RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication, and it is a way of delivering the latest content from a website to the readers who subscribe to it. RSS feeds allow readers to access the content without visiting the website directly, using applications called feed readers or aggregators. RSS feeds can also help website owners to increase their traffic, engagement, and SEO.

However, in order for readers to subscribe to a website’s RSS feed, they need to know where to find it. This is where auto discovery comes in. Auto discovery is a feature that enables web browsers and feed readers to automatically detect and display the RSS feed of a website. This way, readers can easily subscribe to the website’s content with just one click.

In this tutorial, we will show you how to setup auto discovery for your WordPress RSS feeds using two methods: using a plugin and using code. Both methods are easy and effective, and you can choose the one that suits your needs and preferences.

Method 1: Using a Plugin

One of the easiest ways to setup auto discovery for your WordPress RSS feeds is to use a plugin that can do it for you. There are many plugins that can help you with this, but we recommend using Simple Blog Stats, which is a free and easy-to-use plugin that allows you to show various statistics about your site using simple shortcodes, such as the total number of posts, pages, categories, tags, comments, users, and more.

To use this plugin, follow these steps:

  • Install and activate the plugin from your WordPress dashboard. For more details, see our step-by-step guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.
  • Upon activation, you can see all the plugin’s shortcodes by going to Settings » Simple Blog Stats page. Here, simply click to expand the ‘Shortcodes’ section.
  • To show the total count of all approved comments on your WordPress blog, simply use the following shortcode:
[sbs_approved]
  • If you want to show the total number of approved comments plus comments that are still in the WordPress comment moderation queue, then you can use this shortcode instead:
[sbs_comments]
  • You can also show the average number of comments per post using this shortcode:
[sbs_avg_comments]
  • Once you have the shortcode that you want to use, simply go to the page where you want to display the comment stats. You can create a new page by going to Pages » Add New or edit an existing page by going to Pages » All Pages.
  • On the page editor screen, simply paste the shortcode where you want it to appear. You can also add some text before or after the shortcode to explain what it means. For example, you can write something like this:

Our site has received [sbs_approved] comments from our loyal readers. On average, each post gets [sbs_avg_comments] comments.

  • When you are done editing your page, click on the Publish or Update button to save your changes.
  • You can now visit your page and see the comment stats displayed on your advertising page in WordPress.

Method 2: Using Code

Another way to setup auto discovery for your WordPress RSS feeds is to use code. This method requires some basic knowledge of HTML and PHP, and you will need to edit your theme’s files. If you are not comfortable with this, you can skip this method and use one of the other options.

To use this method, follow these steps:

  • Connect to your site’s files via FTP or cPanel and go to the wp-content/themes folder.
  • Locate your active theme’s folder and open it.
  • Find the file called header.php and open it with a text editor.
  • Paste the following code above the </head> tag:

<link rel=“alternate” type=“application/rss+xml” title=“RSS 2.0” href=“<?php bloginfo (‘rss2_url’); ?>” /> <link rel=“alternate” type=“text/xml” title=“RSS .92” href=“<?php bloginfo (‘rss_url’); ?>” /> <link rel=“alternate” type=“application/atom+xml” title=“Atom 0.3” href=“<?php bloginfo (‘atom_url’); ?>” /> <link rel=“alternate” type=“application/rss+xml” title=“<?php bloginfo (‘name’); ?> RSS Comments Feed” href=“<?php bloginfo (‘comments_rss2_url’); ?>” />

  • Save and close the file.

Conclusion

In this tutorial, we have shown you how to setup auto discovery for your WordPress RSS feeds using two methods: using a plugin and using code. Both methods are easy and effective, and you can choose the one that works best for you and your site.

We hope this tutorial was helpful for you. If you have any questions or feedback, please let us know in the comments below.

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