How I set up a feed based on Wordpress tags using Feedburner

This post will help any Feedburner users who are trying to set up a separate feed based on your Wordpress Tags or Categories.

I spent a while puzzling over this recently when I was asked to provide a feed just for my travel articles about Europe. I made sure that I’d tagged the appropriate articles with a Europe Tag and then tried to set up a feed but ran into difficulties.

If you use the feed function built into Wordpress this is pretty straightforward. If my normal feed for my blog were http://heatheronhertravels.com/feed I would use the Feed address http://heatheronhertravels.com/tag/Europe/feed to feed all my posts tagged with Europe. If I was using the categories I would use the Feed address http://heatheronhertravels.com/categories/Europe/feed to feed all my posts with the category of Europe.

However, if you are using Feedburner to manage your feeds and have installed the FeedSmith Feedburner Plug-in to do so, then every time you try to click on the feeds above, the feed would be redirected to your generic Feedburner feed for the whole Blog.

To get round this I found out that you have to edit some of the code in the FeedSmith Feedburner Plug-in and then you can set up a feed for just the tags you want. Thanks to Bradgrier.com where I found this useful post which gave me the instructions I needed which I’ll repeat below;

1. In your Wordpress dashboard go to the Plug-ins page. Find the Feedburner FeedSmith Plugin and click Deactivate on the right hand side. When the page refreshes, scroll down and find the Feedburner FeedSmith plugin again and click Edit on the right hand side.

2. The Code will appear in the Plugin Editor Screen. Scroll down until you find the following code;
function ol_feed_redirect()

3. Find the following code below this;
if (is_feed() && $feed != ‘comments-rss2′ && !is_single() &&

and replace it with;
if (is_feed() && $feed != ‘comments-rss2′ && !is_single() && !is_tag() &&

In other words add in the code;
  !is_tag() &&

4. Scroll down and press Update File.
5. Go Back to the Plugins screen and Activate the Feedburner FeedSmith Plugin again.

You should now find that the feed based on tags will work - for example mine is http://heatheronhertravels.com/tag/Europe/feed. In order to manage this feed through Feedburner I set it up as follows;

1. Sign in to Feedburner and go to My Feeds (Top Left on page).

2. Below your existing feeds put your new feed address in the box where it says “Burn a feed right this instant”. I put in the feed above http://heatheronhertravels.com/tag/Europe/feed. Press Next to burn your feed and then save it.

3. I now had a new feedburner feed called http://feeds2.feedburner.com/HeatherOnHerTravelsEurope

Thanks to Bradgrier.com for the instructions on how to do this.

For more articles on ways to develop and improve your Wordpress Blog go to My Blogging Journey Home

Friday photo - a Poncho to stay dry in the rainforest

When you go for the rainforest you may as well leave your vanity behind. The constant downpours and lack of a hairdryer will make your bouncy locks go limp and forget any perfume or scented toiletries or the mosquitos will soon come buzzing around.

However, one piece of fashion wear is de rigeur for every self respecting eco-tourist and that is a brightly coloured poncho. You can buy it for a couple of dollars at the local riverside store before you jump on your motorised canoe, as my friend Joanne did on her trip to her Peruvian eco-lodge. You can see her Canadian friend Sean modelling it above, completing the look with his mosquito net headgear.

There were some rash individuals who thought that their waterproof jackets would be enough, but little did they know! In the downpours that followed (doh, I guess that’s why it’s called the rain-forest), theirs were the legs and backpacks that got soaked, while those with a poncho were much better protected by the all-encompassing caress of luminous plastic.

So don’t get wet, pick up a Poncho!

Photo Friday is hosted over at Delicious baby - head over and see all the other Friday photos here.

You might also enjoy
Relaxing at the Tambopata ecolodge in Peru
Loading the dug-out canoe in Ecuador
Catfish and anaconda on the Rio Bobonaza in Ecuador

See all Joanne’s Peru photos on Flickr

Read more travel articles at Travel Blog Home

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Relaxing in the rainforest at the Tambopata Ecolodge - in Peru

After treking and sightseeing in Peru, a stay at an eco-lodge is one of the top ways to relax and experience the rainforest in the Amazon basin. After her trip to Machu Picchu that’s just what my friend Joanne had in mind and discovered that it’s called the ‘rain’ forest for a good reason.

Joanne flew from Cusco to a small airstrip and then took a bus to the river stop-off point from where a motorised canoe took her group the 3 hr journey to the Tambopata ecolodge. After half an hour, you guessed it, it started to pour and despite the canopy they were under, they all got drenched. Luckily, the rain stopped for the last part of the boat trip and they were able to spot some howler monkeys, weaver birds, eagles and parrots, all pointed out by their eagle-eyed guide, Wilma.

Once they had arrived and settled in, they were taken on a night walk, with the sounds of the rainforest all around them. The next day, they were taken by boat to visit a nearby ox-bow lake with some Pihrana spotting thrown in, and guess what - it poured again.  After returning to the lodge to dry off, Joanne was chilling in her hammock when she spotted a wildlife drama unfolding before her. A large capibara, a native rodant had hidden under a bush and was catching and eating the little birds that landed nearby, causing plenty of squawking and commotion. Read about it here in my previous article - the Capibara gets the bird.

There were around 50 guests in the lodge staying in thatched cabins and they all ate together in the evenings - a bit like school dinners but Joanne enjoyed the meals of chicken, rice and beans. In the evening it was off again for some Cayman spotting by torchlight - with their local guide Elvis whose practiced eye picked out the eyes of the Caymen in the dark. In only an hour they were able to spot eight or nine small caymen around two feet long, lurking in the darkness.

On the final morning, the group were given allowed the big treat of a cooling swim in the river  lake behind the lodge, although Joanne didn’t fancy the murky water or the thought of what might be squelching between her toes in the mud at the bottom, so she gave it a miss. Then it was back on the canoe the way they’d come and a flight back to Lima for the end of the holiday.

Joanne enjoyed her time at the Tambopata ecolodge and found it very relaxing, although she did find that there was a lot of travelling involved for a relatively short stay. But certainly a great place to unwind and enjoy the rainforest.

Tambopata Ecolodge is the Puerto Maldonado region of Southern Peru.
Website: www.tambopatalodge.com

You may also enjoy:
Defending the rainforest in Ecuador
Kapawi Ecolodge at the World Travel Market
A grown-up backpacker at Machu Picchu

See all Joanne’s Peru photos on Flickr

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