Event RSS Feed Not Validating

[Josiah]

My client is attempting to import their Events into Constant Contact using their RSS import tool.

However the Events feed (and root feed) is not validating according to their Customer Engagement Specialist who use this tool: https://validator.w3.org/

Error: No DOCTYPE found! Checking XML syntax only.

I tried changing themes, and disabling all plugins but that did not fix the issue.

[Brook]

Howdy colewebdev,

Thanks for taking the time to report this. That “error” is actually not much of an error at all, which is why at the top of the validator you will see a big green “This document was successfully checked as well-formed XML!”.

You can see this error in all WordPress feeds, including the calendar. It’s basically a part of WordPress. If you try validating the base WordPress feed you will see the error there too. In order to fix this error WordPress itself will need to be patched. I believe the WordPress devs have no intention of fixing it for a variety of reasons, one of which is that it’s harmless.

So you should be all set. Assuming Constant Contact can import events in the method your are trying, then you are good to go.

Does that all make sense? Does that address your issue? Please let me know.

Cheers!

– Brook

[Josiah]

Thanks for confirming what I already suspected. Hilariously, Constant Contact’s own blog RSS feed fails the same (improper) check.

For those who are curious, this is the proper RSS feed validation tool: https://validator.w3.org/feed/

• This reply was modified 10 years, 4 months ago by Josiah. Reason: Added link to feed validation tool

[Brook]

That is ironic. I am happy to help! Please let me know if I can be of further assistance. Cheers!

– Brook

[Support Droid]

This topic has not been active for quite some time and will now be closed.

If you still need assistance please simply open a new topic (linking to this one if necessary)
and one of the team will be only too happy to help.

[Author]

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