Set Up BBC News Feeder: A Quick Step-by-Step GuideThis guide walks you through setting up a BBC News feeder so you can receive real-time BBC headlines and articles in a format that suits you — RSS reader, email digest, Slack channel, or a custom app. It covers options for different platforms and skill levels: non-technical users (RSS readers and email), intermediate users (IFTTT/Zapier integrations), and developers (RSS parsing and API use). Follow the steps that match your setup.
What is a BBC News feeder?
A BBC News feeder is any mechanism that fetches and delivers BBC News content automatically to you. Common feeders use BBC RSS feeds, the BBC News website, or third-party APIs that aggregate BBC content. Feeders can push headlines to:
- RSS readers (Feedly, Inoreader, The Old Reader)
- Email digests (via services or custom scripts)
- Chat/Collaboration tools (Slack, Microsoft Teams, Telegram)
- Home dashboards (Home Assistant, Netvibes)
- Custom applications (web apps, mobile apps, widgets)
Note: BBC content is subject to the BBC’s terms of use. For commercial use or republishing, check the BBC’s copyright and licensing rules.
Quick overview — choose your path
- Non-technical: Use an RSS reader or email service.
- Intermediate: Use IFTTT or Zapier to forward headlines to Slack/email/Telegram.
- Technical: Use BBC RSS feeds or the BBC News API (if you have access) to build a custom feeder.
1) Using BBC RSS feeds (best for most users)
BBC provides RSS feeds for sections like World, UK, Technology, and more. RSS is simple, reliable, and works with most readers.
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Find the RSS feed URL:
- Main feeds: https://feeds.bbci.co.uk/news/rss.xml (Top stories)
- Use section feeds, e.g., World: https://feeds.bbci.co.uk/news/world/rss.xml; Technology: https://feeds.bbci.co.uk/news/technology/rss.xml
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Add to an RSS reader:
- Copy the feed URL.
- In Feedly/Inoreader/The Old Reader, click “Add Content” or “Subscribe”, paste the URL, and confirm.
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Configure updates:
- In your reader’s settings, set refresh frequency (some free tiers limit frequency).
- Use folders/tags to organize sections.
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Optional: Use an RSS-to-email service:
- Services like Kill the Newsletter!, Blogtrottr, or IFTTT can email feed updates.
- In Blogtrottr, paste feed URL, set delivery frequency, and provide your email.
2) Email digest setup
If you prefer daily summaries by email:
Option A — No-code services:
- Blogtrottr / Feedrabbit / Feedity: paste the feed URL, choose digest frequency (real-time/daily), and enter your email.
Option B — Using IFTTT:
- Create an IFTTT account.
- Use the RSS Feed → Email applet.
- Set the BBC RSS URL and configure email subject/template.
Option C — Build your own with a script (technical):
- Use Python with feedparser and smtplib to fetch, filter, and send digest emails. Example skeleton:
# example: fetch BBC RSS and send a simple email digest import feedparser import smtplib from email.message import EmailMessage FEED_URL = "https://feeds.bbci.co.uk/news/rss.xml" RECIPIENT = "[email protected]" d = feedparser.parse(FEED_URL) items = d.entries[:10] # top 10 body = " ".join(f"{item.title} {item.link}" for item in items) msg = EmailMessage() msg["Subject"] = "BBC Top News Digest" msg["From"] = "[email protected]" msg["To"] = RECIPIENT msg.set_content(body) with smtplib.SMTP("localhost") as s: s.send_message(msg) Run via cron or a scheduled cloud function (AWS Lambda, GCP Cloud Functions).
3) Forwarding headlines to Slack, Teams, or Telegram
Slack:
- Use the RSS app in Slack or create an Incoming Webhook.
- Slack RSS app: Add app → configure channel → paste feed URL.
- Webhook method: create a webhook URL, fetch feed, format JSON payload, POST to webhook.
Telegram:
- Create a bot via BotFather, get token.
- Use IFTTT, Zapier, or a small script to poll the RSS and send messages via sendMessage endpoint.
Microsoft Teams:
- Use an Incoming Webhook connector in a channel, then POST RSS items formatted as cards.
4) Using IFTTT or Zapier (no-code automation)
IFTTT:
- Create an account, make an applet: If “RSS Feed” → New feed item (URL) Then “Email/Slack/Webhooks/Telegram” → action.
- Good for single-step automations and quick setups.
Zapier:
- Create a Zap: Trigger = RSS by Zapier (New Item in Feed), Action = Email/Slack/Pushbullet/Webhooks.
- Zapier gives more complex multi-step workflows and filtering.
5) Developer route — custom feeder with BBC content
Option A — Parse RSS programmatically:
- Libraries: Python (feedparser), Node.js (rss-parser), Ruby (rss), PHP (SimplePie).
- Example workflow: fetch feed, deduplicate by GUID/link, store in DB, send notifications.
Option B — Use the BBC News API (if available/approved):
- The BBC has partner APIs; public endpoints vary. Check BBC developer resources and licensing.
- For more features (images, categories, timestamps), prefer JSON-based APIs or transform RSS to JSON.
Option C — Caching & rate-limiting:
- Cache feed results (Redis/Memcached) to avoid frequent fetches.
- Respect robots.txt and avoid scraping the site aggressively.
6) Filtering, deduplication, and personalization
- Deduplicate by GUID/link/title hash.
- Filter by keywords, categories, or authors.
- Create user preferences (e.g., only Technology and World).
- Use simple boolean rules or more advanced NLP (topic classification).
7) Example: Minimal Node.js feeder that posts to Slack
// Node.js example using node-fetch and cron const fetch = require('node-fetch'); const Parser = require('rss-parser'); const parser = new Parser(); const SLACK_WEBHOOK = process.env.SLACK_WEBHOOK; async function run() { const feed = await parser.parseURL('https://feeds.bbci.co.uk/news/rss.xml'); const top = feed.items.slice(0,5); for (const item of top) { const payload = { text: `*${item.title}* ${item.link}` }; await fetch(SLACK_WEBHOOK, { method: 'POST', headers: { 'Content-Type': 'application/json' }, body: JSON.stringify(payload) }); } } run().catch(console.error); Schedule via cron or a serverless trigger.
8) Legal and ethical considerations
- The BBC holds copyright on their content. Use headlines and short summaries; link back to the BBC article.
- For commercial redistribution or storing full articles, obtain permission or use licensed APIs.
- Respect user privacy when delivering feeds (don’t share personal data).
9) Troubleshooting
- No updates: verify feed URL, check reader refresh settings, inspect HTTP response (403 or 404).
- Duplicate items: ensure you dedupe on GUID/link.
- Large images or multimedia: some readers may strip media; use full article links for media.
10) Next steps & tips
- Start with RSS in a reader to see sections you want.
- Move to IFTTT/Zapier for simple automations.
- Build a small script if you want full control (notifications, filtering).
- Monitor rate limits and cache responses.
If you want, tell me which platform (Feedly, Slack, Telegram, email, or custom app) you’ll use and I’ll give a focused step-by-step with exact settings and example code.
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