1. Podcasting Preparing the MP3 File Creating an RSS Feed Validating and Publishing the Feed

2. Podcasting Defined Podcasting is the distribution of specially encoded multimedia content (normally MP3 files with ID3 tags) to subscribed personal computers via the RSS 2.0 protocol. RSS 2.0 protocol It is a form of narrowcasting, which sends content to people who have decided to listen, as opposed to broadcasting, which goes to everyone within a certain radius of the signal.

3. Podcasters versus Podcatchers Podcasters are the people who create the content. Podcatchers are those who listen to the content.

4. Potcatching Clients The first podcatching client was iPodder, created by Adam Curry, the former MTV VJ. iPodder is now called Juice Receiver and is freely downloadable from juicereceiver.sourceforge.net.juicereceiver.sourceforge.net Juice Receiver is a so-called aggregator that accesses the podcasts to which you have subscribed, retrieves any enclosed multimedia content, manages files for iTunes and iPhoto, and deletes old podcasts from your hard drive after they have expired.

5. iTunes The most popular podcasting client is iTunes, which is available for both Macintosh and Windows. You download iTunes from www.apple.com/itunes.www.apple.com/itunes

6. Recording the MP3 File You can use any audio recording software you prefer to record the MP3 file. Audacity is a free, cross-platform (i.e., Mac and Windows) audio editor available from audacity.sourceforge.net. audacity.sourceforge.net iTunes can convert a wide range of audio formats into the MP3 format.

7. ID3 Tags ID3 tags enable MP3 players to display information about the file, such as: Name Artist Album Track Number Year Composer Genre Comments

8. Creating ID3 Tags with iTunes Open the MP3 file with iTunes. Pull down the File menu and choose Get Info. Fill in the fields.

9. Adding Artwork with iTunes To associate artwork with your MP3 file, click the Artwork tab and use the controls to select your artwork.

10. Rss Podcast Example RSS templates for making podcasts are at www.udel.edu/fth/podcasting. www.udel.edu/fth/podcasting There you will find a simple example called simple.xml and a more complex example called complete.xml. The simple example contains the minumum RSS for creating a podcast. The complete example contains optional tags used by iTunes.

11. Simple RSS Example Introduction to Podcasting http://www.udel.edu/fth/podcasting/simple.xml How to create a podcast en-us fth@udel.edu (Fred Hofstetter) Fri, 03 Mar 2006 19:13:45 GMT Introduction What is podcasting? Fri, 03 Mar 2006 01:15:00 GMT fth@udel.edu (Fred Hofstetter) <enclosure url="http://www.udel.edu/fth/podcasting/intro.mp3" type="audio/x-mp3" length="114688"/> http://www.udel.edu/fth/2006/03/03/podcasting/intro

12. Validating a Feed After you create an RSS file, you should validate the feed to make sure it does not contain syntactical errors that may cause the podcast to fail. You can validate the feed for free at http://feedvalidator.org. http://feedvalidator.org

13. Advertising Your Feed If you want your feed to be listed at podcast directories and listing sites, you can go to the site’s ping form, fill out the form, and click Submit. Some ping forms are at: audio.weblogs.com/api.html www.allpodcasts.com/Update.aspx www.technorati.com/ping.html

14. Where to Find Podcasts The directory that started it all was iPodder, owned by and now called Podcast Alley at podcastalley.com. podcastalley.com You can register and create favorites at podcastpickle.com. podcastpickle.com Yahoo’s audio search is at audio.search.yahoo.com. audio.search.yahoo.com A directory of directories is at podcast411.com.podcast411.com iTunes U; watch the movie about iTunes U at www.apple.com/education/ itunesu_mobilelearning/itunesu.html www.apple.com/education/ itunesu_mobilelearning/itunesu.html

15. Podcasting from a Blog If you have a blog, you can use FeedBurner to turn your blog into a podcast. This is called “burning your feed.” FeedBurner automatically creates and hosts the podcast’s RSS feed for you. FeedBurner is at www.feedburner.com.www.feedburner.com

16. About Podcasting A podcast about podcasting is at podcast411.com podcast411.com A PC tutorial is at http://www.windowsdevcenter.com/pub/a/windows/ 2005/04/05/create_podcasts_with_pc.html http://www.windowsdevcenter.com/pub/a/windows/ 2005/04/05/create_podcasts_with_pc.html Apple tutorials are in the sidebar at www.apple.com/itunes/podcasts/techspecs.html www.apple.com/itunes/podcasts/techspecs.html

17. iTunes Podcasting Specs The official iTunes podcasting specifications are online at: www.apple.com/itunes/podcasts/techspecs.html

18. Fred’s Podcasting Hardware Samson CO1U USB Studio Condenser Microphone www.samsontech.com/ products/productpage.cfm?prodID=1810.www.samsontech.com/ products/productpage.cfm?prodID=1810 Spider for CO1U Microphone Swing arm: Rode PSA1 Studio Arm With 2 Axis Swivel Mount, $89, ordered from www.markertek.com. www.markertek.com