Podcasting Made Easy

Creating a podcast:

1. Recording some audio
First, download Audacity or another good audio recorder. Audacity is available at http://audacity.sourceforge.net. For detailed instructions on using Audacity, you can visit my page here: http://www.wm.edu/modlang/tech_notes/audio_recording.php. We like Audacity because it's free, easy to use, and a good performer. Conversely, you can go the the Media Center at Swem Library and record your audio using their software and equipment.

2. Saving your .mp3 audio file
Once you've recorded the .mp3 file, make sure you put it somewhere that's web accessible. Faculty members and students at William & Mary all should have webspace in their H:\ drives in a folder called public_html. I'd create a subfolder inside public_html called podcasts and save the files there.

Now, if you're using iTunes U for your podcast, CLICK HERE to log in and post your materials. Otherwise, you can follow the directions below to create a podcast on your own.

3. Linking the audio to a blog using Blogger
Blogger is a free weblog service that lets you easily create your own web journal. Go to http://www.blogger.com/ to get started. Once you've created your blog, you'll want to create a blog entry that links to your audio file in your web folder on the H:\ drive. If you've created a folder in the place I suggest above, the url you want to link to is http://username.people.wm.edu/podcasts/filename.mp3 where username is your W&M username and filename is the name of the new .mp3 file you've just created. Spelling, spaces, and case-sensitivity all count, so type carefully.

4. Creating an RSS feed using Feedburner
Almost there. Now you need to create an RSS feed so others can subscribe to your podcast. The easiest way to do this is to go to http://www.feedburner.com and create your feed. Make sure to click on the “I am a podcaster” box when entering your blog's url. After you've followed all the directions in Feedburner, your podcast should be ready to go!

5. Posting the podcast to the iTunes directory so others can find it
While this step is not essential, it may be beneficial to list your site in the iTunes directory. To do so, you must first have iTunes on your computer. Download it at http://www.apple.com/itunes. When you open iTunes, access the Music Store via the menu on the left-hand side of the window. Select Podcasts from the Music Store's main menu and then select Submit a Podcast. You will be asked to enter the Podcast Feed url. This is not the blog's url in Blogger, but the feed's url in Feedburner. This should be something like http://feeds.feedburner.com/feedname where feedname is the name Feedburner provided for your feed. The folks at iTunes will check the information and in most cases, your podcast will be listed in their directory in a day or two.
Note: It's never suggested that you podcast copyrighted material you don't own, but it would be especially bad to add such podcasts to the iTunes directory.

Subscribing and listening to a podcast using iTunes:

1. Subscribing to a Podcast
EITHER
Search for Podcasts in iTunes Music Store: From the menu on the left of the Main Page of iTunes' Music Store, select Podcasts. Somewhere toward the bottom left of the Podcasts page, you should see a little search box. Enter a topic or keyword and you should see a list of podcasts that fit your parameters. Click on the Subscribe button next to the entry you want.
OR
Enter the feed address manually directly into iTunes: If you know the feed address of the podcast, you can enter it directly into iTunes by going to the top menu and selecting Advanced > Subscribe to Podcast and entering the feed's url.

2. Listening to a Podcast:
In iTunes all your subscribed podcasts will be listed in your Podcasts folder directly under the main Library folder. Click on this folder and then on an individual podcast to listen.