How to Create a Podcast with Joomla 1.5

Saturday, 02 August 2008 16:00

UPDATE: Since I wrote this tutorial, Joseph LeBlac has updated Podcast Suite to be 1.5 compatible. Check it out!

Perhaps you'd like to start your own podcast, and you'd like to use Joomla to do it. If you're using Joomla 1.0, check out the nice extension Podcast Suite by Joseph LeBlanc, the author of the really great video tutorial Joomla 1.5: Essential Training (check it out if you're brand new to Joomla). Since Podcast Suite doesn't work with Joomla 1.5, I set out on my own to figure out how to make it work. Click read more to learn how...

Creating a Podcast with Joomla 1.5: In a Nutshell

The easiest way to make a podcast with Joomla is to use the fantastic Feedburner service. It will ensure that your RSS feeds have propers enclosures, as well as provide statistics. I highly recommend it, and since Google has acquired it, it's totally free!

Here's the basic idea to creating a podcast with Joomla 1.5:

1. Create a section called Podcast and a category called "Feedburner"
2. Get the RSS feed for the Feedburner category
3. Setup an account for free with Feedburner
4. Setup the "SmartCast" features of Feedburner
5. Publish the Feedburner feed on your Joomla site

Creating a Podcast with Joomla 1.5: Step-by-Step

Create a section called Podcast and a category called Feedburner

To make sure that your podcast only holds media files and nothing else, it's best to organize the episodes under one section and category. Here's what to do:

1. Visit your Joomla backend at http://www.yourdomain.com/administrator and login.
2. Hover over Content, and click on Section Manager. Click New and name it Podcast. Click Save.
3. Hover over Content, and click on Category Manager. Click New, name it Feedburner, and select Podcast from the Section drop-down menu. Click Save.

Learn the RSS feed for your podcast

The RSS feed is what will allow people to subscribe to your podcast using software like iTunes. One easy way to get the RSS feed is to make a Menu Item to your Feedburner category, and then use a little trick:

1. Hover over Menus, and choose a menu (Main Menu, for instance)
2. Click on New, then click on Articles, then Category Blog Layout. Give your menu a title, such as "Episode Guide."
3. Choose the Podcast/Feedburner option under "Select Category." Click Save.
4. Now click on your newly created Menu Item. Here's the trick. Copy and paste what's in the Link field to your text editor. It will be something like "index.php?option=com_content&view=category&layout=blog." To get your RSS feed URL, add your domain name to the front of this, ending with a "/", and at the end, put in &format=feed&type=rss. So if your domain was www.abc.com, your RSS feed would be: http://www.abc.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&layout=blog?&ormat=feed&type=rss
5. Save this URL somewhere. You'll need it in a minute.