People have transitioned from PodPress to the PowerPress plugin because PodPress hasn’t received updates in years, leaving users vulnerable to compatibility and security issues. In contrast, PowerPress offers regular updates, ensuring a more stable, feature-rich, and secure podcasting experience. We made it easy to switch from PodPress to PowerPress.
Background
In 2006, we were all using PodPress to podcast. By 2008 PodPress started to show it’s age; it was not keeping up with changes with WordPress. PowerPress was created because of the frustrations of PodPress breaking every time a new version of WordPress came out. PowerPress was Blubrry’s rewrite of PodPress, the main goal of PowerPress was to make it seamless to switch from PodPress as well as regularly maintain the plugin along with the life cycle of WordPress itself.
Extremely simple way to migrate from PodPress to PowerPress
- Install and enable PowerPress plugin
- Tweak settings in PowerPress (optional)
- Disable PodPress plugin
PowerPress will continue where the PodPress plugin left off by including your previously created episodes in your feeds and Web pages.
At this point you may want to go over the settings in PowerPress, as well as configure the 1-pixel-out audio player if you want to duplicate exactly how your site looked when you were using PodPress.
Note: PowerPress at this point is simply processing the PodPress data from the database. If you want to be able to edit your backlog of podcast episodes, you will need to migrate episodes from PodPress to PowerPress. If you are not concerned about editing your backlog of episodes, there’s no need to read further, you’re all set!
Migrate episodes from PodPress to PowerPress and WordPress
This step is optional, but a good idea if you ever need to modify past PodPress episodes.
First, a little background about episode data and WordPress. Both WordPress and PowerPress store podcast episodes in WordPress’ custom fields. The field is called “enclosure”, and both WordPress natively and PowerPress support it. This is very important! If PowerPress were to become disabled for whatever reason, the data is still there. In a worst case scenario you can still get to this data using the custom fields option in WordPress. We spent a lot of time and research to conclude this was the best way to store podcast episode data.
Because PodPress uses a proprietary field in the database called “podPressMedia”, you must have PodPress enabled to modify this data.
To free yourself from this proprietary setup, PowerPress provides an import PodPress Episodes tool found in the PowerPress > Tools menu. Simply go to the Import PodPress Episodes screen, select the episodes you want to import, then click “Import Episodes”. Note any warning or error messages at the top of this screen before and after importing, you may need to modify settings in PowerPress before you proceed with the import.
Once you have all the episode data imported, you’re podcast episode data will now be saved in the WordPress native “enclosure” custom fields, making it available to both PowerPress and WordPress custom fields.
Frequently asked questions (FAQ) importing from PodPress
Question: What if I have multiple media files to one blog post?
Answer: This core problem with PodPress led us to write a new plugin from scratch rather than fix PodPress. Technically, you can only have one media episode to one blog post because of limitations of most all podcatchers, which includes iTunes. There is a solution to this problem in PowerPress, it’s called “Podcast Channels”. You can create additional podcast channels, where you can map additional media files for a blog post to each channel. This is ideal if you wanted both an audio and a video version of your podcast, or an mp3, ogg and a m4a version of your podcast. Best thing is, each channel has its own podcast RSS feed, which is exactly what iTunes and most other podcast directories want you to provide for these different media formats.
To enable Podcast Channels, go to PowerPress Settings, at the bottom under section “Advanced Options”, check the option “Podcast Channels”, then click save. Then you can go to the new Podast Channels menu item in PowerPress to add the channels you need. You can then import your media files from PodPress to PowerPress, mapping your media files to their appropriate channels.
Question: What if I want to switch back to PodPress?
Answer: Switching back and forth is seamless. Importing PodPress episodes and settings does not delete anything, your PodPress settings and episodes are still in the database. Switching is simply a matter of disabling one plugin and enabling the other.
Question: What if I am using category podcasting in PodPress?
Answer: Category podcasting is supported in PowerPress. PodPress Category podcasting settings are not automatically imported into PowerPress due to the complexity involved. These settings are program (not episode) specific and can easily be re-created in PowerPress in only a few minutes. First, make sure under “Advanced Options” in PowerPress you have “Category Podcasting” enabled. If not enabled, check the option and then save changes. Then go to the new sub menu option on the left titled “Category Podcasting” and proceed to add category podcasting to the categories for your podcast(s). This is an excellent opportunity to update the artwork, descriptions, make sure iTunes categories are correct, etc…
Once your category podcasting settings have been configured in PowerPress, you can then disable PodPress so PowerPress can take over. Episode information can be imported at any time, please refer to the instructions on this page under section titled “Migrate episodes from PodPress to PowerPress and WordPress”.