ZWH HubSpot Newsletter Customizer

Generate customizable monthly/weekly RSS feeds for HubSpot newsletters with flexible content sources and date-based organization.

Overview

This WordPress plugin creates a specialized RSS feed that integrates seamlessly with HubSpot's email marketing automation. Instead of manually sending newsletters, HubSpot can automatically pull the latest content from your WordPress site and send it to your subscribers on a schedule you define.

Features

✅ Flexible Content Sources - Pull from Posts, Pages, or both
✅ Customizable Post Count - Choose how many posts to include (1-100)
✅ Multiple Frequencies - Daily, Weekly, or Monthly feeds
✅ Category & Tag Filtering - Filter content by category or tag
✅ Featured Images - Include post featured images in the feed
✅ Excerpt Support - Control whether excerpts appear in emails
✅ Date Organization - Content automatically organized by date
✅ HubSpot Compatible - RSS format optimized for HubSpot
✅ Logging & Statistics - Track feed generation and performance

Installation

1. Download the plugin folder zwh-hb-newsletter-customizer to your plugins directory:

   wp-content/plugins/zwh-hb-newsletter-customizer/

2. Activate the plugin from WordPress Admin Dashboard:

   • Go to Plugins → Installed Plugins
   • Find "ZWH HubSpot Newsletter Customizer"
   • Click Activate

3. Navigate to the new HubSpot Newsletter menu in your WordPress Admin sidebar

Configuration

Basic Settings

1. Number of Posts - Select how many recent posts to include in your feed (default: 10)

2. Feed Frequency - Choose update frequency:

   • Daily - HubSpot checks once per day
   • Weekly - HubSpot checks once per week (recommended)
   • Monthly - HubSpot checks once per month

3. Content Source - Select what to include:

   • Posts Only - Just blog posts
   • Pages Only - Just pages
   • Posts & Pages - Both posts and pages
   • Custom Post Types - For plugins that create custom content types

Advanced Filters

• Filter by Category - Optional: include only posts from a specific category
• Filter by Tag - Optional: include only posts with a specific tag

Content Options

• Include Post Excerpts - Recommended enabled. Shows post summaries in emails
• Include Featured Images - Shows featured images in the newsletter preview
• Feed Title - Appears in HubSpot (default: "[Site Name] - HubSpot Newsletter")
• Feed Description - Appears in HubSpot description field

HubSpot Integration

Step 1: Copy Your Feed URL

1. Go to WordPress Admin → HubSpot Newsletter
2. Copy the Feed URL shown at the top
3. It will look like: https://yoursite.com/feed/zwh-hubspot-newsletter/

Step 2: Add Feed to HubSpot

1. Log in to HubSpot
2. Navigate to Marketing → Email → Subscription Settings
3. Click Add External Blog
4. Paste your Feed URL
5. Configure:
   • Blog Name: Name your newsletter
   • Subscription Type: Choose "Auto-publish" or scheduled frequency
   • Email Frequency: Select when emails should send (Daily/Weekly/Monthly)

Step 3: Create Newsletter Template

1. In HubSpot, create a new Email
2. Select "Blog Subscription" or "RSS" email template
3. Design your email template
4. Map RSS fields:
   • Post Title → Email subject
   • Featured Image → Email header/body
   • Excerpt → Email body preview
   • Full Post → Detailed email content

Step 4: Set Subscribers

1. Select who should receive the newsletters
2. Set up automation triggers if needed
3. Test with a sample send before scheduling

Content Display

The RSS feed includes:

• Post Title - Full post title
• Post Excerpt - Summary (if enabled)
• Featured Image - Thumbnail image (if available)
• Full Content - Complete post content
• Publication Date - When the post was published
• Author - Post author name
• Category - Post category tag

Feed URL Format

Your feed URL is automatically generated and follows this format:

https://yoursite.com/feed/zwh-hubspot-newsletter/

This is an RSS 2.0 feed with extended namespaces for HubSpot compatibility:

• content:encoded - Full post content
• dc:creator - Author name
• enclosure - Featured image data

Scheduling & Updates

Automatic Updates

The plugin uses WordPress Cron to track feed updates at your selected frequency:

• Daily: Feed data refreshes once per day
• Weekly: Feed data refreshes once per week
• Monthly: Feed data refreshes once per month

HubSpot polls the feed based on your configured frequency. When HubSpot requests the feed, it gets the latest X posts based on your settings.

Viewing Logs

To see feed generation logs:

1. Go to WordPress Admin → HubSpot Newsletter
2. Check the "Last Update" information (appears after settings)
3. Database logs are stored in the wp_zwh_hb_newsletter_logs table

Troubleshooting

Feed Not Updating

Check if permalinks are enabled:

• Go to Settings → Permalinks
• Make sure a custom permalink structure is selected (not "Plain")
• Click Save Changes

Check WordPress Cron:

• The plugin uses WordPress loopback requests
• Ensure your server can make HTTP requests to itself
• Some hosting environments block loopback requests - contact your host

HubSpot Not Receiving Feed

1. Test the feed URL directly in your browser - you should see XML
2. Verify the feed URL is correctly copied in HubSpot
3. Check that posts are published (not drafts)
4. Ensure at least one post matches your filter criteria

Excerpts Not Showing

• Go to HubSpot Newsletter settings
• Ensure "Include Post Excerpts" is checked
• Verify posts have excerpts (check individual post editor)
• In HubSpot, map the excerpt field to your email template

Featured Images Missing

• Go to HubSpot Newsletter settings
• Ensure "Include Featured Images" is checked
• Add featured images to your posts (Post Editor → Featured Image)
• In HubSpot, configure the image field in your email template

Feed Showing Old Content

Check your settings:

• Go to HubSpot Newsletter settings
• Increase the "Number of Posts" value
• Check Category/Tag filters aren't too restrictive
• Publish new content to see immediate updates

Database Schema

The plugin creates a logging table: wp_zwh_hb_newsletter_logs

Fields:

• id - Log entry ID
• feed_id - Feed identifier
• generated_date - When the update occurred
• post_count - Number of posts in that update
• status - Success/Error status
• message - Additional status message

Performance Notes

• Feed generation is lightweight and happens on-demand
• The RSS feed is generated dynamically (not cached by default)
• For sites with 1000+ posts, consider using category/tag filters
• HubSpot caches the feed, reducing server load

Changelog

Version 1.0.0

• Initial release
• RSS feed generation
• Admin settings panel
• HubSpot integration
• Feed logging
• Category/tag filtering
• Multiple frequency options

Support & Issues

For issues or feature requests related to this plugin, ensure:

1. WordPress 5.0 or higher
2. PHP 7.4 or higher
3. Permalinks enabled (not "Plain" structure)
4. HubSpot account with Email Marketing access

License

This plugin is provided as-is for use on your WordPress sites.

Security

• All settings are sanitized on input
• Feed URLs are publicly accessible (RSS is meant to be public)
• No sensitive data is exposed in the feed
• Database logs are WordPress admin-only

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Questions about HubSpot? Check the HubSpot Knowledge Base

Questions about this plugin? Review the settings panel and HubSpot Setup Instructions section.