How do I Podcast? : iMinistries, Inc.

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How do I Podcast?

Bryan Young
posted this on September 21, 2009 12:09 pm

Podcasting is a standardized way to distribute audio files to internet users. Podcasting, in general, is done by placing files on a Web server and using an RSS feed to describe each file. On your iMinistries site, podcasting is simplified using the Blog functionality. In essence, a Podcast on your site is a blog entry with an audio file as an enclosure (a file embedded within the entry). Since all blogs on your site automatically offer an RSS feed, your blog becomes a Podcast when you add audio files to the entry.

Creating a Podcast

Create a Blog (see Blog Administration)
Create a Blog Entry (see Blog Administration)
Upload an mp3 file as an enclosure by browsing to the file on your computer.
Visit the blog page (you can use the open to get to the blog page when you are on the actual Blog Entry page).
Locate and click the RSS Feed link at the bottom of the page. It looks like this :
Your browser should show some XML code (language used to communicate your Podcast). Find the URL in the address bar of your browser. This is the address of your podcast.

Adding Your Podcast to iTunes Podcast Directory

If you have iTunes installed, you may simply click the following link and skip to step 5: https://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZFinance.woa/wa/publishPodcast
Open iTunes (if you do not have it installed already, visit Apple's website for a free download)
Visit iTunes Music Store
Click Podcasts
Click Submit a Podcast
Paste your the address of your podcast into the box and follow all the steps

How much space are we allowed for mp3 archives and overall storage?

To see how much space you are currently using, go to your site's Administration area, open Site Controls, and click on Site Minder. You will see a graph that appears at the bottom of the screen. It indicates your monthly bandwidth usage and the storage allotment that we give you. You are not limited to a specific storage allotment per mp3's or jpg's.

Timing Out While Loading an mp3 file

Problem: The site is timing out or appears to "crash" while you are attempting to attach an mp3 file to a blog entry.

Solution: Most likely, the file is too large. We currently have a file limit of 25MB. A 45 minute message encoded at 32kbs is about 14MBs. The setting to change the speed at which you are encoding is in iTunes when you rip it from the CD. You can change your encoding configuration in iTunes preferences to encode at < 128kbs and then right click on the song and encode it again so that you don't have to rip it again.