You don’t need to be a spreadsheet geek to create your own feed reader and stay updated with the latest blog articles from your favorite websites. With the IMPORTFEED function in Google Sheets, you can easily achieve this and more!
The Purpose of Google Sheets IMPORTFEED Formula
The IMPORTFEED formula in Google Sheets allows you to import RSS or ATOM feeds from your favorite blogs or websites into a human-readable format within a Google Doc Spreadsheet. This formula gives you great control over the feeds you import.
How to Use IMPORTFEED Function in Google Sheets
To use the IMPORTFEED function in Google Sheets, follow the syntax below:
IMPORTFEED(url, [query], [headers], [num_items])Now let’s break down the different components of the function:
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URL: This is the RSS or ATOM feed URL of your favorite blogs or websites. Finding the feed URL is easy. Just right-click anywhere on the webpage and click on “View Page Source.” Alternatively, you can use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+U (on Google Chrome) to view the page source. Search for the keyword “feed” to find the feed URL, which you can then use with the IMPORTFEED function.
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QUERY: While the URL is the only required component to pull RSS feed data using the IMPORTFEED function, understanding the other components gives you better control over your imported feed. The QUERY component specifies what data to fetch from the RSS or ATOM feed URL. By default, the query is set to “items,” but there are other query options available.
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HEADERS: The HEADERS component is optional but useful for displaying fetched data with proper column headings. It accepts boolean TRUE or FALSE.
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NUM_ITEMS: If you want to limit the number of contents the IMPORTFEED function returns, you can specify the number of items using this component. When omitted, the function will fetch all the recently published contents.
Now that we’ve covered the basics, let’s move on to some examples of how to use IMPORTFEED function in Google Sheets.
Google Sheets IMPORTFEED Function Examples
For the examples below, we’ll be using my own blog’s feed URL. Feel free to replace it with the feed URL of your choice.
Example 1: Use the IMPORTFEED function to fetch the item title of the most recent 2 posts.
=IMPORTFEED("https://infoinspired.com/feed/","items title",FALSE,2)Example 2: Fetch the item title of the most recent 2 posts with column headings.
Example 3: Fetch the most recent 2 items with column headings.
This is similar to the previous formula, but here you should change the value in Cell B2 to “items” instead of “items title.”
Example 4: Fetch a summary of the most recent 1 item with column headings.
As you can see, Google Sheets allows you to use different sheet tabs to fetch different feed content, giving you the flexibility to create your own personalized feed reader. The IMPORTFEED function is a powerful tool that helps you stay up to date with your favorite blogs and websites right within your spreadsheet.
That’s all there is to it! Now you can start exploring the world of feed reading with Google Sheets. To learn more tips and tricks about Google Sheets and other topics, visit Crawlan.com. Enjoy and happy reading!
