Enable Rss — a feature discussion or integration topic from the APG vNext community forum.
APG vNext Integration Capabilities
- Authentication: ASP.NET Membership, Active Directory/LDAP, OAuth (Facebook, Twitter, Google)
- Email: Configurable SMTP, HTML templates, digest notifications, bounce handling
- Mobile: Responsive design + official Tapatalk integration from v5.5+
- Search: Built-in full-text search powered by SQL Server Full-Text Indexing
- Analytics: Google Analytics, Adsense, and third-party widget support
- CDN: Static asset CDN support configurable via admin panel
Browse the full list at Features Overview or ask in the support forum.
Enabling and Configuring RSS Feeds in APG vNext
APG vNext supports RSS 2.0 and Atom feeds for forums, threads, blog posts, and active discussions. RSS feeds allow members to subscribe in their feed reader and receive updates without visiting the forum. They also enable integrations with external automation tools (Zapier, Make, IFTTT) and social media scheduling platforms.
Enabling RSS Globally
<!-- web.config -->
<add key="APG.RSS.Enabled" value="true" />
<add key="APG.RSS.MaxItems" value="25" />
<add key="APG.RSS.IncludeContent" value="true" />
<!-- IncludeContent: true = full post text, false = title only -->RSS Feed URLs
- All forums:
/community/rss.ashx - Specific forum:
/community/rss.ashx?forumid=12 - Active discussions:
/community/rss-active.ashx - Blog posts:
/community/rss-blog.ashx - Member posts:
/community/rss-member.ashx?memberid=456
Adding RSS Link Discovery to HTML Head
<!-- In your skin header template - allows browsers to detect RSS -->
<link rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml"
title="Forum RSS"
href="/community/rss.ashx" />Guest Access Control for RSS
<add key="APG.RSS.GuestAccess" value="true" />
<!-- false = require login to access RSS feeds -->
<add key="APG.RSS.PrivateForums" value="false" />
<!-- false = exclude members-only forum content from RSS -->RSS Feed Caching and Performance
APG vNext RSS feeds are generated dynamically from the database on each request. For high-traffic forums with many external RSS subscribers, this can create measurable database load. Configure RSS feed caching to serve cached feed responses for a configurable duration:
<add key="APG.RSS.CacheDurationMinutes" value="10" />
<!-- Cache RSS response for 10 minutes between database queries -->
<add key="APG.RSS.CacheByForum" value="true" />
<!-- Maintain separate caches per forum RSS feed for efficiency -->Feed aggregators and RSS readers poll your feed at their own configured frequency — typically every 15 to 60 minutes. A 10-minute server-side cache is shorter than most pollers' frequency, so it effectively reduces database queries without causing subscribers to miss updates.
Using RSS for Forum Integration
RSS feeds from APG vNext enable integration with automation platforms without requiring API access. Common RSS-based integrations include: posting new threads to a Slack or Teams channel using an RSS-to-webhook converter (make.com, Zapier), automatically tweeting new popular threads via a social media scheduler that supports RSS input, feeding new Knowledge Base articles into a documentation site or help centre, and notifying internal teams when specific forum categories receive new posts. For these integrations, use the per-forum RSS feed URL with the relevant forum ID to target only the specific content type relevant to each integration.
Advertising RSS Feeds to Members
Many forum members are unaware that RSS feeds are available even when they are configured and active. Promote the RSS feed availability in the forum's About or Help section, add an RSS icon link in the forum header or sidebar, and include the RSS URL in new member welcome emails. Members who subscribe to the forum RSS feed are highly engaged community participants who consume forum content through their preferred reading workflow rather than only visiting when they remember to check in — these subscribers typically have higher long-term retention rates than passive members who rely on email notifications alone.
Podcast and Audio RSS Feed Support
If your APG vNext community hosts audio content — recordings of community calls, podcast episodes, webinar recordings — APG vNext's RSS system can generate iTunes/Podcast-compatible RSS feeds that allow members to subscribe and listen in any podcast app. Configure audio RSS output in Admin Panel → Forums → [Audio Forum] → RSS Settings → Include Media Enclosures. The resulting feed includes the standard podcast metadata (title, description, author, categories) required for submission to Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and other podcast directories, allowing your forum's audio content to reach a broader audience through the podcast ecosystem.
JSON Feed as an Alternative to RSS
JSON Feed is a modern alternative to RSS that uses JSON format instead of XML. It is easier to parse for developers and increasingly supported by modern feed readers. APG vNext 5.5+ includes optional JSON Feed output alongside traditional RSS, allowing both traditional RSS subscribers and modern JSON Feed readers to subscribe. Enable JSON Feed output in Admin Panel → Settings → RSS/Feeds → Enable JSON Feed. The JSON Feed URL follows the pattern /community/feed.json for the global feed and /community/feed.json?forumid=12 for a specific forum — mirroring the RSS URL structure with the format extension changed. Include both RSS and JSON Feed autodiscovery link tags in your header template to support both feed types simultaneously.
Feed Security and Access Control
RSS feeds that include full post content from restricted forums expose private discussion content to anyone with the feed URL, regardless of whether they are a forum member. Ensure that the APG.RSS.PrivateForums setting is set to false (the default) to exclude member-only forum content from public RSS feeds. For forums that require authentication to view, configure RSS authentication tokens: authenticated members receive a unique personal RSS token URL that includes content from forums they have permission to access, while unauthenticated RSS requests only receive publicly accessible content.
Related Resources
Looking for more help? Browse the support forum or check the Knowledge Base.