Overview

Manually tracking multiple RSS feeds and organizing article data wastes time and invites errors. This automation continuously monitors specified RSS feeds, extracts titles and links, categorizes articles by keyword, and updates Google Sheets row by row—turning chaotic feeds into structured, searchable records.

The Impact

  • Automate data capture. No more manual copying of article titles and links from RSS feeds.
  • Classify on the fly. Instantly tag articles by category using keyword detection.
  • Maintain clean records. Append or update rows in Google Sheets with structured, consistent data.
  • Save hours weekly. Eliminate tedious feed monitoring and manual spreadsheet updates.

Who This Is For

  • Media teams tracking and archiving industry news from multiple RSS sources.
  • Local market managers monitoring restaurant-related announcements for sentiment analysis.
  • Real estate agents aggregating listings and news tagged with realtor or real estate keywords.
  • Content analysts needing continuous, categorized feed data in a centralized spreadsheet.

How It Works

1
  1. Fetch and parse RSS
  2. Retrieve RSS XML from the specified URL and extract articles with titles and links.
2
  1. Loop through articles
  2. For each article, extract data and classify it based on keyword matching in the title.
3
  1. Increment row index
  2. Advance the Google Sheets row pointer to write new or update existing rows sequentially.
4
  1. Format row data
  2. Package title, link, and category into a row array matching spreadsheet headers.
5
  1. Write to Google Sheets
  2. Append or update the formatted row in the target spreadsheet and worksheet based on the row index.

What You'll Need

Before using this template, make sure you have:

  • A Google Sheets spreadsheet with a worksheet tab named and headers set as: title, link, category.
  • Google OAuth credentials configured for authorized access to Google Sheets.
  • The RSS feed URL(s) you want to monitor (must be valid RSS/Atom links).
  • The Spreadsheet ID and exact worksheet name where data will be written.

How to Use

  1. Step 1. Prepare your Google Sheet
  2. Create a spreadsheet and set the first row headers: title, link, category in the target worksheet.

  3. Step 2. Configure credentials
  4. Set up Google OAuth credentials to enable this workflow to access and modify your Google Sheets.

  5. Step 3. Fill in parameters
  6. Input the RSS feed URL, Spreadsheet ID, worksheet name, and starting row index (0 to append).

  7. Step 4. Run the workflow
  8. Execute the workflow to begin fetching, categorizing, and logging articles automatically.

  9. Step 5. Verify results
  10. Check your Google Sheets to confirm articles are correctly logged with categories and links.

FAQs

How does the workflow categorize articles?
It uses keyword matching in article titles to assign categories like "real_estate" or "restaurant"; unmatched titles default to "other".
Can I monitor multiple RSS feeds at once?
This template processes one RSS feed URL at a time; to monitor multiple feeds, run separate instances or extend the workflow accordingly.
What happens if the RSS feed is unreachable?
The workflow returns an empty article list and logs the error, preventing data corruption but requiring manual review.
How does it decide whether to append or update rows in Google Sheets?
Based on the RowIndex parameter: 0 means always append at the end, any other number updates or overwrites the specified row.
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