Why are the fields filled in Ukrainian in my Webflow RSS feed displaying as random characters and how can this be fixed?
TL;DR
- Verify Ukrainian content is properly entered in the Webflow CMS and appears correctly in the editor.
- Validate the RSS feed using a tool like W3C’s validator to ensure it's using UTF-8 encoding.
- If issues persist, use Zapier or Make to generate a custom UTF-8-compliant RSS feed.
- Contact Webflow Support with feed details if encoding errors remain unresolved.
If your Webflow RSS feed is showing Ukrainian characters as garbled text, it's likely an encoding issue—specifically a problem with how non-ASCII characters are being handled in the feed. Here's how you can fix or work around it.
1. Understand the Root Cause
- Webflow generates RSS feeds automatically based on your CMS Collection.
- RSS feeds should be formatted in UTF-8 encoding, which supports Ukrainian and other non-Latin alphabets.
- Garbled characters (e.g., � or random characters) usually mean the content isn't being properly encoded or the feed doesn’t specify character encoding correctly.
2. Check CMS Content Input
- Open your CMS Collection and check if the Ukrainian content appears correctly in the Webflow Editor.
- If the content looks fine inside Webflow, the issue likely lies in RSS feed rendering or how external readers are parsing it.
3. Validate the RSS Feed
- Use a feed validator like https://validator.w3.org/feed/ to test your Webflow RSS feed URL.
- Look for any encoding declarations or reported errors related to characters.
- Webflow should declare the encoding as
UTF-8in the XML declaration, like<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>.
4. Use a Workaround with Zapier or Make
- Webflow does not currently allow you to edit the raw XML of the RSS feed.
- As a workaround, use tools like Zapier or Make to create a custom RSS feed:
- Pull Ukrainian text from your Webflow CMS.
- Format the data correctly with UTF-8 support.
- Publish the feed on a service that allows customizing encoding.
5. Report to Webflow Support
- If validation fails or the encoding header is missing/wrong, contact Webflow Support.
- Provide the feed URL and explain that non-Latin characters are not rendering correctly.
- Request confirmation that the feed is being served as UTF-8.
Summary
Your Webflow RSS feed is likely misrendering Ukrainian characters due to an encoding issue, although Webflow is expected to serve RSS feeds in UTF-8. Check feed validity, content accuracy, and use third-party tools like Zapier or Make for a reliable multilingual feed until Webflow solves the problem.