WordPress 2.5.1 RSS feed bug
Users of WordPress who have recently upgraded to version 2.5.1 should double check their RSS feeds! It’s taken me nearly 6 weeks to spot that my Google Reader hadn’t updated with the latest entries/comments from slickhouse.com!
Knowing that plenty of comments and a handful of posts had been made after May 1st, I started looking for the cause of the problem. Initially I thought it was due to the move from my shared Linux hosting to dedicated Windows hosting (at slickhouse). However, trawling through server logs showed that slickhouse had migrated long before then.
The next step was to work out what files (if any) had changed. Unfortunately 4 things occured at the start of May - upgrading to the version 8 theme; moving MySQL to another dedicated server; updating the permalinks within the database and upgrading to WordPress 2.5.1
A few Google searches later (after exhausting the first 3 things) found that many others had experienced problems with their RSS feeds after upgrading to version 2.5.1 - a bug that to this day still appears to be un-fixed.
However, there is a solution. You need to update all links to your RSS feed from /wp-rss2.php to /feed/. For the comments, /wp-commentsrss2.php becomes /comments/feed/ - much friendlier! If you’re using Feedburner (highly recommended) then you’ll also need to update the URL to your feeds within your account.
Within the WordPress PHP theme code, you can call these links using:
<? php bloginfo('rss2_url'); ?>
<? php bloginfo('comments_rss2_url'); ?>
This is a temporary solution until the WordPress development team come up with a fix to the bug, however many may switch to these URLs permanently for their RSS feeds, or at least until they break again. Let me know if you too have encountered empty feeds. And for those wanting to subscribe to the slickhouse.com feeds - links are in the top-right (hover your mouse over the RSS icon).
June 15th, 2008 at 5:02 pm
Is mySQL a web version of SQL? Just wondering as I have to learn SQL sometime I think for work.
June 15th, 2008 at 6:20 pm
SQL is the language, MySQL is one of several SQL implementations. At work we use Microsoft’s SQL (MSSQL). It’s very easy to learn, as the language reads as structured English.
June 16th, 2008 at 7:19 pm
Good!, I dont want to learn no tuff guff stuff
June 17th, 2008 at 1:24 pm
SQL is oldskool you want to try DSRD the new uber language.
June 17th, 2008 at 7:44 pm
Now that’s Justice! All they teach me at work is old skool 70’s stuffs
June 20th, 2008 at 4:21 pm
Can you network a Linux to windows wirelessly?
June 21st, 2008 at 5:43 pm
Ad-hoc? I.e. without a Wireless access point or router? It should be possible, as technically the protocol is the same, just the software at each end differs. What are you thinking of networking?
June 22nd, 2008 at 10:25 am
If I got one, need to be able to get linux EEE PC to my XP PC and a Xp laptop.
June 25th, 2008 at 9:13 pm
Ok i am going loco! I am doing a new Wordpress site at the mo and got it installed, i go to post a page and the link appears on the navigation but when you hit the link the 404 page appears. Where am i going wrong?
June 26th, 2008 at 7:18 am
It sounds like an installation issue, or the server itself isn’t playing ball with WordPress. Have you had WordPress working successfully before on the same server?
Start again with the latest version and stick to the default theme until you’re certain all the functions are working correctly. Then if you’re developing your own theme, you’ll spot the cause in no time.
Have you got example links/screenshots?
EDIT: Think I’ve located it. You need apache with mod_rewrite - more information at the WordPress Codex.
June 27th, 2008 at 7:42 am
Yeah I knew alll that ^^ I was going to tell you the same thing :s
June 27th, 2008 at 1:08 pm
Cheers, fixed it. Was being a Noobie and forgeting to change the permissions of the .htaccess file to 666.
June 27th, 2008 at 8:05 pm
Glad you’ve got it working - I like the icons you’re using too!