ITauthor

I just posted podcast #13 - my first podcast for 9 months - and although I have a couple of previous posts to guide me through the process:

• My podcast recording setup
• Notes on how I make a podcast

there were quite a few stages I hadn't mentioned. These were:

1. Once I've saved the MP3 file and used ID3-TagIT to edit the metadata on the file, I open the file in Windows Media Player.
2. Right click the name of the track in Windows Media Player and choose Properties.
3. Make a note of the length of the track and the file name.
4. Make a note of the size of the file.
5. Start Windows Live Writer.
6. Open a previous podcast post.
7. View the HTML and copy it all.
8. Open a new post. Note: don't try to save the existing podcast with a new name. This doesn't work like it would in Word etc. You won't get a new file, Live Writer renames the existing post, so you can lose the old post if you try to do this.
9. View the HTML and paste what you copied.
10. Back in Web view, edit the post and then publish it as a draft.
11. Use FileZilla to FTP the MP3 file to the web/wp-content/uploads/podcasts directory.
12. In Live Writer, click Dashboard, top right.
13. Log in to ITauthor.
14. Go to the Manage Posts list and click Edit for the new podcast post.
15. In the Podcasting section, click Add Media File.
16. For Location, enter the name of the file (e.g. ITauthor-podcast13-20Aug2008.mp3).
17. For the title enter: Listen to the podcast
18. Enter the file size manually - e.g. 16.2 MB. Note: the Auto Detect buttons don't work.
19. Enter the duration manually - e.g. 35:13.
20. Leave all the other fields.
21. Click Show to edit the post-specific settings for iTunes.
22. Set a Custom Subtitle. For example: Alistair Christie and Graham Campbell discuss what it's like to be the only technical writer at a software company. Note: Despite what the Help text says, you get about 144 characters to play with, after which it's truncated with an ellipsis.
23. Set a Custom Summary. Note: This can be a text-only version of your post. If you don't set a custom one, ITunes users will see a description that is generated from the text of your post. This is okay, but it can be a bit ugly, so it's better to write one yourself. See the example summary below.
24. Set Keywords and Author tags to Use Global.
25. Leave Explicit and Block as No.
26. Make sure the categories for the post are: Podcasts (not Podcasting) and View all.
27. Publish.
28. On the Podpress tab of WordPress, go to Feed/iTunes Settings and click Ping iTunes Update.
29. Check the new podcast is visible on my Feedburner page: http://feeds.feedburner.com/itauthor If it isn't, try pinging http://www.itauthor.com at: http://www.feedburner.com/fb/a/ping If that doesn't work, log in at Feedburner, edit the feed details and check that the URL is correct.

Example iTunes:Summary tag for a podcast

I talk to Graham Campbell about being the only technical writer at a software company. Graham describes his experience of being a year into tech writing and having his Documentation Manager (me) disappear off to do another job, leaving him in a team of one, and then the possibly worse situation where, after a year, the same guy comes back again! We also also discuss our writing tips and software recommendations. This time round the apps we like are: Paint.NET http://www.getpaint.net/ Texter http://lifehacker.com/software/texter/lifehacker-code-texter-windows-238306.php For full podcast notes and more information, go to: www.itauthor.com/category/podcasts If you enjoyed the podcast, or have anything say about it, please post a comment. - Go to www.itauthor.com/category/podcasts. - Find the podcast. - Click on the main heading to view it as a single page. - Scroll down to the bottom of the page until you get to the comment form.