Podcast Component: Setting Up Podcasts

What is a Podcast?

A podcast is a series of media files, usually audio, that is distributed by means of a subscription. The person subscribing and listening to a podcast will typically have an application running on their computer or smartphone that will allow them to be notified when new segments are released and then to download and listen to them.

Simply having audio files on your site for download is a perfectly reasonable way to distribute your media, but it is technically not a podcast, which involves a little extra setup.

Preliminary Steps for Having Podcasts on Your Site

The steps in this section are essential for having a podcast. If you just want to serve up audio files and not have a subscription-based podcast, you can upload your audio/mp3 files so they are available on your site.

1. Add a category to your site in which you will list your podcast segments and link to your audio files.

2. Request to HEROweb that you want to set up a podcast feed. This is a paid service offered by HEROweb. 

HEROweb will configure the feed and enable it in your Podcast category.

3. Each time you add a new segment to your podcast, the feed will automatically notify any subscribers of the new segment.

Uploading audio/mp3 Files

You have two options making audio files available from your site.

Option 1. Upload the files directly into your MightyMerchant Site Manager. You can use this option if your files are less than 15mb each.

Option 2. Upload your files to an external storage system such as dropbox or Amazon S3 and link to them from the site. You will typically need to use this method for larger audio files.

We recommend using Cyberduck (https://cyberduck.io/), which has support for Amazon and Dropbox.

Adding mp3 Items to Your Site

1. If you have uploaded your mp3 file to an external source, copy the publicly available  link to that file.

2. Log into your Site Manager.

3. Navigate to your podcast category.

4. Add a new item, including this information

- Podcast Name.

- Brief Description.

- The size of the file in bytes. Typically you can determine that information by right-clicking on the source file on your computer and viewing the properties.

- Paste in the link to your file. If the file is less than 15mb, you can upload directly into the MightyMerchant Site Manager.

Making Your Podcast Available to Subscribers

Once HEROweb has configured a podcast on your site, there is nothing you need to do, other than continue to upload your audio segments into your podcast category. We recommend including instructions at the top of your page to encourage users to subscribe to your podcast.