How to Create a Valid RSS 2.0 Feed Online (Free)

To create an RSS feed, enter your site's channel title, link and description, add an item row for each post with its own title, link, description and date, then copy or download the generated RSS 2.0 XML and host it at a stable URL. The ByteTools RSS Feed Generator builds valid, correctly escaped markup for you, entirely in the browser.

This walkthrough covers the whole process end to end, including the pubDate format that trips people up and how to make browsers auto-discover your feed.

What the generator produces

The tool outputs a standards-compliant RSS 2.0 document: a single channel block holding your site's metadata, followed by one item element per post. Every value is XML-escaped automatically, and each date is converted to the RFC-822 format that RSS requires, so the result passes validators and works in feed readers and aggregators without hand-editing.

Step-by-step: build your feed

1. Fill in the channel. Enter the feed title (usually your site or blog name), the site link, and a short description of what the feed covers.
2. Add item rows. Create one row per post you want included. Use the add and remove controls to manage as many items as you need.
3. Complete each item. Give every item a title, a link to the full post, a description or summary, and a publish date. The date is reformatted to valid pubDate automatically.
4. Copy or download. Grab the generated XML with a click, or download it as a feed file ready to upload.
5. Publish and reference it. Host the file at a stable URL and link to it from your page head so readers can find it.

Because generation is entirely client-side, nothing you type is uploaded — useful when a feed references unpublished or private pages.

Getting pubDate right

RSS 2.0 requires each item's pubDate in RFC-822 format, for example Mon, 06 Jul 2026 10:00:00 GMT. Feed readers use this to sort items newest-first, so a wrong format can push items out of order or fail validation. The generator handles the conversion from the date you enter, so you never have to build that string by hand.

Where to host and how to auto-discover it

Save the file at a predictable path such as /feed.xml or /rss.xml at the root of your site. Then add a discovery link inside your page head so browsers and readers can find it automatically:

<link rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml" title="My Feed" href="https://example.com/feed.xml">

With that tag in place, feed readers detect your feed the moment someone enters your homepage URL.

Try the RSS Feed Generator — free and 100% in your browser.

FAQ

Do I need a CMS to have an RSS feed?

No. This is exactly the gap the generator fills. A static site or hand-built page with no CMS can still publish a valid feed by generating the XML here and uploading the file.

How many items should the feed contain?

Most feeds include the 10 to 20 most recent posts. That is enough for readers to catch up on without making the file large. You can regenerate it whenever you publish new content.

Will the feed validate in an RSS checker?

Yes, provided you fill in the required channel and item fields. The tool escapes values and formats dates to RSS 2.0 rules, which is what validators check.

Do I need to regenerate the whole feed for each new post?

For a static setup, yes — you rebuild the item list and re-upload. It only takes a moment because the fields are simple, and the tool remembers nothing between sessions since it is fully local.

Related free tools

• XML Sitemap Generator — help search engines crawl your pages.
• Sitemap Index Generator — combine multiple sitemaps.
• XML Formatter — tidy your feed markup.
• XML Validator — confirm the XML is well-formed.

Built by ByteVancer

ByteTools is a free product of ByteVancer, a software and web development studio building web apps, SaaS and custom software. If you need publishing infrastructure or a full site built for you, explore what ByteVancer can do.