NewsSync Installation & Setup Guide

🎯 Welcome!

This guide will help you install and configure NewsSync (FREE version) on your WordPress site. Whether you’re a beginner or experienced developer, we’ve got you covered.

What you’ll learn:

✅ Basic plugin installation
✅ First feed setup (5 minutes)
✅ Optional performance optimization (for large sites)
✅ Troubleshooting common issues

📦 Installation (3 Methods)

Method 1: WordPress Admin (Easiest) ⭐

Step-by-step:

Go to WordPress Admin → Plugins → Add New
Search for “RSS NewsSync” ou “DaazSync – RSS News Aggregator“
Click “Install Now” → “Activate”
✅ Done! Plugin is ready to use

Method 2: Upload ZIP File

When to use: Downloaded plugin from WordPress.org or received custom version.

Step-by-step:

Download plugin ZIP file from WordPress.org
Go to WordPress Admin → Plugins → Add New → Upload Plugin
Click “Choose File” → Select ZIP
Click “Install Now” → “Activate”
✅ Done!

Method 3: FTP/SFTP (Manual)

When to use: Prefer manual installation, troubleshooting install issues.

Step-by-step:

Download and extract plugin ZIP
Connect to your site via FTP/SFTP
Upload newssync folder to /wp-content/plugins/
Go to WordPress Admin → Plugins
Find “RSS NewsSync” and click “Activate”
✅ Done!

🚀 Quick Start: Your First Feed (5 minutes)

Step 1: Add a shortcode to any page/post

Easy method (Gutenberg block editor):

Create or edit a page/post
Add a Shortcode block
Paste this example: [ newssync feed_url="https://techcrunch.com/feed/" ]
Click “Publish” ou “Update”
View the page → You should see TechCrunch articles! ✅

Alternative feeds to try:

BBC News: https://feeds.bbci.co.uk/news/rss.xml
The Verge: https://www.theverge.com/rss/index.xml
WordPress News: https://wordpress.org/news/feed/

Step 2: Customize your feed display

Basic customization options:

[newssync
  feed_url="https://techcrunch.com/feed/"
  posts_per_page="5"
  show_excerpt="yes"
  show_date="yes"
  layout="grid"
]

What each option does:

posts_per_page="5" — Show 5 items (default: 10)
show_excerpt="yes" — Display article excerpt
show_date="yes" — Show publication date
layout="grid" — Grid layout (options: grid, list, minimal)

📖 Full shortcode reference: See Shortcode Documentation

⚙️ Settings & Configuration

Global Settings

Go to WordPress Admin → Settings → NewsSync to configure:

Display Options:

Default layout — Grid, List, or Minimal
Excerpt length — Number of words (default: 150)
Date format — How dates are displayed
Cache duration — How long feeds are cached (default: 1 hour)

Content Options:

Open links in new tab — Yes/No
Show featured images — Yes/No
Default thumbnail — Fallback image for items without images

Advanced Options:

Debug mode — Enable detailed logging (for troubleshooting)
Force refresh — Clear all feed caches

🔧 Performance Optimization (Optional)

🤔 Do I Need This?

The plugin works great out of the box for most sites. Consider optimization if:

✅ You import 100+ feed items per day
✅ Your site has high traffic (10,000+ visits/day)
✅ You notice slow page loads when displaying feeds
✅ You have multiple feeds (5+ different sources)

If you’re just starting: 👉 Skip this section! Come back later if needed.

⚡ Performance: Indexed Database Table

By default, NewsSync uses WordPress postmeta to track imported items. For large sites, an indexed database table is much faster.

Benefits:

🚀 10-100x faster duplicate detection (large datasets)
🚀 Reduced memory usage (less overhead)
🚀 Better scalability (handles 10,000+ items easily)

When it matters:

Site Size	Postmeta (default)	Indexed Table
< 100 items	✅ Fast (< 0.1s)	✅ Fast (< 0.01s) — Overkill
100-1000 items	⚠️ OK (0.5-1s)	✅ Fast (< 0.1s) — Recommended
1000+ items	❌ Slow (2-5s)	✅ Fast (< 0.2s) — Essential

🛠️ Creating the Database Table

Option A: Automatic (Plugin Admin) ⭐ Recommended

Coming in v1.1: Auto-create button in Settings.

Current workaround: Use Option B or C below.

Option B: WP-CLI (Developers/SSH Access)

Requirements:

SSH access to your server
WP-CLI installed (Installation guide)

Commands:

# Navigate to your WordPress root
cd /var/www/html/your-site

# Activate plugin (if not already)
wp plugin activate rss-newssync

# Create the database table
wp eval 'newssync_create_item_map_table();'

# Verify table exists (replace wp_ with your prefix)
wp db query "SHOW TABLES LIKE 'wp_newssync_item_map';"

Expected output:

+--------------------------------+
| Tables_in_database (wp_newssync_item_map) |
+--------------------------------+
| wp_newssync_item_map           |
+--------------------------------+

✅ Success! Table created.

Option C: Manual SQL (No SSH Access)

Requirements:

Access to phpMyAdmin or similar database tool
Your WordPress database name and table prefix (usually wp_)

Step-by-step:

Login to phpMyAdmin (usually via hosting control panel)
Select your WordPress database (left sidebar)
Click “SQL” tab (top menu)
Paste this SQL (replace wp_ with your table prefix):

CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS `wp_newssync_item_map` (
  `id` BIGINT UNSIGNED NOT NULL AUTO_INCREMENT,
  `guid` VARCHAR(191) NOT NULL,
  `post_id` BIGINT UNSIGNED NOT NULL,
  `feed_slug` VARCHAR(128) NULL,
  `created_at` DATETIME DEFAULT CURRENT_TIMESTAMP,
  PRIMARY KEY (`id`),
  UNIQUE KEY `guid` (`guid`),
  KEY `post_id` (`post_id`)
) DEFAULT CHARACTER SET utf8mb4 COLLATE utf8mb4_unicode_ci;

Click “Go” (bottom right)
Verify: Look for “Query OK” message ✅

📊 Migrating Existing Data (Optional)

If you already have imported items: Migrate them to the new table for consistency.

WP-CLI command:

wp newssync migrate-item-map --batch=200

What it does:

Reads existing _newssync_guid postmeta entries
Copies them to the newssync_item_map table
Processes in batches (safer for large datasets)

Parameters:

--batch=200 — Process 200 items at a time (adjust based on server)
--dry-run — Preview changes without writing (test first!)

Example output:

Processing batch 1/10 (200 items)... Done.
Processing batch 2/10 (200 items)... Done.
...
Migration complete: 2000 items migrated.

⚠️ Backup first! Always backup your database before migrations.

❌ Troubleshooting

Installation Issues

“Plugin could not be activated”

Causes:

PHP version too old (requires 7.4+)
Missing WordPress requirements
File permissions incorrect

Fixes:

✅ Check PHP version: Settings → Site Health → Info → Server
- If < 7.4, contact hosting to upgrade
✅ Check file permissions: Files should be 644, folders 755
✅ Check error log: Enable WP_DEBUG (see below)

“Upload failed” or “Destination folder already exists”

Fixes:

✅ Delete old version: Plugins → Deactivate → Delete → Try again
✅ Use FTP method: Upload manually to /wp-content/plugins/
✅ Check disk space: Contact hosting if server full

Feed Display Issues

Feed shows “No items found”

Causes:

Invalid feed URL
Feed is empty/private
Caching issue

Fixes:

✅ Test feed URL: Open in browser (should show XML)
✅ Validate feed: Use W3C Feed Validator
✅ Clear cache: Settings → NewsSync → Force Refresh
✅ Try different feed: Test with https://wordpress.org/news/feed/

Feed items look broken/unstyled

Causes:

Theme CSS conflicts
JavaScript errors
Plugin conflict

Fixes:

✅ Switch to default theme: Test with Twenty Twenty-Four
✅ Disable other plugins: Test with only NewsSync active
✅ Check browser console: Look for JavaScript errors (F12)

Images not showing

Causes:

Feed doesn’t include images
Image URLs broken/expired
Hotlink protection on source site

Fixes:

✅ Check feed has images: View feed XML, look for <enclosure> ou <media:content>
✅ Set default thumbnail: Settings → NewsSync → Default Image
✅ Upgrade to PRO: Full-text extraction includes article images

Performance Issues

“Fatal error: Maximum execution time exceeded”

Causes:

Processing too many feed items at once
Slow external feed server
Low PHP timeout limit (default 30 seconds)

Fixes:

✅ Reduce items: Set posts_per_page="10" (not 100+)
✅ Increase timeout: Contact hosting or add to wp-config.php:set_time_limit(300); // 5 minutes
✅ Enable caching: Settings → Cache Duration = 1 hour minimum

“Fatal error: Allowed memory size exhausted”

Causes:

Too many items processed
Low PHP memory limit (default 256MB)
Large images in feed

Fixes:

✅ Increase memory: Add to wp-config.php:define('WP_MEMORY_LIMIT', '512M');
✅ Reduce items: Use smaller posts_per_page value
✅ Create database table: See Performance Optimization above

Pages load slowly with feeds

Fixes:

✅ Enable caching: Settings → Cache Duration = 1 hour+
✅ Use CDN: Cloudflare or similar for images
✅ Reduce items: Show 5-10 items, add “Load More” button
✅ Use lazy loading: Images load as user scrolls

Database Table Issues

“Table creation failed”

Causes:

Database user lacks CREATE privileges
Database is full/quota exceeded
MySQL version too old (requires 5.6+)

Fixes:

✅ Check privileges: Contact hosting to grant CREATE permission
✅ Use manual SQL: See Option C above (phpMyAdmin)
✅ Don’t worry: Plugin works without table (just slower)

“Migration failed” or timeouts during migration

Fixes:

✅ Reduce batch size: --batch=50 instead of 200
✅ Increase timeout: See PHP timeout fixes above
✅ Run in chunks: Migrate 500 items, wait, repeat
✅ Skip migration: New imports will use table automatically

🐛 Enabling Debug Mode

When support asks for logs:

Edit wp-config.php (via FTP or hosting file manager)
Add before /* That's all, stop editing! */:define('WP_DEBUG', true); define('WP_DEBUG_LOG', true); define('WP_DEBUG_DISPLAY', false);
Save file
Reproduce the issue
Get log: Download /wp-content/debug.log
Share with support

⚠️ Disable debug mode after troubleshooting — logs can grow large!

🆘 Getting Help

Before asking for help:

✅ Check this guide — Most issues covered above
✅ Test with default theme — Rule out theme conflicts
✅ Disable other plugins — Rule out plugin conflicts
✅ Enable debug mode — Get error logs

Support Channels

Free Support:

📖 Documentation: https://daazlabs.com/newssync/docs/
💬 WordPress Forums: WordPress.org Support
🐛 Bug Reports: GitHub Issues (link in plugin)

When posting for help, include:

WordPress version (Dashboard → Updates)
PHP version (Settings → Site Health)
NewsSync version (Plugins page)
Feed URL you’re trying to use
Error message (if any)
Debug log (if available)

🚀 Next Steps

Now that NewsSync is installed:

✅ Try different layouts — Grid, List, Minimal
✅ Combine multiple feeds — Use comma-separated URLs
✅ Customize styling — Add custom CSS
✅ Explore PRO features:
- 🤖 AI-powered summaries
- 📄 Full-text extraction
- 🔍 Advanced filtering (regex, keywords)
- 📊 Managed feeds (per-feed settings)
- 📈 Usage analytics

Upgrade to PRO: https://daazlabs.com/newssync/pro/

Shortcode Reference — All available options
Styling Guide — Customize appearance
PRO Features — Advanced capabilities
Developer Guide — Hooks, filters, API

🎉 Congratulations! You’ve successfully installed NewsSync. Start aggregating RSS feeds and building amazing content! 🚀

Last updated: February 6, 2026 Plugin Version: 1.0.0+ Requires: WordPress 5.8+, PHP 7.4+

Back to Documentation

NewsSync Installation & Setup Guide

🎯 Welcome!

📦 Installation (3 Methods)

Method 1: WordPress Admin (Easiest) ⭐

Method 2: Upload ZIP File

Method 3: FTP/SFTP (Manual)

🚀 Quick Start: Your First Feed (5 minutes)

Step 1: Add a shortcode to any page/post

Step 2: Customize your feed display

⚙️ Settings & Configuration

Global Settings

🔧 Performance Optimization (Optional)

🤔 Do I Need This?

⚡ Performance: Indexed Database Table

🛠️ Creating the Database Table

Option A: Automatic (Plugin Admin) ⭐ Recommended

Option B: WP-CLI (Developers/SSH Access)

Option C: Manual SQL (No SSH Access)

📊 Migrating Existing Data (Optional)

❌ Troubleshooting

Installation Issues

“Plugin could not be activated”

“Upload failed” or “Destination folder already exists”

Feed Display Issues

Feed shows “No items found”

Feed items look broken/unstyled

Images not showing

Performance Issues

“Fatal error: Maximum execution time exceeded”

“Fatal error: Allowed memory size exhausted”

Pages load slowly with feeds

Database Table Issues

“Table creation failed”

“Migration failed” or timeouts during migration

🐛 Enabling Debug Mode

🆘 Getting Help

Before asking for help:

Support Channels

🚀 Next Steps

📚 Related Documentation