Figured the hard part, but one thing eludes me...

[hugh_an]

Hello from Ireland! This is my first time here so if I'm breaking any protocol rules or doing anything untoward, please be gentle!...

I publish an educational magazine for learners of French and have been doing so for 8 years. The magazine is accompanied by audio CDs. I am now planning to broaden the scope of my publication with audio podcasts.

My plan is that additional audio will be available via my website, (possibly paid-for content, down the road).

To host my audio files and deal with traffic, I've signed up for an account with hipcast.com (formerly audioblog.com). I think I've figured everything out about RSS feeds, etc, etc. I have successfully got a feed up and running and am able to subscribe, add new content, prepare for iTunes, etc.

There's one thing I can't figure out tho'. When people visit my site I want them to be able to do two things:

1. subscribe to a feed [this part I've managed ok]
2. click on "Listen" buttons to start listening - right away - to sample audio excerpts.

Now, in relation to [2], above, the thing is, if these sample mp3s were with all the rest of my site's files (in other words with my regular web hosting service) there'd be no problem: I could just link to the sample mp3s. But these sample mp3s might be downloaded very regularly and so I want them accessed via my hipcast account/server.

My question is: how do I link to these files from my website's pages, given that they're on a "remote" (i.e. hipcast) server? A good example of what I'm trying to achieve is at eslpod.com. (There, you can subscribe to podcast content, or listen immediately to mp3 sample conversations.)

Thanks in advance for helping out.

Hugh

[siriusfox]

link to them the exact same way you would link to a differenet site from your own. With the full URL.

ex.
http://www.example.com/directory/direcotry/showname.mp3

[ElNacho]

the french language? an irish accent? dude this sounds friggin awesome, can yo link to yer website wen yer duN?

[hugh_an]

Thanks, but the plot thickens...

Hipcast support says:
Q: Where can I find a list of directories where you post my podcasts?
A: Assuming you selected the "Syndicate My Podcast" feature when you setup your podcast, we use http://www.PingOMatic.com to syndicate for you. Please check with them as to the current set of directories they feed into.

Now, because I'm just testing at the moment, I don't want to syndicate all my files 'cos... they're only tests! And I find "Check with them..."-type instructions off-putting.

Do you know if it's easy to locate (and refer to) directories with a Liberated Syndication package? I'd like to know before my 1-week Hipcast trial runs out, if possible... These sample mp3 excerpts - which will not actually be part of a podcast - will be vital to my web solution.

TIA

Hugh

[hugh_an]

Elnacho... I'm the publisher, not one of the people who does the talking - tho' I could, if pushed!...

Hugh

[WyethDigital]

Thanks, but the plot thickens...

Hipcast support says:
Q: Where can I find a list of directories where you post my podcasts?
A: Assuming you selected the "Syndicate My Podcast" feature when you setup your podcast, we use http://www.PingOMatic.com to syndicate for you. Please check with them as to the current set of directories they feed into.

Now, because I'm just testing at the moment, I don't want to syndicate all my files 'cos... they're only tests! And I find "Check with them..."-type instructions off-putting.

Do you know if it's easy to locate (and refer to) directories with a Liberated Syndication package? I'd like to know before my 1-week Hipcast trial runs out, if possible... These sample mp3 excerpts - which will not actually be part of a podcast - will be vital to my web solution.

TIA

Hugh
I'm starting to get a little confused about what you want to do. This is what I get from your posts: You have a website, but you don't think you have enough bandwidth to host podcasts from it, so you're trying out hipcast.com for your podcasts and linking to it from your regular site. You've got your feed working and you can add and update it.

You have sample audio files that you want to store at your podcast site (hipcast), but you want people to be able to play them from your main website (not the podcast site) -- but you don't know how to connect to them. Okay so far?

Here's where I'm getting confused: Are these the same files you are podcasting? Or are these meant to be seperate from the podcasts?

If they're meant to be seperate, and they are not syndicated, why don't you just host them on your main site? I don't know how hipcast works, but if it's anything like other blogging sites out there, if you don't want them syndicated, you should not be putting them on the same hipcast.com "page" as your podcast files, otherwise they may be added to your podcast feed, whether you want that or not.

Finally, if these are your podcasts, and you want people to be able to play them on your main site, do as the instructions suggest and contact PingOmatic. Or you could open your RSS feed in a text editor and get the linking information from there. I think shooting an email to PingOmatic might be easier and less error prone, though.

Eric

[hugh_an]

You have a website, but you don't think you have enough bandwidth to host podcasts from it, so you're trying out hipcast.com for your podcasts and linking to it from your regular site. You've got your feed working and you can add and update it.
Exactly.

You have sample audio files that you want to store at your podcast site (hipcast), but you want people to be able to play them from your main website (not the podcast site) -- but you don't know how to connect to them.
Yes, I don't know how to link to them 'cos I don't know what directories they're located in. These sample files will be downloaded frequently and, consequently, may cause me to exceed my bandwidth allowance with my own website hosting service. These files might be described as "static" excerpts: they will not be updated very frequently, and hence will not be part of my podcast (which would be weekly, or at least periodically).

Are these the same files you are podcasting? Or are these meant to be seperate from the podcasts?
They are not the same files as those I'd be podcasting.

why don't you just host them on your main site?
Well... that's a good question. It seems, from the "tone" of your question, that it's the obvious thing to do. I'm just worried that I'll be exceeding my bandwidth allowance. Maybe I'll put them up on my own site and see what the traffic situation is: if it becomes excessive, I can cross that bridge when I come to it.


Now... one more thing: I said I had figured out the RSS feed bit, but... Maybe you guys could clarify one more thing for me. When I publish my audio with my hipcast account, my RSS feed is generated and I get my little "XML" orange graphic which I can insert, either in my webpage or blog.

To instruct my visitors to subscribe to my content, what should I do? When I click directly on the "XML" graphic (on my webpage) in Firefox, the XML code appears in a new window. On the other hand, when I click-drag the graphic into an aggregator, everything works according to plan. In other words, the content of the feed becomes accessible to me in the aggregator (iTunes/Juice, etc). But... in the main, I reckon that my visitors will not be inspired to click-drag the XML graphic to an aggregator: they won't even be aware that they need an aggregator. What's the "conventional wisdom" on advising people what to do when they see those RSS/XML graphics?...

TIA,

Hugh

[WyethDigital]

why don't you just host them on your main site?
Well... that's a good question. It seems, from the "tone" of your question, that it's the obvious thing to do. I'm just worried that I'll be exceeding my bandwidth allowance. Maybe I'll put them up on my own site and see what the traffic situation is: if it becomes excessive, I can cross that bridge when I come to it.
Yes, that's exactly what I mean (though I hope you didn't take offense to my "tone." :) ). I don't know how many GB of bandwidth, or what your disk space is on your server, but I would guess that you should be able to handle several thousand short mp3 files every month. My current host has 30 GB of transfer per month, and my podcast is usually about 30 MB, which means I can handle about 2900 to 3000 downloads per month.

Now... one more thing: I said I had figured out the RSS feed bit, but... Maybe you guys could clarify one more thing for me. When I publish my audio with my hipcast account, my RSS feed is generated and I get my little "XML" orange graphic which I can insert, either in my webpage or blog.

To instruct my visitors to subscribe to my content, what should I do? When I click directly on the "XML" graphic (on my webpage) in Firefox, the XML code appears in a new window. On the other hand, when I click-drag the graphic into an aggregator, everything works according to plan. In other words, the content of the feed becomes accessible to me in the aggregator (iTunes/Juice, etc). But... in the main, I reckon that my visitors will not be inspired to click-drag the XML graphic to an aggregator...
Alot of podcasters usually include instructions on how to copy and paste that code into an aggegator, along with some links to free or popular aggregators.

If you want something more "automatic," what you can try, if your blog program allows it, is post that same XML link on your site, but instead of leading it off with the usual "http," see if you can change it to "itpc:" (some programs may not let you). Then label it as an "iTunes One-Click" subscription button or link. If you'll notice in my example, it is the same address as my RSS feed, except for the changed "itpc:" part. If someone that has iTunes clicks this, iTunes launches and your podcast is automatically subscribed to from within iTunes. Go ahead and give it a try:

itpc://www.wyethdigital.com/howtogirl/how_to_podcast/rss.xml

Good look,

Eric

[hugh_an]

I didn't take any offence to your "tone" - sorry, 'twas clumsy of me to put it that way :)

I'm interested to see the possibilities with 30 GB of transfer. Dunno right now what my webhost allows - I'll check it. I think it's small 'cos I've got a relatively cheap package at the moment but can easily - and still cheaply - upgrade to more space if I want to.


Now that "itpc:" trick worked a treat - just tried it. Are there other similar "http:" substitutes for common aggregators?… Yahoo? etc?

Where might I find a list of these "substitutes" if I wanted to include a few of the more common aggregator "1-click" icons in my webpage?...

Thanks,

Hugh

[WyethDigital]

Now that "itpc:" trick worked a treat - just tried it. Are there other similar "http:" substitutes for common aggregators?… Yahoo? etc?

Where might I find a list of these "substitutes" if I wanted to include a few of the more common aggregator "1-click" icons in my webpage?...
That I'm not so sure of. I only know of iTunes. What you can do is copy/paste the links from Yahoo and other places to see if they do something similar. Does Yahoo have their own aggregator?

As for graphics, I just make my own, so I don't know where else to look for them. I suspect some of them come with whatever program they use to create their sites (like WordPress, or LibSyn's templates).

Eric

[hugh_an]

Thanks a lot Eric, and all of you, for helping out.

I'm a lot wiser than I was this time last week when I knew absolutely zero with regard to podcasting!...

Hugh

[WyethDigital]

Thanks a lot Eric, and all of you, for helping out.

I'm a lot wiser than I was this time last week when I knew absolutely zero with regard to podcasting!...

Hugh
If you started at zero knowledge last week and you already have a working feed, I'm super impressed. I have a feeling we may be coming to you with questions before too long!

Eric