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Aggregators – How a podcast gets to you
When you downloaded Doppler, which is an aggregator, you acquired the program that will allow you to subscribe to RSS feeds. Doppler will look for updated versions of those feeds regularly and download them to your computer when a new one has been posted.
If you don’t want to get bogged down in the technical details, think of it like this:
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Remember back to the beginning when we talked about your family fighting over who gets which section of the newspaper on Saturday morning? The Doppler program and an RSS feed is like if the newspaper company simply left your favorite section of the paper outside of their office and you trained your dog to run there and pick it up and deliver it to you so you don’t have to even get out of bed in the morning! |
RSS – How a podcast is made available
Websites who want to make a podcast available to get noticed by an aggregator will post an RSS feed. RSS 2.0 allows a file to be attached. So a website with a podcast will attach it to their RSS feed where it will be noticed by anyone with an aggregator and a subscription.
RSS stands for “Really Simple Syndication” and is just a file format that allows websites to make their information available to people who have subscribed. It doesn’t have to be podcasts, it can be other kinds of information as well, but the MP3 format of a podcast, when attached to an RSS feed is how podcasts are delivered.
EXAMPLE |
Think of it like this: remember your amazingly trained dog that runs to the newspaper office to get your favorite section of the newspaper? How does the dog know which of the many sections of the newspaper that are bundled in boxes outside of the office is the section you want? After all, other members of your family have seen your great idea and trained their pets to do the same thing. Here’s how: You’ve trained your dog to go to a specific box, the box with only your section of the newspaper, and when there’s a new paper in the box, the dog will pick it up and bring it back to you. An RSS feed is like that box. |
There are several options for you to create RSS feeds for your MP3 audio files. If you are just starting out and interested in doing a regular podcast without a lot of expense or headache, then you'll probably want to stick with some of the free methods explored earlier. On the other hand, as you move towards becoming a professional podcaster, you'll probably want to pick up some of the software that can turn your work into a podcast and then make it available for the world to enjoy.
In an upcoming chapter you learn about sites that will automatically attach your MP3 format audio file to an RSS feed and host your podcast on their site for a small fee.
Or you can purchase your own software that will let you create RSS feeds yourself. http://www.feedforall.com/ is one of the leading sites right now.
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