Episode 74

WordPress 2 now available for iPhone

podPress resuming development, sometime… soon?

WPWorldMap launched

WordPress 2.8.5 released (hear why upgrading now is important in WordCast 68: WordPress Security and Safety)

Celebrity Pressers:

• Babyrazzi
• Mark Cuban
• (both hosted on WordPress.com VIP- check out Harry McCracken‘s thoughts in WordCast 63)

WordPress Tip of the Week: WordPress Turbo

Kym’s pick: Custom Login Page 2.0

Dave’s pick: Pretty Link and Pretty Link Pro

Image Courtesy MightySeek

Dan Kuykendall, the founder and developer of the podPress WordPress podcasting plugin, announced on his Mighty Seek blog in August that, after a confusing and messy hiatus, he will be returning to develop what was once the most popular plugin to podcast with WordPress.

WordPress has supported “podcasting” – the embedding of audio or video files as an “enclosure” in RSS feeds for subscription-based consumption, since version 1.5.Adding a link to an MP3 file in your post or creating a custom field called “enclosure” with the url, file size and file type would automatically add the necessary enclosure tag to one’s feed.

(NOTE: WordPress 2.8, in an attempt to fix a bug with podcasting plugins like podPress, created a problem with using the custom field enclosure method in which the field is automatically deleted upon saving a post. A fix is in the Trac for 2.9, but for now, you need to edit your functions.php file to use this feature. Read this WordPress forum post for more information.)

The podPress plugin was designed to offer iTunes support for WordPress podcasts, and automatically insert a download link and flash player into a post. As seen in the screenshot above, it used a separate box in the Add Post panel to select an audio file, title it, detect the size and duration, etc. Back when it was released in February 2006, it was the first of its’ kind to do so.

However, towards the end of 2007, development of the plugin suddenly halted. Bugs found in podPress were not getting fixed, and new versions were not being released. Users continued to use the plugin, but when 2.7 rolled around, a crisis began brewing for many podcasters: podPress wasn’t compatible!

Since then, use of the plugin has dropped dramatically. Many groups asked to take over the project, but Dan seemed uninterested. Users switched to options like the Blubrry PowerPress WordPress podcasting plugin, Others have started simply using the quick, easy, built-in WordPress enclosures and using Google’s FeedBurner to automatically add the iTunes bits and pieces.

This post was published back in August, and since then, no progress has been made. Even if the developer does spring back into action, it will be interesting to see if podPress will be able to catch up with the developments that have been made while it took a vacation, and if it will be able to gain back all of its previous users. Have you used podPress and switched to something new? Do you plan on switching back, or are you wary of its reliability due to its history?

Dave Moyer of WordCast Podcast and founder and producer of the Bitwire Media, a multimedia publishing company, talked about the basics of Podcasting and using podcasting with audio and video to build a community. Most of his presentation was on the production side of producing a podcast.

The first step is Planning. Planning the format, scheduling, length, purpose, goals, creating the general outline.

Podcasting can be flexible and anarchy, but it helps to have a plan. A good plan starts with an outline. You need an intro to establish who you are and what you are about to present in the podcast, then the fun part which is the script or outline and the general content. The greatest part of podcasting is that you can fix it later, most of the time. Ads and breaks in the middle can break up a podcast.

The greatest part of advertising on a podcast is that it isn’t about the numbers. It’s about the audience. If you have a very special niche for your audience interest, advertisers may want that target audience, and the numbers don’t matter. It gets them to their target audience.

Then you end the show and “wrap it up” with the contact information and how to find you.

Production is the next step. What do you need? A computer, something that will record, a microphone, and that’s it. You can move onto the bigger equipment, but simple sometimes works the best.

The software that is essential to the process. Skype makes this possible, allowing connecting internationally to do interviews and have co-hosts from around the world. Audacity is the sound editor of choice for Dave. It’s free and he uses it, even though he has all the other pro software. It is great for editing the sound, putting in ads, music, and whatever you need.

If you need a little music, a little ditty, check out http://penmachine.com, http://freeplaymusic.com, and http://music.podshow.com are great for free music with permission. Use http://soundsnap.com to get all kinds of free sound bites like laugh tracks, bells, whistles, and more. Then use your own creativity. Get interviewed guests to give voice overs, sound bites, and other fun things to put into promos and add fun sound effects.

MTR Podcast Recorder Plugin http://bit.ly/mtrplugin is a simple built in recorder for WordPress.

Publishing used to be complex as podcasters would have to write the XML feed code from scratch. Today, WordPress has built-in enclosers to help publish podcasts. In the custom fields, you can add the file and info, or use a Plugin.

Use Feedburner to automatically process the feed so it will add all the Smartcasting options to add the labels and information to the feed and it will “feed” iTunes and other podcasting networks and services. There are some Plugins that will handle all of this, like PodPress and Blubrry WordPress Plugins.

The Audio Player Plugin http://wpaudioplayer.com/ is a simple and easy to use player so they can play it right on the page and not subscribe and go into the feed to listen.

Dave Moyer talked about Enhancing Presence on the podcast. “Podcasts need to be more than just the little guy standing there, pushing stuff out. You need a presence. You need to be something online. You have to show you more.”

He says that podcasts need to be fun and interactive in order to be successful. The “presence” needs to be part of the show.

You have to be part of the community, join the club. Get people involved, people trust those who trust them to participate. Your job as a podcaster is to become the person they trust. People hate being lectured to and begged to listen. Become a valued member of the community to create that trust.

Go beyond the feed. What do they do after wards? What do they do when they are done listening? Is there a place to go, a place to comment, to connect, to contribute?

Provide voice mail, emails, phone numbers, places to upload MP3 files, and ways for people to interact. Grand Central is now Google Voice http://google.com/voice and http://k7.net is also a good voice mail service. Most will comment, specifically in the episode, and few will email or call, but offer all the options.

Podcast titles are serious podcast listeners. They know how it all works, so you don’t have to play SEO games with post titles. Use a format with the Show Title, Episode Number, then the title, making it something fun and interesting asd few look at the title as much as the description of the content.

Andy Stains Simple Press Forum WordPress Plugins is what WordCast uses for their forum. A forum allows more interaction and a place for fans to give feedback and connect with each other. Feedback is great, first you get it, then you have to use it. They can help you make it better, but use it selectively.

Episode 44:

• Send your love to Kym
• WordPress saves a city $19,000
• WordPress reaches 4,000 plugins, Matt declares Jan. 28th “Thank a Plugin Developer Day”
• Plugins Podcast launches
• Celebrity Pressers: Brityn Mykhail, Ford, LeVar Burton
• Mike Arrington taking some time off… the side effects of blogging celebrities
• Still no 2.7.1, and that’s a good thing
• WordCamp Update: Gulf Coast Meetup, Toronto Meetup – Toronto, WordCamp Paris 2, WordCamp Jena Germany, WordCamp Education Vancouver, WordCamp Miami, WordCamp Denver!
• WordPress Tip of the Week: Podcasting with WordPress – PodPress, All in One Video Pack, Video Quicktags, and PowerPress plugins, and Dave has a solution with FeedBurner.
• Lorelle’s Pick: Next of Kin WordPress plugin (similar to DeathSwitch)
• Dave’s pick: “The Stars” theme for WordPress

Thanks to Derek K. Miller for our music.

Download this week’s podcast