How To: Manual Feeds:
Basic Podcast
In this tutorial you're going to build a podcast for this set of tutorials.
You'll be creating a Manually edited Podcast that you will use the Basic interface
to build.
Podcasts are the same as any other RSS feed, except that instead of linking
to an HTML file it will link to an audio file (MP3). So building a podcast
follows the same steps. Begin by creating a new feed. Press the New Feed button
in the toolbar of the RSS DreamFeeder floating panel. (If RSS DreamFeeder isn't
open you can access it through the Window menu.)
The first step in the basic interface is to select the type of feed (iTunes
Podcast) and to provide the Title and Description of the feed. After entering
that content we click the next button to proceed to the next panel.
The second step is to provide additional descriptive content about the feed.
You can provide as much or as little of this information as you like, but the
more you fill in the easier it will be for aggregators and search engines to
find and organize the content. The is particularly important if you plan to
submit your podcast for inclusion in the Apple Podcast Directory.
In this panel is also where you can associate an image with your Podcast.
The default size and type of image for iTunes is a 300 x 300 JPEG. We also
recommend embedding this image in the MP3 as well. Bring your original MP3
into iTunes and get info on the file and then copy and paste the image into
the artwork block for the file. This way if the linked image fails for any
reason the embedded image will still work.
The third step is to provide the domain name of the website. This is so the
links can be built properly as full urls so they will work on no mater where
your content is republished. If you provided this information when setting
up the website in Dreamweaver's site management tool it will be copied here.
The fourth step is to decide how you want the content for this feed to be
built. A Manual feed is appropriate for this case. You'll be managing the content
yourself, adding or deleting feed entries, typing or copying/pasting the text.
Now that these configuration issues have been completed you can edit the content
of the new feed in the Content tab. You can either press the Edit Feed Content
button or simply click on the Content tab.
In the Content tab you can manage the feed's entries yourself (episodes in
podcasting lingo) and build as many as you like. To add an entry we click the
plus button at the top of the Feed Entries list. Now you simply edit the fields
to contain the content you want, with a headline (title of an episode), story
(episode text description), author and an audio enclosure (a link to the audio
file).
Fill in the content for the first feed entry:
For the Headline use: "Episode 1: Creating
Manual Feeds: A Basic Text Feed"
For the Story use: "In this episode we're going to discuss how to create
a basic manual text feed with RSS DreamFeeder."
For the Author use: "Ron Northrip" (or your own name, whatever makes
you happy)
For the Enclosure you'll need to select the file you want to link to. Click
the folder icon to the right of the Enclosure field and then simply select
the file to link to. Use episode1.mp3 from within the audio folder.
Finally you can save your podcast within the website. Call it podtutor.rss
and save it in the root of the website. Its OK that it only has one episode
for now. You'll add more later.
Once saved your podcast will be included in the RSS DreamFeeder floating panel.
You will when you last updated the feed and that the feed is manually edited
(so there are no files to check).
You can try this out in a news reader to see how the feed looks. That's easy
to do with the local content. I like to use safari because I can just drag
the RSS file into the window and see what is happening.
But more importantly we want to use this feed in iTunes, so the feed has to
be put on a web server. This doesn't have to be it's final home but it does
have to be a web server and that server has to be the one in the configuration
you provided when editing the feed (and you can always change that later).
Be sure to upload all the related audio/graphic files too.
Launch iTunes. Select the Advanced menu and Subscribe to Podcast. Now provide
the url of the podcast.
The podcast you created now appears in the Podcast list in iTunes.
Now if you want to add a few more episodes to your podcast it is a simple
process. Go back to Dreamweaver and select the Tutorials Podcast from the list
in the RSS DreamFeeder floating panel and press the edit button (looks like
a little pencil). Because this is a Manual feed and because all the configuration
information is already entered the dialog will open directly to the Content
tab so you can add new content.
Press the plus button to add another feed entry and then fill in the content
and enclose episode2.mp3.
For the Headline use: "Episode 2: Creating
Manual Feeds: A Basic Podcast"
For the Story use: "In this episode we're going to discuss how to create
a basic manual text feed with RSS DreamFeeder."
Do it again for episode 3.
For the Headline use: "Episode 3: Creating
Manual Feeds: A Basic Photocast"
For the Story use: "In this episode we're going to discuss how to create
a basic manual photocast with RSS DreamFeeder."
Now save and upload the feed to the website and test it in iTunes again. To
refresh in iTunes select the podcast from the list and press the Refresh button
at the bottom-right of the window (or right-click and select Refresh).
As a final note, it is very important to test your podcast in iTunes before
submitting it to be included in the iTunes directory.
Good work . You have updated your Podcast.
You may proceed with one of the other Manual Feed tutorials
How To: Manual Feeds: Basic Text Feed
How To: Manual Feeds: Basic Photocast
You have now had your first taste of the ongoing maintenance required to keep
an RSS feed (of any type -- text or podcasts) up to date. You probably can
see the value in automating this process, especially for large websites. If
you do then you'll want to get the next set of files and try out one of our
tutorials for Automated feeds.
How To: Automated Feeds: Files and First Steps
How To: Automated Feeds: Basic Text Feed from
a Single Page
How To: Automated Feeds: Basic Podcast from
a Single Page
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