If you have read this Blog for a Longer period of time (or have gone through the Sitemap..:-)) you might have read about the DS Syndication Component in my post Overcoming the Joomla RSS Feed Problem Well, there is a new version of this component since August of this year and I must say it is better then before! Putting in multiple categories in to one Feed. Not limited to the Frontpage any more.. choose to show HTML, Images or not in your Feed, using your special images. You can create multiple feeds with different categories and different images for the feeds. There is also a module that can show each of these feed images to subscribe to or just the ones you selected Running your Feeds through Feedburner I always like to run my Feeds via Feedburner, because they have some great options! So for my new website a used the DS Syndication component to get two separate Feeds 
And I have written a Tutorial for you on how to use the DS Syndication Component and where to find it! You can find it on Improve you Joomla RSS Feed and if you don't know why you should have Feeds? Read Why Every website should have a Feed
syndicate
Overcoming the Joomla RSS Feed Syndication problem
If your use Joomla as a Blog, or if you just want one section of your site to setup as a Blog, you might have run into some trouble.
You want a feed to go with your Blog… but the standard Syndication Component of Joomla is to limited….
The Standard RSS Feed problem of Joomla
No, I don't mean the integration of Feed content into Joomla pages, there are several components that can do that very well.
That's a topic to write about some other time.
We are now facing a bigger problem, and that is getting your content out of your Joomla Blog section into a Feed reader.
And possible with all the layout of your page, including pictures, hyperlinks and paragraph layout.
If you use the standard Syndicate Component, you can set some parameters, but you can only syndicate the front page.
And all off your nicely placed page layout is stripped of all HTML coding one the Feed is created :-(
Leaving you with one big blop of text in the feed that you provide to your readers….
Joomla RSS Feed with Layout and other then the Frontpage
Is it possible? Keeping your post – page layout and using another part of the site for the Feed?
Yes, it can be done, with a special component.
There are two components that let you create a feed other then the Frontpage.
The first on is from Run-Digital and is called RSS Feed manager, and is an easy to use component if you limit the feed content to just a number of introduction words and then the link to the whole page.
The other one is much lesser known… probably because most people just syndicate the Intro.
But what if you want to Feed the whole post content? and with all the layout and stuff…
I that case you need DS-Syndicate from www.joomlafun.com !!
This Component lest you choose if you want a categorie content, or several ones to go into the feed, or just the Frontpage, or both.
But the best part is… the complete layout is still there !! No HTML stripping, just as you wrote it it gets it's way into the Feed.
Now you can create and use your Joomla based Blog with an RSS Feed the way you alway wanted.
And if you still are not ready to use this feature of Joomla, then I suggest you read my post on seo4joomla.wordpress.com
Setting Up Joomla RSS Feed
How To Feed Your visitor Joomla RSS Newsfeeds
Limited Syndication in Joomla
The basic Joomla RSS feed possibility is Limited to the Frontpage items.
It is standard set to on, and You can Find the Configuration one Components – Syndicate.
Most people overlook this or are looking at the Feeds section.
In short, RSS Stands for Real Simple Syndication, although there are other abbreviations.
The better Joomla RSS Feed Manager
As said, the basic Joomla Syndication is limited to the Frontpage or One other Category.
To overcome this problem I suggest You install Run-Digital RSS Feed Manager
This lets You choose from a number of categories to put into the feed, Like Blogging, News, Newsflashes and Your basic best Categorie That Your users are most likely to subscribe to.
Configuration of the Joomla Syndication Component.
Once You installed the component and chosen the Categories to Syndicate, there are a few other things to Change.
Setting For the standard Joomla RSS feed is done through the Main Control Panel, Choose Components and from there “Syndication”.
These settings also apply to the standard Joomla Syndication Component.
The Items You really have to change are Title and description…
There are about 802.000 Joomla Syndication URLs in Google that say that they are a Joomla! Powered website……
So please change this to your own Title and description, and don't forget to Change the Image Alt description as well.
SEO Tip: Put your major keyword in all three items.
Other parameters to look at
Cache Time
I suggest your change the Cache Time to fit your Publishing schedule, for a news site, you can leave this to the standard 3600 seconds = 1 Hour.
If Your site is not changed that often, set it a LOT Higher like 86400 = 24 Hours or more.
Number of Items
These are the total of Items included in the Feed.
For most websites this will be enough, if Your site is really buzzing, set it to 10.
Limit text and Text Lenght
These two belong together.
If you limit your text to put into the feed, users will get a Link to read more on the site, thus giving your more page hits.
Now 20 words is very limited, set it according to the length of words of your normal text introduction.
My option would be to set Limit text to NO, your readers will appreciate it a lot more!
And you stand out of the crowd in a positive way, and for the number of page hits.. your readers are more likely to visit you again and again.
Providing of course you give them the right content in the feeds.
Finishing and Testing Your feed
Subscripe to Your own Feed with a Feed Reader and check if you receive the Information you want Your users to get.
If its not what you want, go back and set it right.
If your are happy with this, then take the next step…get Feedburner setup at www.feedburner.com
