Adding local information to your blog using RSS

There’s a lot of useful information lying around the web that has local relevance but often people don’t know it’s there or even how to find it. For example, the NHS Choices web site provides the public with a way of rating and reviewing their local health services.

Wouldn’t it be great if you could have this information on your local blog? Well, you can! The video and instructions below show you how you can take feeds from sites like NHS Choices and have them display on your own site, using WordPress.

The principles will allow you to add all sorts of information to your blog using RSS and Atom feeds, where available. If you have any questions, comments or suggestions please use the comments section.

Instructions

1. Copy the link (URL) to the RSS or Atom feed.
2. In your WordPress dashboard, go to Appearance > Widgets
3. Drag the RSS widget to your sidebar
4. Copy the URL into the first box.
5. Configure the remaining options according to your preferred display
6. Click Save
7. Refresh your blog and you should see the new widget appear in your sidebar