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February 20, 2005
Blogging 101 - Podcasting
By QBlog in Blogging 101
The latest buzz in the Blog Realm (and everywhere else it seems) is something called "podcasting." The term "podcasting is "a portmanteau of the words iPod and broadcasting." The primary goal of podcasting is to make audio (broadcasting) portable by automatically downloading programs onto mp3 players like the iPod. Four Minutes About Podcasting is a video that gives a brief overview of the technology, how it works and why it's so much fun. However, as the video points out, you don't really need a portable device to join the podcasting revolution, you simply need an internet connection, some podcasting software and a computer that plays mp3 files (all of them do).
How Does It Work?
There are two obvious aspects of podcasting: the consumption of the podcasts and the creation of the podcasts. First, let's look at podcasting consumption (finding and listening to great audio). To start listening to podcasts you'll need:
- A computer
- An Internet connection
- Software to play mp3s like iTunes or Musicmatch (and chances are you already have something on your computer)
- Some podcasting software like iPodder
- An audio card (for your computer), speakers, headphones or a portable mp3 player like iPod
- Ears
Assuming you're familiar with steps 1-3 let's address step 4. Once you've installed the podcasting software you'll need to find programming that you would like to add to your list of podcasts. Finding podcasts is easy. Either look for an "XML" link on your favorite blog or check out one of the many podcasting directory sites like iPodder.org, Podcast.net and Podcast Alley. If you look around long enough, you'll find something you like.
Once you find some programming, add it to your podcasting software and you're almost ready to go. The next step is to download the program and then either listen to it on your computer or transfer it to your portable music player. It's really pretty simple. If you're still confused, type "podcasting" into Google and you'll find many great resources to help get you on your way.
The Podcasters
But what about those who want to create their own podcasts? Well, beoming a podcaster is obviously more complicated than simply listening to existing podcasts. There are many different ways to publish a podcast but I'll go over some of the basics. You'll need:
- A computer
- A microphone
- Audio editing software like Audacity, Garage Band or Sound Forge
- An FTP client or some way to get your mp3 to the Web
- An RSS feed with "enclosures" which is just a way to include your podcast (more on that later)
If you have a Mac, Engadget has the best podcaster tutorial I've found. Read through it and follow the instructions. If you have a Windows machine, then ZefHemel.com is the place to go.
Now, once you've created your super-cool podcast and uploaded it to your server (or wherever) you'll need to include that podcast in your RSS feed. This is done by an "enclosure" tag that looks a lot like this:
<enclosure url="http://www.yoursite.com/podcast/mypodcast.mp3" length="10306438" type="audio/mpeg" />
Enclosure is where the file lives, length is how big it is, and the type is what it is.
Yeah, But How?
Getting your podcast "enclosure" tag in your RSS feed is easier said than done. The most direct way of doing this is to go in and edit your RSS feed each time you publish a new podcast. However, that's the most cumbersome method and serious podcasters will quickly get tired of manually editing their RSS feed for each new program.
There are several ways to simplify the process of including podcasts in your RSS feed and I recommend you find the method that fits your needs. The goal is to end up generating something similar to the example found at iPodder:
<item>
<title>We need one of title or description, or it ain't RSS</title>
<enclosure url="...mp3" type="..." length="..."/>
<podcast:alt_path url="...torrent" type="application/bittorrent" length="..."/>
<podcast:prodnotes type="text/opml" length="..." url="..."/>
<podcast:payload_info duration="..." guid="..."/>
<podcast:enclosure_protection md5="..." length="..."/>
<guid>it's an item guid, not an enclosure guid, or it's not RSS</guid>
</item>
I know, if you're like me you're wondering how in hell you're going to easily generate something like that. Well, it's really not hard at all and some blog tools include features that do this automatically.
- Movable Type 3.x - There's an enclosure plugin that makes this possible
- TypePad - There's a sort of hack that uses Feedburner (a good service I've used before)
- Blogger.com - There's another sort of hack that also uses Feedburner
- BlogHarbor - It's a built-in feature so it's pretty darn easy
- Radio Userland - This blog tool also includes a method for publishing podcasts and it's an integrated feature
- Wordpress - The newest version of WordPress (now 1.5) fully supports podcasting so if you haven't upgraded yet, do it now
- The Other Blog Tool - If your blog tool isn't listed, then my suggestion is to use Feedburner and try to include your podcast that way or search for a hack
Conclusion
Finally, you just really need to get in there and start podcasting. I've directed you to many resources that should be more than sufficient in getting you started with either listening to podcasts or creating your own. If this little tutorial has helped you at all, please let me know. If you have any tips or links to include, please share.
Blogging 101 publishes every Sunday and provides blogging tips, advice and tutorials for blog newbies and veterans alike.
Comments
Thanks very much indeed for this comprehensive introduction. I've done a little test in creating my own podcast, and, as soon as I've worked out what my niche will be, I'll be podcasting too.
Blue skies
love
Roy
"An FTP client or some way to get your mp3 to the Web "
well how do i get that?
I appreciate the help, but those of us not familiar with the workings of RSS need a little more specificity about the what to do. For example, you gave an example of the ITM tag and its contents, and I can do that, but where? I use Movable Type 3.17 (can't make MT-Enclosure work). Should I include the code directly into my blog entry? In my RSS 2.0 Index template? Or do I have to FTP to my site, pull a specific RSS or XML file down, edit it and re-upload it? Please remember a lot of us are beginners just trying to figure things out!
I'm also wondering about where to put iTunes tags. Apple has a PDF file ( http://phobos.apple.com/static/podcast_specifications.pdf ) showing what to type, but they too assume that you'll know where to put it.
Please help! Thanks!
You can also use WebPod Studio (http://www.lionhardt.ca/wps) which does it all for you..
though ur site was a gr8 help in understanding how podcasting works n wat all one needs to do podcasting, can u help me with more specific technical details working behind these podcasting
with regards
jincen
I have an inquiry about myspace.For your blog on myspace, how would you get a podcast enclosure there? There is a space where it says to put your podcast enclosure- - but how do I do that? I triede your code but no help. Do I just put an mp3 code there??
I did live interenet radio streaming.
Now this looks like a better alternative.
THANKS for the info on getting the podcast enclosure into the feed. This is a challenge.
Posted by: Pat | April 6, 2005 8:37 PM