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podPress is the ultimate WordPress plugin for Podcasters.
podPress Wiki | podPress Website
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Installation
Basic Installation
If you have ever installed a plugin, then this will be pretty easy.
- Extract all the files into a folder called podpress. Copy the podpress folder into wp-content/plugins/
- If you're using WordPress 1.5, then you'll need to use the replacement wp-rss2.php file that is provided. Look in the podpress/WP1.5_users/ directory
- Login to WordPress as an Administrator. Click the Plugins menu and you'll see the podPress plugin listed. Click its Activate link. WordPress will display a confirmation message that podPress has been activated.
- You will now have a podPress menu at the end of the menu bar. Click the menu to view the configuration screen. The configuration should be pretty straightforward.
- To add a link to iTunes on your website, set the FeedID in the PodPress options page, and then add this code to your template:
<?php podPress_iTunesLink(); More info ?>
How do I upgrade PodPress?
In general this just requires that you replace the existing files with the new ones. Sometimes it's a good idea to delete all the files in wp-content/plugins/podpress/ and re-upload them fresh.
There is no "data" stored in the plugins folder. All data is in the database, so there is no concern with deleting these files and uploading new ones.
VERY IMPORTANT There are times when I am forced to make changes that will affect the podpress_theme.php and you will need to re-apply your tweaks. I try very hard to avoid this, but please understand that it's not always possible.
Stats Support
Using WordPress Permalinks
In wordpress admin, goto Options -> Permalinks
Docs for the specifics of how to get permalinks working are at http://codex.wordpress.org/Using_Permalinks
If you can get Numeric to work, then podpress stats will start working fine.
Using download.mp3
This is here for IIS servers. It requires that you configure the web server to process .mp3 files the same way it does .php files. This will cause some additional server load while it serves up all mp3 files, but is the only solution I could come up with to stay compatible with iTunes.
Understanding the alternate URLs generated when Stats support is enabled
If you are using the Stats feature of podPress you will notice your download links are changed to look something like this:
http://site.com/podpress_media/77/0/web/podcast01.mp3
This is how podPress is able to record that your file is being downloaded. What it's doing is using the Permalinks support of WordPress to trap requests to the podpress_media/web, podpress_media/play and podpress_media/feed directories which do not exists as real directories. The web, play, feed names are used to set the method, and allow me to track each download type and show this in the stats screens.
So if your having problems with the download links failing, it's probably due to lack of support for the WordPress Permalinks (.htaccess file). There is a seperate FAQ entry concerning that issue.
Premium Podcasting
podPress has support for Premium Podcasting. I will be adding the documentation very soon.
For some reference, please read the article I wrote that started my interest
Role Manager plugin
The Role Manager plugin is very useful for managing permissions [1]
Anyone that should have access to the premium podcasting files need to have the Premium Content role, which can be done by making them Premium Subscribers
Then just in each post set the media file as premium content and normal visitors will not be able to see the content via the web or from the feed. Put premiumcast.php in your main wordpress dir Then have your subscribers use this file as their rss feed. It will ask for their user/pass before giving the RSS feed. Juice and iTunes supports this fine.
Fully Protecting the content
Keep in mine, that this does NOT protect your content if someone discovers the URLS, it only hides the location from showing up on the site or in the feed. To fully protect your files I have also been able to get this working with aMemberPro http://www.amember.com/ aMemberPro will protect the files from being downloaded at all, unless authorized. It also handles monthly subscription issues thru paypal and such. Its a great tool, and combines with WordPress and podPress you can have a full blown premium content podcasting service.
Optional Files
These optional files are just provided to give you the full benefit of podpress. The intention is that none of these are required for use of podPress.
Non-Permalinks stats support
Copy this directory to your
- podpress_trac\.htaccess
- podpress_trac\index.php
Feedcaching support. Means less load on your webserver
- index.php
The rest is for wordpress 1.5 and 2.0.x users ONLY!
Full featured and fully compliant feed generation
- wp1.5_2.0/wp-rss2.php - RSS2 compliant feeds, and full podpress functionality.
- wp1.5_2.0/wp-atom.php - ATOM 1.0 compliant feed generation
- wp1.5_2.0/wp-feed.php - Adds support for alternative feed types
Podcast downloads via bittorrent
checks for .torrent file in podcast posting, and uses it as preference if it exists
- wp1.5_2.0/torrentcast.php
Premium Podcasting support files
- wp1.5_2.0/premiumcast.php - users use this as their feed URL
- wp1.5_2.0/wp-premium.php - adds premium as a feed type. Generates RSS2 compliant feed and requires wp-feed.php
- wp1.5_2.0/wp-feed.php - Adds support for alternative feed types
CategoryCasting support
Until wordpress adds the nessesary hook this is required for categorycasting to work.
- wp1.5_2.0/wp-admin/categories.php - For wordpress 2.x users ONLY!
Replace your wp-admin/categories.php with this one.
Also be sure to replace the original wp-rss2.php file with the one available in the podpress "optional_files" directory.
