Dynamic Post -- RSS Parsing Details – How Dynamic Post Handles RSS Feeds (v7.5)

RSS Parsing Details – How Dynamic Post Handles RSS Feeds (v7.5)

Here is a complete, step-by-step explanation of exactly how the plugin parses RSS feeds inside the process_rss_feeds() method.

1. High-Level Overview

• The RSS parser runs whenever you click “Refresh Counts & RSS Now” or during the monthly auto-pull on the 2nd of the month.
• It processes up to 5 RSS feeds you configured in Blog Settings.
• Only current-month articles are imported (no old archive spam).
• Every feed is processed independently with its own settings (enable/disable, frequency, limit, post status, image handling, category mapping).

2. Step-by-Step Parsing Process

1. Safety Lock (Prevents Overlapping Runs)
   • Checks for a transient called dp_rss_processing_lock.
   • If it exists → exits immediately (prevents double-processing).
   • If not → sets the lock for 5 minutes (300 seconds).
2. Load All RSS Settings
   • Reads the 8 option arrays:
     • dynamic_post_rss_feeds
     • dynamic_post_rss_enabled
     • dynamic_post_rss_frequency
     • dynamic_post_rss_limit
     • dynamic_post_rss_post_status
     • dynamic_post_rss_save_to_media
     • dynamic_post_rss_category_map
     • dynamic_post_rss_last_import
3. Loop Through Each Feed (1 to 5)
   • Skips empty URLs and disabled feeds ($enabled !== 1).
4. Fetch the RSS Feed
   • Uses wp_remote_get($feed_url, array('timeout' => 15)).
   • If error → calls circuit breaker and skips to next feed.
5. Parse the XML
   • Converts the response body with simplexml_load_string($body).
   • Loops through every <item> in $xml->channel->item.
6. Date Filtering (Current-Month Only)
   • Parses the item’s <pubDate>.
   • Skips any article not from the current month and year.
   • For Weekly feeds: also skips articles older than 7 days (time() - $pubDate > 604800).
7. Image Extraction
   • Looks inside the <description> for the first <img> tag.
   • Uses regex: preg_match('/<img[^>]+src=["\']([^"\']+)["\']/', $description, $matches).
   • Stores the image URL (or empty string if none found).
8. Respect Per-Feed Limit
   • Counts processed items for this feed.
   • Stops at the user-selected limit (default 5) with if ($items_processed >= $max_articles) break;.
9. Category Mapping
   • If user chose “Auto”: parses domain name (e.g. bloomberg.com → category “Bloomberg”).
   • If user selected a category: uses that exact slug.
   • Dynamic Post categories are excluded from the dropdown (per your spec).
10. Create or Update Post
    • Builds $post_data array with title, content, status, author, category, and date.
    • Checks for duplicate by title + date using get_posts().
    • If exists → wp_update_post().
    • If new → wp_insert_post().
11. Image Handling
    • If “Save to Media Library” is ON → calls generate_featured_image_by_url() and sets _thumbnail_id.
    • If OFF → hot-links with _thumbnail_ext_url meta.
12. Update Last Import Timestamp
    • Records for that specific feed: “Apr 11, 2026 12:39 AM (3 new posts)”.
13. Cleanup
    • Deletes the processing lock.
    • Updates global dynamic_post_last_import timestamp.

3. Key Technical Details

• HTTP Request: wp_remote_get() with 15-second timeout (native WordPress, better than curl).
• XML Parser: simplexml_load_string() – fast and simple.
• Date Handling: Uses strtotime() + date('M') and date('Y') for current-month filter.
• Duplicate Protection: Title + date check prevents duplicate posts.
• Circuit Breaker: Any fetch failure calls handle_api_failure() (same as main API).
• No Endless Loops: Lock + per-feed limit + current-month filter ensure safety.

4. How RSS Integrates with the Rest of the Plugin

• Runs alongside (not instead of) the Dynamicontent.net API.
• RSS posts are normal WordPress posts → full shortcode support, view counters, JSON-LD schema, Yoast hooks.
• No disclaimer is added to RSS posts (only API articles get it).
• Category counts (API | Blog | Reads Now | Reads All) include RSS posts.
• All safety features (circuit breaker, transients) are shared.