Title: RSS XML declaration parsing error
Last modified: August 18, 2016

---

# RSS XML declaration parsing error

 *  Resolved [Jeremy Boggs](https://wordpress.org/support/users/jeremyboggs/)
 * (@jeremyboggs)
 * [20 years, 1 month ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/rss-xml-declaration-parsing-error/)
 * Just recently I’ve had a problem with my RSS feeds. I get this error:
 * `XML Parsing Error: xml declaration not at start of external entity
    Location:
   http://clioweb.org/feed/ Line Number 1, Column 2: <?xml version="1.0"
 * This occurrs for all my feeds:
 * [http://clioweb.org/feed/](http://clioweb.org/feed/)
    [http://clioweb.org/?feed=rss2](http://clioweb.org/?feed=rss2)
   [http://clioweb.org/wordpress/wp-rss2.php](http://clioweb.org/wordpress/wp-rss2.php)
 * I pretty certain that the error is caused by a space in front of my XML declaration,
   but I’m not sure how or why the space is being added. I’ve tried editing all 
   my feed files with no luck, and I’ve tried searching the forums for a variety
   of keyword combinations with no results. Can anyone help?

Viewing 5 replies - 1 through 5 (of 5 total)

 *  Thread Starter [Jeremy Boggs](https://wordpress.org/support/users/jeremyboggs/)
 * (@jeremyboggs)
 * [20 years, 1 month ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/rss-xml-declaration-parsing-error/#post-383992)
 * Nevermind, I’m stupid. I had an error in my `.htaccess` file. They all work fine
   now.
 *  [noslee3](https://wordpress.org/support/users/noslee3/)
 * (@noslee3)
 * [20 years ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/rss-xml-declaration-parsing-error/#post-384351)
 * Hi Jeremy:
 * I’m getting the same error for my feed: [http://www.diseducation.com/newsletter/?feed=rss2](http://www.diseducation.com/newsletter/?feed=rss2)
 * what did you fix in your .htaccess file?
 * thanks.
 * -nos
 *  [israelbarros](https://wordpress.org/support/users/israelbarros/)
 * (@israelbarros)
 * [20 years ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/rss-xml-declaration-parsing-error/#post-384356)
 * Hi Jeremy and noslee3,
 * I get the same error on my feeds, but only in other computer. On my computer 
   anything is going fine! May is something in relation with the send refer, do 
   you remember?
 *  Thread Starter [Jeremy Boggs](https://wordpress.org/support/users/jeremyboggs/)
 * (@jeremyboggs)
 * [20 years ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/rss-xml-declaration-parsing-error/#post-384375)
 * Hi all,
 * Sorry for not responding sooner. The problem with my feeds wasn’t due to my .
   htaccess file. It was caused by my using the Countdown Timer plugin version 1.3(
   [http://www.andrewferguson.net/wordpress-plugins_old#countdowntimer](http://www.andrewferguson.net/wordpress-plugins_old#countdowntimer)).
   I haven’t upgraded to the latest version (1.4), but deactivating this plugin 
   solved my problem.
 *  Moderator [Samuel Wood (Otto)](https://wordpress.org/support/users/otto42/)
 * (@otto42)
 * WordPress.org Admin
 * [20 years ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/rss-xml-declaration-parsing-error/#post-384376)
 * The most common cause of this is a plugin that has a blank line at the top or
   bottom of the php file (before the <?php or after the ?>). Find that blank line
   and remove it, and all is well.

Viewing 5 replies - 1 through 5 (of 5 total)

The topic ‘RSS XML declaration parsing error’ is closed to new replies.

## Tags

 * [Parsing](https://wordpress.org/support/topic-tag/parsing/)
 * [RSS](https://wordpress.org/support/topic-tag/rss/)
 * [xml](https://wordpress.org/support/topic-tag/xml/)

 * In: [Fixing WordPress](https://wordpress.org/support/forum/how-to-and-troubleshooting/)
 * 5 replies
 * 4 participants
 * Last reply from: [Samuel Wood (Otto)](https://wordpress.org/support/users/otto42/)
 * Last activity: [20 years ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/rss-xml-declaration-parsing-error/#post-384376)
 * Status: resolved

## Topics

### Topics with no replies

### Non-support topics

### Resolved topics

### Unresolved topics

### All topics