After much searching for a solution on how to import an RSS feed into a Wordpress blog, I decided to use a feature from Feedburner called BuzzBoost which converts an rss feed into html.

So… my overall approach was as follows:

1) Create show dates (gig listings) on reverbnation.com, a site dedicated to helping musicians promote themselves.
2) Enter the RSS feed url from the Reverbnation gig calendar into Feedburner
3) Utilize the Feedburner BuzzBoost feature to then import the RSS feed into the Calendar page on his Wordpress website.

Clear as mud? All my client needs to do is update his gig calendar on Reverbnation and it will be automatically reflected on his Wordpress calendar page.

Here is a step by step tutorial on how to accomplish this:

1) Assuming you have a Reverbnation account, enter upcoming show dates.
2) From within the Reverbnation, copy the RSS url.

Reverbnation show dates screenshot - click to enlarge

3) Then enter this RSS feed url into your Feedburner account. See this blog entry on how and why to use feedburner to pomote your rss feed.

Above – Reverbnation RSS feed URL as viewed in RSS reader

4) After entering the rss feed into your Feedburner account, click on the “Publicize” tab and then the “BuzzBoost” link under the left hand services listing.

Fedburner screenshot, showing BuzzBoost link

5) There is a wizard to help you configure what you want the resulting html listing to look like. Editing these options will affect how your rss will be viewed when converted to html.

6) Once you are happy with the elements of the listing (they provide a preview), you can then copy the code FeedBurner generates

Feedburner BuzzBoost Code

7) Enter the code from step #6 into the Calendar page, entering them between the [code][/code] tags within the Wordpress page content area

Feedburner code entered into Wordpress - Click to enlarge

8 ) Style the Calendar listing using css

Converted RSS feed displayed as HTML/CSS

div.feedburnerFeedBlock ul {
margin-bottom:15px;
margin-left:0;
padding-left:0;
list-style-type: none
}

div.feedburnerFeedBlock li {
margin-bottom:15px;
font-family: Georgia, “Times New Roman”, Times, serif;
}

div.feedburnerFeedBlock .headline a {
font-family: Georgia, “Times New Roman”, Times, serif;
font-size: 11px;
font-weight: bold;
color:#0B5249;
}

div.feedburnerFeedBlock .headline a:hover {
font-family: Georgia, “Times New Roman”, Times, serif;
color:#006699;
}

div.feedburnerFeedBlock p.date {
margin:0 0 0 0;
padding:0 0 0 0;
color:#666666;
}

The above example uses a Reverbnation RSS feed, but really you could import any RSS feed using the same approach. While it is possible to embed a Reverbnation Widget which displays the gig listings, I feel this approach is a little cleaner and more professional looking. Obviously this approach would also work with any blogging system (blogger, etc) other CMS systems (Drupal, Joomla) as well as a file based (html) website.

To see this in action, please visit:
http://www.chrisgamper.com

Since it is also possible to use the Reverbnation “My Band” Facebook application to pull show dates into a Facebook “Artist Page”, updating the show dates within the Reverbnation will also update the listing on Facebook AND the above mentioned website.