Transitioning from SharePoint Connectors to Power Automate for RSS Feeds

By João Ferreira Jul 24, 2024 Automation, SharePoint 0 Comments

With the deprecation of SharePoint connectors on August 1, 2024, many users are looking for alternatives to continue receiving messages, alerts, and notifications from their favorite external services. One popular integration that will be affected is the ability to add an RSS Feed to a SharePoint page. This feature allowed automatic updates whenever a new article was published on the original site.

In this article, I’ll guide you through building an RSS Feed for all your SharePoint sites using Power Automate and a SharePoint List. This method will help you maintain the same functionality and layout as the original RSS Feed connector.

If you are using the RSS Connector in your SharePoint sites, this is the message you will see warning you about the deprecations.

How to create an RSS Feed for SharePoint

1. Create a New List
• Start by creating a new list in the site where you want to display the RSS Feed.
2. Set Up List Columns
• To replicate the layout of the original RSS Feed connector, the list must have the following three columns: Title, Summary, and Link.
3. Create a Power Automate Flow
• In Power Automate, create a new automated flow with the trigger “When a feed item is published.”
• Set the RSS Feed link you want to monitor.
  

  

4. Add an Action to Create an Item in SharePoint
• Add an action to create an item in a SharePoint list.
• Connect the action to the site where you created the list.
• Map the RSS fields to the list columns.



5. Save the Flow
• Save the flow. Power Automate will check every 30 minutes for updates to the feed. For each new item it finds, a new item will be added to the list.

Formatting the List View to look like the RSS Feed Connector

With the automation capturing new updates, the last step is to format the current view to look like a web part:

1. Format Current View
• On the list, click the view selector and then “Format current view.”
• At the bottom of the window, click “Advanced mode.”
  

  

2. Apply Custom Code
• Copy and paste the following code and then save it:

{
  "schema": "https://developer.microsoft.com/json-schemas/sp/view-formatting.schema.json",
  "hideSelection": true,
  "hideListHeader": true,
  "rowFormatter": {
    "elmType": "span",
    "style": {
      "display": "inline-grid",
      "margin-bottom": "15px"
    },
    "children": [
      {
        "elmType": "a",
        "attributes": {
          "href": "[$Link]",
          "target": "_blank",
          "class": "ms-fontColor-themePrimary ms-fontColor-themePrimary-hover"
        },
        "style": {
          "font-size": "15px",
          "font-weight": "400",
          "text-decoration": "none",
          "margin-bottom": "2px"
        },
        "txtContent": "[$Title]"
      },
      {
        "elmType": "span",
        "style": {
          "font-size": "14px",
          "font-weight": "400"
        },
        "txtContent": "[$Summary]"
      }
    ]
  }
}

3. Add the List Web Part
• Navigate to the SharePoint page where you want to display the RSS Feed and add the List web part.
• Select the list that is being populated by Power Automate.
• Edit the List web part and hide the Command bar and the See all button.
• Click “Apply.”

Using this method, you will be able to continue reading your RSS Feeds as you always did with the connector, maintaining the same layout. This smooth transition ensures that your users will not notice much of a difference from one solution to the other.