Are you encountering a RSS feed error on your WordPress site? Recently one of our readers asked us how to fix WordPress RSS feed errors. There are multiple type of RSS feed errors and they can be caused by changes in plugins and themes. In this article, we will show you how to find and fix WordPress RSS feed errors.
Most Common WordPress RSS Feed Errors
Most common WordPress RSS feed errors are caused by poor formatting. WordPress outputs RSS feeds in XML which is a strict markup language. A missing line break or an extra tab can break your RSS feed.
The RSS error message will look something like this:
XML Parsing Error: XML or text declaration not at start of entity
Location: http://example.com/feed
Line Number 2, Column 1:
Depending on what browser you are using, your RSS feed error message may vary.
You can also see this error message when visiting your feed in a browser.
Warning: Cannot modify header information – headers already sent by (output started at /home/username/example.com/wp-content/themes/twentysixteen/functions.php:433) in /home/username/example.com/wp-includes/pluggable.php on line 1228
If you are using FeedBurner, then your errors may look different.
Having said that, let’s take a look at what causes these RSS feed errors and how to fix them.
Manually Fixing RSS Feed Errors in WordPress
The most likely reason for your RSS feeds to show error is poor formatting. This poor formatting can be caused by a blank space after closing php tag in a plugin or in your theme’s functions.php file.
If you recently added a code snippet to your theme or child theme‘s functions.php file. Then you need to edit your functions file.
If there is a closing php tag at the end of your functions file, make sure that there is no extra space or line breaks after it.
Ideally, the closing PHP tag is not required at the end of the file. This is why it would be best if you remove the closing php tag altogether.
This should fix the problem in most cases. However, if it does not fix your RSS feed error, then continue reading.
Fixing WordPress RSS Feed Errors Using Plugin
First thing you need to do is install and activate the Fix My Feed RSS Repair plugin. Upon activation, simply go to Tools » RSS Feed Fix page.
Click on the Fix feed button and that’s all.
You can now visit your feed in a browser window or test it with a feed validator tool.
We hope this article helped you fix WordPress RSS feed errors on your site. You may also want to take a look at our guide on how to make separate RSS feed for each category in WordPress.
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After migrating to a new theme (Soledad) my “automatic RSS campaign” sent out by MailerLite shows my readers the latest published post in full PLUS three snippets of the same post with a link. No idea where to look to fix this to get rid of the three additional snippets.
For a starting point, you may want to check your MailerLite to ensure it is still set up properly. Your RSS may have looked like it updated when you updated themes.
Yes, I checked with MailerLite immediately. They said it is all set up properly with my feed. The feed did not change. I’ve deactivated all my plugins, and nothing made a difference. I put in a support ticket with the PenciDesign about my new theme and they said they do nothing with RSS. I’ve checked my WordPress settings, and all is fine. It is a mystery, and I have no idea where to go from here.
If it happens with your next published post then please reach out to us using our contact form for us to take a look. Our contact form can be found here: https://www.wpbeginner.com/contact/
Most of the 9 RSS feeds I’m subscribed to haven’t been working for some time, I get an error message that seems to be linked to Microsoft
I tried this morning to see if I could fix the problem, only to have WordPress say I don’t have an account, even though I’ve successfully subscribed to these blogs for years! I don’t get it. I just want my feeds to work again. Help??
i got this error when i try to import what should i do
Fatal error: Uncaught Error: Call to undefined function set_magic_quotes_runtime()
Thanks for the tip. For me my RSS Feed for my podcast was throwing the following error: XML parsing error: :1:1: not well-formed (invalid token)
It ended up being a missed PHP close tag at the end of my functions.php file on the new theme I had installed. It actually may have been attributed to the favicon.ico refusing to be applied when trying to save the settings.
This worked for me!!
Hi,
I tried thoses solutions but not worked with me.
RSS page shows all the text and images of all the posts withous css.
Hi,
If curl_init or other curl functions disabled on server, it can be also a reason of RSS error in WordPress.
Great sharing. I have already fix RSS feed errors using this plugin. This is really an excellent plugin. Thanks for your article and many many thanks for your help.
How to fix this broken link ????
My RSS problems is none of the above. You can view it from my Entries RSS and Comments RSS found in my Meta Tags widget at my right side bar.
What could be wrong with them?
The problem I have is conflict Mailchimp and 3W cache, mailchimp will not send newsletter out unless I temporary deactivate the 3W. I not able to find someone to help yet. I contacted both no response from both. and sound it has to do with RSS because when I want to create campaign the stage where it ask example.com/feed I get error.
Thank you
Hi Wally,
Have you found a solution to your problem? because I seem to have something similar.
Nice tips for RSS feed error. I got from Google to fix this error. Thank you for helping me now.
Have a nice day. I will check back for more tips. God bless you.
Thanks for the help..
Still I see 404 not found on links like :”/feeds/1175639818555185176/comments/default”