What is the difference between <pubDate> and <lastBuildDate> in RSS?

rss feed
OrElse picture OrElse · Nov 8, 2009 · Viewed 20.7k times · Source

I have the feeling, in every RSS.xml file, both the pubDate and the lastBuildDate match.

I am sure that this one, is not always true...

So firstly, what is the difference between those two above?

Secondly, the RSS readers, sort the content by Date, based on the pubDate or the lastBuildDate?

Answer

Gabriel Hurley picture Gabriel Hurley · Nov 8, 2009

pubDate:

The original publication date for the channel or item. (optional)

lastBuildDate:

The most recent time the content of the channel was modified. (optional)

Here are some docs for the optional items in the RSS 2.0 spec.

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