Podcast Beta / User Guide

1.1 Requirements

To access the Podcast Beta application you will obviously need a computer with an Internet connection. To transfer your MP3 files using our built-in 'applet' you will need to have Java installed on your computer. Most new computers come with this functionality already available.

1.2 Podcasts and Items

A Podcast has two main parts; the Podcast itself and the MP3's or items that it contains. The Podcast can be thought of as the parent and the items as it's children. A Podcast can contain zero or more items.

1.3 Creating a Podcast

Our Quick Start Guide provides detailed information on creating your first Podcast.

1.4 Publishing and Revoking Podcasts

When you first create a Podcast it is by default published, which means listeners are able to receive it. However, sometimes you may wish to 'revoke' a Podcast without actually deleting it. This means that as far as the listener is concerned, the Podcast no longer exists and they cannot receive it, however, if at some point in the future you wish to republish the Podcast you may do so.

The 'publish' tab on the top right of the screen provides a list of your published and unpublished Podcasts, with the option to revoke and publish them respectively.

2.1 Creating Items

When you create a Podcast, there is a step that allows you to transfer MP3 files and create items from them. You can also create items as a separate process by selecting the 'items' tab from the menu and choosing 'Create New Item'.

The first step to creating an item is transferring the MP3 file(s) that you wish to use. Once you have done this pressing 'Next' shows a further list of files that you have transferred. You can then select the file(s) that you wish to use before entering the title and description for each.

2.2 Transferring Files

Creating an item involves transferring MP3 files from your computer to Podcast Beta. When you attempt to create an item, you may be asked to accept a security warning. It is very important that you accept this as it allows your computer to download a small program that enables you to transfer files to Podcast Beta.

The window that loads will show two panes. The left hand pane shows files on your local computer. Browse through these files and select the MP3's that you wish to transfer. Press the button labelled '>>' to copy the files to Podcast Beta.

2.3 Adding Items to your Podcast

When your first create a Podcast you can create and add items to it. However, you can also add new items to existing Podcasts. By following the steps in section 2.1 above, you can create a new item. When this process is complete you are given the option to add it to existing Podcast.

You can also choose the 'items' option from the menu, browse to the item that you wish to add to an existing Podcast before choosing the 'Add to Podcast' option.

2.4 Organising Your Items

If you're in the position where you are dealing with lots of items, it can be beneficial to organise your items. When you transfer files, you are given an option labelled 'MkDir' ('MDir' if you're using a Mac). This enables you to create directories in order to categorise your items.

3.1 Podcasting Information

At it's most basic level, a Podcast can be explained as an RSS (usually 2.0) feed that contains enclosures that point to MP3 files held on a remote server. This enables 'Podcatching' or other RSS aggregation software to periodically check Podcasts for updates and retrieve their content - in much the same way that standard website digest RSS feeds work. Many Podcatching applications also enable the contents of Podcasts to be synchronised with portable MP3 players.

3.2 What does Podcast Beta provide?

Podcast Beta provides a one-stop solution to creating and publishing Podcasts. You only need to provide the MP3 files that you wish to Podcast and Podcast Beta takes care of the rest.

We use our own in-house Digivault asset hosting system to provide a rock-solid hosting platform for potentially high-traffic files.

3.3 MP3 Information

The MP3's that you provide can be in any bitrate using any codec. However, bear in mind that the files are going to be transferred across the Internet to listeners and so finding a trade-off between file size and quality is always a good idea.

The FTP upload applet has a filter applied to local directories which results in only files with the accepted '.mp3' filename extension being shown.

Podcast Beta also tries to determine title and description information for items based on ID3 tags, so it can save a bit of time if files are well tagged.

3.4 Uploading files

The web-based interface uses a Java FTP applet for transferring MP3 files from your local computer to our servers. To make use of this functionality, you will need to have the Java Virtual Machine installled.