Specification: the syndication extension #

This page is the reference for the syndication extension (1.3.3). One site exports part of its content tree as a feed; another site imports that feed over SOAP and keeps it in step by cron. The page lists the module views and policies, the SOAP functions, the tables, the cronjob parts, every setting and how an import authenticates. Read it if you install, schedule or debug syndication. The step-by-step setup is on the feature page.

In short #

• Admin entry point: /syndication/menu (the Syndication tab of the admin): a dashboard with what is exported, what is imported, the last runs and the problems found.
• Two cronjob parts do the work: export_feed on the exporting site, import_feed on the importing site.
• The importing site calls the exporting site's SOAP server; since 1.2.0 it can send a login and password.
• Eleven tables, created from sql/mysql.sql or, on every database, from share/db_schema.dba (since 1.3.1).

Example: run one export and one import by hand #

After a feed and an import are set up in /syndication/menu, run each part once from the installation root and read its output before you put it in cron:

# on the exporting site
php runcronjobs.php export_feed

# on the importing site
php runcronjobs.php import_feed

Then review the imported objects in Syndication > Imports. Run both parts from cron every few minutes; every 3 minutes is suggested for the export.

Module syndication #

Every view uses the navigation part ezsyndicationnavigationpart (since 1.3.3; it was ezsyndicationpart), so the left menu comes from design/standard/templates/parts/syndication/menu.tpl in every admin design. The old parts/s/menu.tpl stays and includes it.

Policy functions: import_object_status, view_export, edit_export, remove_feed, create_feed, menu, view_import, edit_import, view_export_info, create_import, and fetch_feed with the limitation Feed. Before 1.3.3 import_info named the script import_info (no .php) and the function import_view, which the function list did not define, and feed_info declared no script; both views are complete now.

Console commands, cronjob parts and background runs (since 1.3.3) #

The work is in runnable classes (the kernel's #207 pattern); the files in bin/php/ and cronjobs/ are one call each. A run takes a lock (one export and one import at a time, whoever starts it), writes its time and result for the dashboard and raises the kernel's runnable events, so the audit sees it like any kernel cronjob.

The cronjob and the commands skip feeds and imports that are not active, and run as the user of [Syndication] CronUser. The admin's "run now" buttons start the same command in the background with expProcessTools (setsid, the PHP command line) and show its state and output on the page; state files are in var/<site>/syndication/jobs/, the newest 20 are kept.

SOAP functions #

soap/initialize.php registers these functions on the exporting site's SOAP server (soap.ini [ExtensionSettings] SOAPExtensions[]=syndication):

Classes #

All in classes/: eZSyndication, eZSyndicationFeed, eZSyndicationFeedCacheManager, eZSyndicationFeedItem, eZSyndicationFeedItemExport, eZSyndicationFeedItemStatus, eZSyndicationFeedSource, eZSyndicationFeedSourceFilter, eZSyndicationFilter, eZSyndicationImport, eZSyndicationImportFilter. The filters of [SyndicationFilters] are eZFilterSection and eZFilterAttribute in classes/filter/; both extend eZSyndicationFilter.

Tables #

Eleven tables, defined in sql/mysql.sql and, since 1.3.1, in the engine-neutral share/db_schema.dba, so an installer can create them on every database Exponential supports. The SOAP log has three indexes. (sql/mysql.sql also holds two ezsyndicate_export_event tables, commented out; they are not created.)

Cronjob parts #

The extension adds itself to [CronjobSettings] ExtensionDirectories[], so runcronjobs.php finds both scripts. Both are stubs that call the runnable classes above.

Settings #

All values are the extension's own defaults (scope: extension, extension/syndication/settings/). Override them in settings/override/ or a siteaccess.

Import authentication (since 1.2.0) #

eZSyndicationImport reads a login and password for the exporting site from the import's server address (https://<login>:<password>@<host>/) or from the option array keys login and password (the Login and Password fields of the import's first step). It connects on port 443 for https and on port 80 otherwise. Protect the exporting site's SOAP endpoint with HTTP access control and keep these credentials out of version control.

Related pages #

• Feature page, behaviour changes of the extensions
• Cronjobs in the console, Operating a site
• Chronicle, release notes
• Months: 2025-09, 2026-03, 2026-07, 2026-09, 2026-10