How to Use RSS Blocks in the Sparkforge Email Builder

By Sparkforge Support Team ·Last reviewed May 3, 2026

Drop the RSS Header and RSS Items blocks into the email builder, paste your feed URL, and Sparkforge pulls in titles, descriptions, links, and images on every send.

The RSS blocks in the Sparkforge email builder pull dynamic content from any RSS feed into your campaign — headlines, summaries, links, dates, authors, and featured images. Use them to send blog roundups, podcast updates, or news digests on autopilot.

RSS Header block

The RSS Header populates the <channel> tags from your feed. It supports four custom values:

RSS tagCustom value
<title>{{rss_feed.title}}
<description>{{rss_feed.description}}
<link>{{rss_feed.url}}
<lastBuildDate>{{rss_feed.date}}

Basic vs Custom mode

Basic drops a fixed, non-editable block: <h1>{{rss_feed.title}}</h1> {{rss_feed.description}}. Custom drops the same content into an editable text area so you can rewrite the wrapper copy.

The four channel variables can also be used inside the email subject line.

RSS Items block

The RSS Items block iterates through individual feed items. Available custom values:

Custom valueWhat it inserts
{{rss_item.title}}The item title (usually the post title).
{{rss_item.content}}The summary from the <description> tag, or <content:encoded> if missing.
{{rss_item.url}}The link to the item.
{{rss_item.content_full}}The full body from <content:encoded>.
{{rss_item.date}}Publish date in MMM DD, YYYY hh:mm A format.
{{rss_item.author}}The author from <dc:creator>.
{{rss_item.imageUrl}}The src URL of the featured image.

Loop syntax

Wrap your item template with {{#rss_items rss_items}} and {{/rss_items}} to render every item in the feed.

Rendering images

To render the image rather than print the URL, use the rss_img helper:

{{rss_img alt="alt_text" src=rss_item.imageUrl height="200" width="200"}}

Basic vs Custom mode

Basic drops a fixed loop with title, content, and a Read on link. Custom drops the same loop into an editable text area for design control.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I show HTML inside an RSS variable instead of escaped tags?
Use the triple-stash syntax — {{{rss_item.content}}} — so Sparkforge renders the HTML rather than escaping it.
How do I render an RSS image in the email?
Wrap the image URL with the rss_img helper: {{rss_img alt='...' src=rss_item.imageUrl height='200' width='200'}}.
Can I use RSS variables in the email subject?
Yes — the four channel variables ({{rss_feed.title}}, .description, .url, .date) work in the subject field.
What is the difference between Basic and Custom mode?
Basic drops a non-editable Sparkforge-formatted block. Custom drops the same block into an editable text area so you can change the wrapper markup.

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