[WP] SImplePie Feed Parsing Function

<?php

//This file is needed to be able to use feed parsing functions.
include_once( ABSPATH . WPINC . '/feed.php' );

// parse any RSS feed
function custom_fetch_feed( $args = '' ) {

    // default arguments (additional ones can be added at will)
    $defaults = array(
        'url' => '', // feed url
        'num' => 7, // max items to display
         );

    // Parse incomming $args into an array and merge it with $defaults
    $args = wp_parse_args( $args, $defaults );

    // OPTIONAL: Declare each item in $args as its own variable i.e. $type, $before.
    extract( $args, EXTR_SKIP );

    // Get a SimplePie feed object from the specified feed source.
    $feed = fetch_feed( $url );

        // Checks that the object is created correctly
    if ( !is_wp_error( $feed ) ) {

        // Figure out how many total items there are, but limit it to parameter.
        $maxitems = $feed->get_item_quantity( $num );

        // Build an array of all the items, starting with element 0 ( first element ).
        $feed_items = $feed->get_items( 0, $maxitems );

    }

    // if there are no item in the feed
    if ( $maxitems == 0 ) {

        $content = '<!-- No items -->';

    } else {

        $content = '';

        // Loop through each feed item and display each item as a hyperlink.
        foreach ( $feed_items as $item ) :

            $content .= '<!-- do whatever with feed object -->';

        endforeach;

    }

    return $content;

}