Plugin or advice on how to parse XML in real-time?

Question

I am working on a project for my university basketball team. During each game their statistics software will create an XML file and update it mid-game with player statistics, shots, etc.

What I would like to do is to display this content in a post during the games so that media members could have access to it. I'd like to be able to link to the XML file and then have the post update when changes are made or the other option is to update it on a frequent basis to make sure the statistics are up to date.

How can I do this? I've tried the plugin WP All Import but it requires a paid version to do chron updates.

Answer 1

You could the following to achieve this in the "WordPress way":

• Add code via plugin or child theme
• In the code add a wp cron task
• The task should get the file with wp_remote_get
• Parse the xml file with SimpleXMLElement
• Update the content to meta fields of the post with update_post_meta
• You could display the meta fields and the post with the_content filter or page template