RSS & Atom Feeds
A source runs but its section stays empty
When a source fetches stories and files none, it is marked nothing kept, and the message beside it names the reason that accounted for most of them — for example Fetched 40 items and kept none — 40 of them because they are older than the freshness window. Runs shows the same for every check.
A source whose stories the site already has is working, not failing, and is not marked nothing kept.
A feed that is valid but has no items at the moment is also working. Some publishers empty their feed between updates; arXiv’s subject feeds, for example, have no papers at weekends. Test feed says so, you can add it, and its runs collect nothing until new items appear, without being marked nothing kept.
The usual reasons
| They are older than the freshness window | The feed has not been updated recently, or its stories are older than Freshness window (hours) in Rules. Use Test feed to check the newest item’s date. To carry a source’s stories whatever their age, give that source its own window in Edit. |
|---|---|
| The address was reached, but nothing in the response was a feed | The address is a web page, not a feed. Many publishers answer an unknown feed address with their ordinary site, or with a “checking your browser” page. Find the publisher’s own feed link. |
| Their publisher is not on this site’s approved list | The stories link to a site that is not in Rules → Publishers this site carries. A source’s own site is always carried; this list is for the other sites an aggregator links to. Add the domain there — one per line, adding to the list rather than replacing it. |
| The curator scored them below the publishing floor | The stories were judged not newsworthy enough for Minimum score to publish in Rules, or not news for this site. Lower the floor, or adjust House rules for the curator. |
Aggregator feeds
A search feed or a roundup links to other people’s articles. Tick aggregator on that source so each story is credited to the site it links to, rather than to the aggregator.
Fixing a source
Press Edit on the source to correct its name, feed address, sections, aggregator setting, how often it is checked and its own freshness window, then Save. There is no need to delete it and add it again, which would lose its history. Run now checks it straight away.
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