layout" option, which will reveal an option to toggle on "Display video content". Additional video options that will then display are "Mute videos" and "Play videos full length".

Can I make the RSS feed display just images only?

Yes, you can do this by first turning off "Revert to original layout", which will reveal the "Display images fullscreen" option, which allows the RSS feed app to only show an image. The image will automatically fit to zone or screen, but you can choose to display the image with a blurred background by toggling the "Stretch images to fill" option on instead.

What is the maximum number of posts the RSS feed can pull in?

Currently, the limit is the top 20 posts maximum that will display for digital signage.

I can’t find the RSS feed for the blog or site I want to show

It is the job of the blog or website owner to create the RSS feed URL. If none can be found, you may wish to reach out to the website or blog directly and double-check if there is an RSS available. 

Can I use the RSS feed as part of a zoned digital signage display?

Yes, when setting up a zoned display you will see the option to ‘Add App’. Any RSS feeds you have set up will be found in this list. 

How long is the RSS app shown for?

The RSS app is shown for the duration set within the playlist. Each piece of content within the RSS feed is shown for the time set when the RSS feed was first added. This can be edited by going to ‘Content Library’ and hovering over the RSS feed where the option ‘Edit this app’ will appear. 

Does RSS Feed work offline?

The new app design will work offline as long as ScreenCloud is able to cache data from your first load while connected to the internet. The old app design does not work offline.

My RSS feed title and/or content become truncated in the middle of a word, how can I fix this?

Currently, this is a feature of the app as there's only limited space to display content on screen. The new app design will display the full title and 300 characters for the main text in any zone layout. The old app design will display a maximum of 75 characters for a title and 200 characters for the main text in any zone layout.

For further questions, please contact support@screencloud.com with details.