Creating a Podcast RSS Feed using Feed Spring

Download Feed Spring

• FeedSpring - free feed generator software. It can help podcasters, bloggers and Web publishers effortlessly create unlimited RSS feeds.
  Available at: http://www.usablelabs.com/productFeedSpring.html
• Install the software per the instructions that come with the program.

Creating the Feed

1. Double-click on Feed Spring icon to launch the program.
2. From the File menu choose New Feed
3. The RSS 2.0 Channel Information window appears

• Click on the Required tab - As the name states these three fields are required.
  • Channel Title - give your feed a title. This title will be for the entire feed, not just one episode. Example: Your feed title would be EDEE 201 podcast but each episode in that feed would have a different name, such as Week 1 - What are dispositions, Week 2 - What's good in education, etc.
  • Channel URL - type in the url where the main rss page will live. In most cases you can type your cofc webpage address (ex. http://www.cofc.edu/~benignim)
  • Channel Description - type in a brief description of what the feed is.
    
    
• Click on the Optional tab - all of these fields are optional.
  • Language - type in en to denote english. if it is another language then use that two letter abbreviation.
  • Copyright - you may type in any copyright information you want.
  • Managing Editor - type a name here if appropriate.
  • Webmaster - type a name here if appropriate.
  • Publication Date - click Now
  • Category - type in any categories that might be appropriate for a search engine to look for.
• Click OK

Adding an Episode to the Feed

A podcast feed normally consists of multiple episodes added over time. One video/audio podcast equates to one episode.

1. From the Action menu choose Add Item
2. The RSS 2.0 Item Information window appears:

• Click on the General tab
  • Item Title - type in the episode name (ex. Week 1 - What are dispositions?)
  • Item URL - optional - this is the url to a webpage that relates to the podcast or has a large description of the podcast.
  • Item Description - a short description of what the podcast is about.
  • Publication Date - click Now.
    
    
• Click on the Advanced tab
  • Author Email Address - optional - the podcast author's email address.
  • URL for Comments - - optional - this isn't appropriate for CofC at this time.
  • Global Unique ID - unnecessary - It's a string that uniquely identifies the item. When present, an aggregator may choose to use this string to determine if an item is new.
  • Enclosure - THIS IS REQUIRED
    • URL - the url to the podcast posted on stream (ex. http://stream.cofc.edu/Podcasts/benigni_m/WinPodcast_0001.mp4)
    • Length - length of the video/audio file in the following format: hh:mm:ss ex.00:04:03 for a four minute and three second video.
    • MIME Type - the MIME type explains to your computer how to play the file and is dependent upon your podcast's file type (see below chart)
      
      

      If the podcast extension is...	then the MIME type is...
      .mp3	audio/x-mp3
      .m4a	audio/x-m4a
      .wav	audio/wav
      .mp4	video/mp4
      .m4v	video/x-m4v

      
      
      
• Click on the Category tab
  • Under the categories type in keywords for the search.
• Click OK when finished

Saving your RSS Feed

1. From the File menu choose Save.
2. From the Save As window choose a save location on your computer and name the RSS file.
3. Click Save.
4. The finished RSS feed should look like this:
   
   

Posting the RSS Feed to your Website

Now that you have created the feed you must post it to your Spinner account so that it can be accessed for subscription by RSS readers such as iTunes. This requires the use of a FTP (file transfer protocol) program. The program recommended is FileZilla but you can also use SecureFTP if it's already on your computer.

Download and install FileZilla

1. FileZilla can be downloaded for free from http://sourceforge.net/projects/filezilla/
• You want to choose the .exe package
2. When it's done downloading, click Run and follow the installation instructions.

Opening and Configuring FileZilla

1. Double-click on the FileZilla icon on your desktop or open the program from Start > Programs > FileZilla > FileZilla.
2. From the File menu choose Site Manager
3. Click New Site
   1. Type the name of the new site (ex. Spinner)
   2. Host: www.cofc.edu
   3. Servertype: choose SFTP using SSH2 from the dropdown menu
   4. Logintype: Normal
   5. User: this is your Spinner username (ex. benignim)
   6. Password: this is your Spinner password
      Note: if you do not know your Spinner username or password contact the webmaster at webmaster@cofc.edu
   7. Click Save and Exit
      
      

Connecting to Spinner

1. To connect to the site you just setup locate the first icon in your icon bar within FileZilla. There should be a small downward arrow indicating a dropdown list.
   
2. From the dropdown list choose the site you just set up (ex. Spinner)
3. FileZilla will connect to Spinner and display your Spinner account on the right hand side of the window under Remote Site
   1. Under the Remote Site area (right side of window) double-click on the www folder. This is your actual webspace.
   2. Under the Local Site area (left side of window) locate your RSS feed.
      Note: the left-top windows shows the folders. As you single-click on a folder the contents are displayed in the left-bottom window.
   3. Double-click on the RSS file from the left. This will publish it to Spinner. You should now see your RSS file in the Remote Site list as well.
      
      
      
      

You have now successfully published your RSS feed.

Adding Additional Episodes

1. Open the FeedSpring program (Start > Programs >FeedSpring > FeedSpring)
2. Open your saved RSS feed by choose File > Open Feed and selecting the saved RSS file then Open.
3. From the Action menu choose Add Item.
4. Repeat all steps from the Adding an Episode to a Feed section and the Saving your RSS Feed section.
5. To repost your feed:
   1. To connect to the site you just setup locate the first icon in your icon bar within FileZilla. There should be a small downward arrow indicating a dropdown list.
   2. From the dropdown list choose the site you just set up (ex. Spinner)
   3. FileZilla will connect to Spinner and display your Spinner account on the right hand side of the window under Remote Site
      1. Under the Remote Site area (right side of window) double-click on the www folder. This is your actual webspace.
      2. Under the Local Site area (left side of window) locate your RSS feed.
         Note: the left-top windows shows the folders. As you single-click on a folder the contents are displayed in the left-bottom window.
      3. Double-click on the RSS file from the left. This will publish it to Spinner. You will be asked to overwrite your file. Click Overwrite then OK.
      4. You should now see your RSS file in the Remote Site list as well.