Better RSS Widget questions can be asked on this plugin’s WordPress.org support forum. You can also use the contact form.
Better RSS Widget Help
Better RSS Widget does not replace the built-in RSS widget by itself. After you activate it, add a Better RSS Widget in Appearance → Widgets, place the [better-rss] shortcode, or add RSS List or RSS Grid in Elementor. The older built-in RSS widget stays available until you remove it.
Settings
Open Settings → Better RSS Widget to choose the defaults used when you add a widget. Defaults cover the link target, item count, summary, author, date, time, nofollow, cache, cache duration, title length, and excerpt length. Each widget can still use its own feed URL and its own display choices. The default cache duration is 3600 seconds. Leave caching on unless a feed must be requested on every view.
Classic widget
In the widget form, enter the feed URL. You can set a title, or leave the title blank and let the feed’s own title be used. Optional intro text is printed before the list when intro text is allowed. Choose how many items to show, whether to show a summary, the author, the date, and the time, and whether links use nofollow. The link target can be none, a new window, or the top window. A title length limit shortens long item titles. The feed icon can link to the feed or to a title URL you enter.
Shortcode
Place [better-rss feed=”https://example.com/feed/”] in a post or page. Useful attributes include items, show_summary, show_author, show_date, show_time, link_target, nofollow, enable_cache, cache_duration, excerpt, and title length. use_title appends the current post title to the feed URL. use_tags appends the current post’s tag names. html_parent and html_item choose the list tags from a safe set. An empty feed attribute prints nothing.
Elementor
Elementor is optional. When it is active, the Better RSS Widget category has two widgets, and both use the same feed request as the classic widget. RSS List stacks the items. Its image can sit above the text, to the left, or to the right. RSS Grid places the image above the text, sets the number of columns, and gives the images one height and object fit so the cards line up. On either widget the title can be your own text, the feed title, or the feed description. Date, time, and author can be a stacked list or one line. You can set the feed title HTML tag and the item title HTML tag, and style the feed box, title, icon, intro, items, excerpt, date, time, and author. The item title, excerpt, and meta can each have a background color, and those areas can grow or shrink. Inside Elementor, the automatic copy of the classic widget is hidden so RSS List or RSS Grid is the one you add. If Elementor is not installed, the plugin still loads.
When a feed fails
If the address is unreachable or the feed has no items, the list shows a short error that the feed is probably down. Check the URL, then try again after the cache duration if a failed response was stored. Cached results live on your site, not at GrandSlambert.
Contact
GrandSlambert, Inc.
Contact form