Rivendell has the ability to manage multiple RSS audio feeds, including capabilities for posting and expiring audio automatically as well as updating associated cast metadata. CREATING AND POPULATING RSS FEEDS -------------------------------- Setting up a new RSS feed is a matter of accomplishing the following steps: 1) Create and configure the feed in RDAdmin 2) Schedule the audio posts by means of one or more Upload Events in RDCatch. 3) Manage the metadata in RDCastManager. We'll cover each of these steps in turn. 1) Creating RSS Feeds Base parameters for each RSS feed are configured in RDAdmin->ManageFeeds. The 'CHANNEL VALUES' section shows metadata values that will be common to the feed as a whole (as opposed to specific podcasts within it). The other parameters are used as follows: Key Name - A unique name, eight-characters or less in length, used to identify the feed within Rivendell. Audio Upload URL - This is the URL of the directory to which the audio files will be uploaded. It is also the URL that the system will use when deleting expired audio from the system (e.g. by means of an FTP 'DELETE' command); hence the specified 'Username' and 'Password' should grant sufficient rights to allow contents in the directory to be deleted. Currently supported protocols are 'file:', 'ftp:' and 'smb:'. Audio Download URL - This is the URL of the directory from which the audio files will be downloaded. The URL listed should be world-readable by 'anonymous' users. Often, this will be the same as the 'Audio Upload URL' above. Enable AutoPost - If enabled, each new cast in the feed will become 'visible' immediately following upload, using the default metadata as configured in the channel values. If not enabled, then all new casts are placed on hold pending the customization of the metadata for the particular cast in RDCastManager. Audio Extension - The file extension to use for files posted to the feed (default: 'mp3'). NOTE: when using a non-default value, it is necessary to manually create a corresponding symbolic link on the web server running the 'rdfeed.xml' script with the appropriate extension that points to the script. For example, if using an extension of 'aac', one would do: cd ln -s rdfeed.xml rdfeed.aac Max. Shelf Life - Sets the maximum period (in days) that a piece of audio can be set in RDCastManager to remain in the feed until purged. If set to 'None', then no limit is enforced. This value also establishes the default expiration date for each cast (with 'Off' resulting in no expiration date being set --i.e. the cast remains TFN). XML Data Fields - The various 'XML' fields contain customizable templates that Rivendell uses to construct the actual XML code that goes into the RSS file. The following variables are automatically substituted on-the-fly when the XML is rendered by the 'rdfeed.xml' script: CHANNEL PARAMETERS (from CHANNEL PARAMETERS) -- VARIABLE -- -- Meaning ------------------- ---------------------------------------------- %TITLE% Channel Title %CATEGORY% Channel Category %LINK% Channel Link %COPYRIGHT% Channel Copyright Notice %WEBMASTER% Channel Webmaster Address %DESCRIPTION% Channel Description %BUILD_DATE% Last Build Date %PUBLISH_DATE% Date of feed creation %GENERATOR% Name and Version of RSS Generator ITEM PARAMETERS (from individual cast record in RDCastManager) -- VARIABLE ------- -- Meaning ----------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------- %ITEM_TITLE% Item Title %ITEM_CATEGORY% ITem Category %ITEM_DESCRIPTION% Item Description %ITEM_LINK% Item Link %ITEM_AUTHOR% Item Author %ITEM_SOURCE_TEXT% Item Third-Party Source - Human Readable %ITEM_SOURCE_URL% Item Third-Party Source - URL Link %ITEM_COMMENTS% Item Comments %ITEM_AUDIO_URL% Item Audio Download URL %ITEM_AUDIO_LENGTH% Item Audio File Length in bytes %ITEM_AUDIO_TIME% Item Audio Playout Time in MM:SS format %ITEM_PUBLISH_DATE% Date of cast creation %ITEM_GUID% Globally Unique ID String 2) Posting Audio Once the RSS feed(s) are set up, individual podcasts can be added by scheduling one or more Upload events in RDCatch. To associate a given upload to a particular feed, simply select the desired feed in the 'RSS Feed' control of the Edit Upload dialog, being sure that it gets uploaded to the location specified in the 'Audio Base URL' for the feed. RDCatch will automatically add the audio to the feed's XML file after the upload. 3) Editing Podcast Metadata The metadata for individual podcasts (including the cast's expiration date and posting status) can be edited by means of the RDCastManager module. Operation of the module should be largely self-explanatory. POSTING THE RSS FEED FILE ------------------------- The RSS file for each feed is generated dynamically by the RDFeed script. The specific location of the script is determined by the value given in the '--libexecdir=' parameter to './configure' (see the 'INSTALL' file for more details) and will also be influenced by the specific configuration used by the web server. A typical link would looks as follows: http://www.example.com/rd-bin/rdfeed.xml?TEST This link would serve the RSS file for the feed with the Key Name 'TEST'.