- Additional requirements
- XenForo 2.3.0+
- Updates duration
- Free
## What it does
XenForo's built-in RSS feed importer creates each thread with the current
server time. This add-on makes imported threads keep the **date and time the
entry carries in the feed** instead.
## Feature list
**Date handling**
- Uses the feed entry's own timestamp instead of the import time, for both the
thread and its first post.
- Works with both feed types XenForo reads: RSS (the entry `<pubDate>`) and Atom
(the entry `<updated>`, which is the date XenForo's reader exposes).
- Whole seconds, taken straight from the feed. Timezones in the feed are
normalised to a UNIX timestamp, so every member sees the date rendered in
their own timezone.
- Keeps the thread's `post_date` and `last_post_date` identical for a new
single-post thread, so the thread is not shown as "started then replied to".
**Data consistency**
- Saves through the thread and post entities rather than raw SQL, so XenForo's
own bookkeeping runs: forum last-post data, thread/forum records, and post
records all stay self-consistent.
- Does not touch the feed log, so duplicate detection (`xf_feed_log`) and
"already imported" behaviour are unchanged.
- Applies to entries imported as moderated/held for approval as well, because
the date is set at creation time, not at approval time.
**Safety guards**
- No date in the entry: the entry keeps the normal import time, nothing else
changes.
- Malformed or absurd dates before 2000-01-01: ignored.
- Dates in the future (common in badly configured feeds) are never applied, so
an imported thread can never be dated ahead of the server clock.
- A date that is not older than the thread already is: left alone, so nothing is
ever pushed forward.
- Any error while applying the date is logged and swallowed, so a bad feed can
never break or half-finish an import.
**Installation footprint**
- One class extension on `XF\Service\Feed\FeederService`. No core file edits, no
template edits, no database schema changes, no new tables or columns.
- No admin options, permissions, phrases or templates to configure. Install,
and it works.
- Removes cleanly: uninstalling deletes the class extension with the add-on.
- Survives XenForo upgrades, since it hooks a public service class rather than
patching shipped files.
- Negligible overhead: two extra entity saves per imported thread, no queries on
normal page views.
XenForo's built-in RSS feed importer creates each thread with the current
server time. This add-on makes imported threads keep the **date and time the
entry carries in the feed** instead.
## Feature list
**Date handling**
- Uses the feed entry's own timestamp instead of the import time, for both the
thread and its first post.
- Works with both feed types XenForo reads: RSS (the entry `<pubDate>`) and Atom
(the entry `<updated>`, which is the date XenForo's reader exposes).
- Whole seconds, taken straight from the feed. Timezones in the feed are
normalised to a UNIX timestamp, so every member sees the date rendered in
their own timezone.
- Keeps the thread's `post_date` and `last_post_date` identical for a new
single-post thread, so the thread is not shown as "started then replied to".
**Data consistency**
- Saves through the thread and post entities rather than raw SQL, so XenForo's
own bookkeeping runs: forum last-post data, thread/forum records, and post
records all stay self-consistent.
- Does not touch the feed log, so duplicate detection (`xf_feed_log`) and
"already imported" behaviour are unchanged.
- Applies to entries imported as moderated/held for approval as well, because
the date is set at creation time, not at approval time.
**Safety guards**
- No date in the entry: the entry keeps the normal import time, nothing else
changes.
- Malformed or absurd dates before 2000-01-01: ignored.
- Dates in the future (common in badly configured feeds) are never applied, so
an imported thread can never be dated ahead of the server clock.
- A date that is not older than the thread already is: left alone, so nothing is
ever pushed forward.
- Any error while applying the date is logged and swallowed, so a bad feed can
never break or half-finish an import.
**Installation footprint**
- One class extension on `XF\Service\Feed\FeederService`. No core file edits, no
template edits, no database schema changes, no new tables or columns.
- No admin options, permissions, phrases or templates to configure. Install,
and it works.
- Removes cleanly: uninstalling deletes the class extension with the add-on.
- Survives XenForo upgrades, since it hooks a public service class rather than
patching shipped files.
- Negligible overhead: two extra entity saves per imported thread, no queries on
normal page views.
