Care FAQs
Posts filed under "Podcast"
If you would like for your Podcast to be published in the iTunes Music Store (a free service that allows people to find your Podcast by searching for keywords in iTunes), here are the steps to do so. Please note that this step is not necessary for your Podcast to work in the iTunes software program, nor on an iPod. You only need to follow these steps if you wish to be published in the iTunes store itself:
Once you have the podcast's URL (available in the SiteOrganic Admin Console), click the link below. iTunes will start automatically and take you to the Submit a Podcast page on the iTunes Store:
https://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZFinance.woa/wa/publishPodcast
Or, you can navigate to this page by following these steps:
1) Make sure you're using the latest version of iTunes. It can be downloaded free of charge from the Apple website at:
http://www.apple.com/itunes/download
Note: Installing the latest version of iTunes will not affect your library or any items in your account that you haven't downloaded.
2) Open iTunes and sign in to the iTunes Store, if necessary.
3) Click Podcasts in the STORE menu on the left side of the window.
4) Click the Submit a Podcast image, which you'll find towards the
middle of this page.
Note: Apple reviews each podcast submission. Depending on demand, it may take a week or two before your podcast is added.
5) We have found that the iTunes store is extremely strict on the Podcast feeds it will accept. If you receive a "Bad http result code: 500" error, then you need to do two things:
- Go to http://www.feedvalidator.org and paste in the URL of your Podcast. This service will tell you if there are any missing characters, missing audio file references, or other problems with the contents of your feed. Once you are able to get a "valid" message from the validator, try submitting to iTunes again. If it still does not work, then:
- Contact iTunes support at msmac@apple.com.
- Open iTunes and sign into the iTunes Store.
- Find and select your podcast.
- Click Report a Concern.
- Select "Remove a Podcast" from the Choose a Reason menu.
- Explain why you want the podcast removed.
In most cases, Apple will remove the podcast from iTunes, especially if they find that the podcast is no longer available at the feed URL.
If you want to remove your feed temporarily, you can use the
Original information located at: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1818
Question:
When I click on the "subscribe to this podcast" link on my Website, I see a screen full of code. It appears something like this:
==== EXAMPLE CODE OUTPUT =====
xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?>
-
What podcasting is
-
What they need in order to subscribe to a podcast
-
How to subscribe
You will find information on these items in the SiteOrganic Help archive.
PROBLEM:
When viewing your Podcast feed, some programs do not appear in the feed even though they are properly added to your podcast channel.
REASON:
Your files are not added to your podcast feed until there is a valid audio/video file defined. If you create a media program, but neglect to specify its MP3 file, then that program won't show up in your Podcast.
SOLUTION:
Edit your media program(s) and ensure that each program satisfies both of the following conditions:
- Each program must have a media file specified (normally in the "medium" field).
- The media file must be uploaded via the SiteOrganic File Manager. Files stored on external servers, or on custom FTP sites, are not valid for use in Podcasting.
Once you correct the file settings above for your media programs, then they will be eligible to show up in your Podcast channels.
If you are uploading a new video to your website and would like to podcast the video series, please review the following instructions:
First, you must create your video in two separate formats. One video format is for use on the Web (using flv format), and the other would be for use in your podcast (using mp4). We recommend that you create a new group in your SiteOrganic Admin console to contain your new podcast specific video files.
Once you have uploaded your podcast video files, you will need to create a traditional podcast. We recommend the Podcast training video found in the Online Help System for specific instructions.
Here are a few important rules to remember about video podcasting:
• The podcast channel is sensitive to file names. Be careful to never include a space or special character in your file name. You may use the “_” underscore character.
• Your podcast video must be in the mp4 or m4v file format.
• You will not be able to view the mp4 or m4v video file on your website, only an flv can be played from your Media Player.
Learn more about Podcasting on the iTunes website:
http://www.apple.com/itunes/store/podcaststechspecs.html
Problem:
Audio files are available for download on your Website. However, when you add these programs to a podcast, the files will not download or play (for instance, in iTunes).
Solution:
This condition is normally present when your MP3 filenames violate one or more rules for best-practice file naming. Among them:
- File names should not contain periods (".") except to separate the filename from its 3-letter extension
- File names should not contain apostrophes (" ' ")
- File names should not contain spaces
- File names should be as short as possible
Instead of a file name like this:
MB - 2005.10.12 - John Doe - Connect - Mono.mp3
We recommend a file name like this:
mensbreakfast_051012_johndoe.mp3 (note the underscore characters, instead of spaces)
If you rename your MP3 files in a similar way, this should solve the problem.
PLEASE NOTE that renaming a file in the SiteOrganic File Manager does not actually rename the physical MP3 file, and therefore will not fix the podcast issue. You must rename the file on your local machine first, then re-upload it to the server. Once this is done, you can delete the older version from the server.
Refer to the SiteOrganic Help library for information on uploading files in the File Manager.