Let us walk you through each tab of PowerPress 9.0+.
Feeds
The Feeds tab in PowerPress is where you’ll begin to add necessary information and tags for your podcast’s RSS feed. You’ll also find additional settings to optimize its speed and functionality.
Enhance Feeds
These settings tell PowerPress which feeds should have podcasting capabilities. While we recommend the default setup, there are additional options:
Enhance All Feeds (Recommended)
This is the default setting, which adds podcasting support to all feeds on your website.
Enhance Main Feed Only
Adds podcasting support to the default feed on your website, which is displayed at the top of this settings tab.
Do Not Enhance Feeds
The feed settings below will only apply to your podcast channel feeds.
Podcast Feeds
These are podcast-only feeds suitable for submission to podcast directories such as Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, and Spotify. You will only see the default podcast feed unless advanced settings are enabled (Podcast Channels, Category Podcasting, Post Type Podcasting, Taxonomy Podcasting).
Note: We do not recommend submitting your main site feed (example: “yourdomain/feed”) to podcast directories such as Apple Podcasts. Podcast directories work best with feeds that do not have regular blog posts mixed in.
Do not allow other plugins to modify podcast feeds
Due to all of the moving parts that make a WordPress website work, we suggest turning on this option to keep plugins from breaking your feed or modifying it in ways that would keep it from validating.
Accelerate feeds
This option increases the speed of your podcast feed. More information is coming soon.
Feed Discovery
Include podcast feed links in HTML headers
Adds “feed discovery” links to your website’s headers, allowing browsers and feed readers to auto-detect your podcast feeds. This is important to enable so your podcast can be found by Google Podcasts, which has to index your feed before it is added to their platform.
RSS2 Image
Include RSS Image in feeds
Adds your artwork image to your RSS feed to ensure it is used in all podcast apps and directories. Be sure this image meets the minimum requirements of 1400 x 1400 pixels, with a file size of 0.5MB or lower.
Emoji
Include Emoji in feeds
Adds emoji support to podcast feeds. Emoji entered into blog post content will now appear within the content:encoded portion of your RSS podcast feeds. Content:encoded is displayed as the primary show notes when viewing episode notes in the Podcasts app by Apple as well as the Google Podcasts app for Android. It requires WordPress 4.2 or newer with a database character set upgraded to utf8mb4.
When this option is off, WordPress replaces emoji characters with images. Images are not displayed in show notes in most podcast applications. With this option on emoji characters are included unmodified within the content:encoded field.
Confirmed podcasting applications that support Emoji:
- Apple Podcasts (iOS)
- Google Podcasts (Android)
- Downcast (Android)
- Overcast (iOS)
Please see the Full Emoji List hosted on unicode.org for a full list of emoji characters available.
When editing your blog posts from a mobile device, the emoji characters are built into your mobile device’s keyboard. For macOS, press ⌘-control-space. For Windows 10, right-click on the taskbar and then select the option “Show touch keyboard button.” A new icon will appear in the lower right corner of the taskbar near the date and time. Click the keyboard icon to open the onscreen keyboard to select emoji characters.
More information about emojis in WordPress is available on the WordPress Emoji page.
Feed Settings
More fine-tuned settings for your default podcast feed.
Your podcast RSS feed:
We’ve added your default podcast RSS feed at the top of this section for easy reference. This is the feed URL you will use when submitting your podcast to any platform.
Feed Title
Set your podcast’s title here. Be sure to only add the title of your podcast and do not include the author, host name, or any keywords. Podcast directories consider extraneous information as spam and can remove your show listing.
Feed Description
Give potential listeners a peek at what your podcast is about. It’s best to keep the description short, with possibly two or three descriptive sentences.
PodcastMirror Feed URL
Use this option to mirror your podcast feed to provide fast, scalable subscriptions to your show using our free PodcastMirror service. This option is not required. The service is FeedBurner compatible. Learn more at https://podcastmirror.com
Show the most recent
Note: Please enable the Feed Episode Maximizer option to optimize your feed for more than 10 episodes.
By default, WordPress limits RSS feeds to 10 items in an RSS feed. In addition to enabling Feed Episode Maximizer (below), you can increase the number of items shown by increasing the number in the field available.
Many platforms will limit the total number of items to 300, so we advise you to not go beyond that with this setting. Setting the field to over 100, you run the risk of your feed becoming too large for directories to pull. 512kb is the typical maximum size for feeds used in this way. Any episodes not included in your feed can still be accessed via your website.
Feed Episode Maximizer
Maximize the number of episodes while maintaining an optimal feed size. This option allows you to put a much larger number into the episodes/posts per feed setting while keeping the feed byte size down. Only the latest 10 episodes will have all of the blog post meta information. Eleven or older episodes will be trimmed down to the bare essential tags required for some services.
Feed Language
Set the language for your podcast. If you don’t find a particular language available in the list, we encourage you to help us translate PowerPress. More information can be found here. [https://create.blubrry.com/resources/powerpress/powerpress-language/translate-powerpress/]
Copyright
Specify your copyright information.
Caching Debug Comments
Allow WP Super Cache or W3 Total Cache to add HTML Comments to the bottom of your feeds. (Recommended unchecked)
There are known issues with feeds that have HTML comments at the bottom. NOTE: This setting should only be enabled for debugging purposes. If you’re not sure what this can do to your feed, please do not enable this setting.
Podcast Artwork
Apple Podcast Artwork
While it’s called Apple Podcast Artwork, this image is what will be used across all podcast platforms and directories that have your RSS feed.
The image dimensions must be at least 1400 x 1400 pixels in JPG or PNG format. It must not exceed 3000 x 3000 pixels, use RGB color space, and the file size must be 0.5MB or smaller.
Apple Episode Image
Use the program Apple podcast image above as your Apple episode image
More and more podcasts are simply using the Apple image tag, but this allows the image you added above to be used on all platforms by ensuring the proper tags are used within your RSS feed.
RSS2 Image
This does the exact same thing as the option above, but adds the image to another image tag in your feed, just in case a platform does not use any of the Apple-created image tags.
Podcast SEO
Enable features to help with podcasting search engine optimization (SEO). The following options can assist your web and podcasting SEO strategies.
Episode Titles
Specify custom episode titles for podcast feeds. Enabling this will automatically prepend or append your podcast title to your episode titles. Keep in mind, that some platforms like Apple Podcasts will remove titles added with this option.
AudioObjects
More information is coming soon.
VideoObjects
More information is coming soon.
Basic Show Information
Location
Let listeners know where you host and produce your podcast.
Episode Frequency
Let listeners know how often you release episodes.
Donate Link
Syndicate a donate link with your podcast. Create your own crowdfunding page with PayPal donate buttons or link to a service such as Patreon. If you’re looking to monetize your podcast, you can use this area to provide a link for faithful listeners to donate. You can use the service of your choice. Podcast apps that support the <podcast:funding> tag may display your donate link.
Rating Settings
A parental rating is used to display your content on Blubrry applications available on internet-connected TVs. The TV Parental Rating applies to both audio and video media.
If you plan on having your podcast distributed this way, be sure to update these settings appropriately.
Apple Settings
The following settings will affect the display of your podcast’s listing on Apple Podcasts, or when/how your podcast appears in Apple Search results. Some fields are used on other platforms as well, so it’s wise to fill out all fields.
Program Subtitle
This is a short description of your podcast or even a tagline you associate with the show. This should be no longer than one or two sentences.
Program Summary
Give a full-length description of your podcast. This can be a paragraph or two if needed. Your summary cannot exceed 4,000 characters in length and should not include HTML, except for hyperlinks. We recommend enabling the option to wrap the summary values with <![CDATA[ … ]]> tags, as this will help the information to display correctly with podcast apps and directories.
Episode Summary
Optimize iTunes Summary from Blog Posts
Creates a friendlier view of your post/episode content.
Category
All podcasting platforms require category selection. The first category chosen will be the main one used when listing your podcast in most directories. The second and third categories will be additional categories where your podcast can be listed.
Author Name
This must be your name, your host’s name (if not you), or even the company that produces the show if it is a company-related podcast. Do not include keywords or any other text that could be considered as SPAM. Podcast platforms can remove your podcast listing for this.
Author Email
Be sure the email you use here is one you check often. It is how you will be contacted by platforms you submit your RSS feed to for acceptance responses or to notify you about service problems or issues with your listing on their platform.
Explicit
It is required that your podcast has a specified “Explicit” or “Clean” tag. Use the “Explicit” option if your content contains strong language and/or subject matter that would not appeal to all audiences. The “Clean” option would be used if your content can be listened to by anyone. One way to determine which option is right for your show is to ask yourself, “Can a family with young children listen to this podcast together?”
Feed Type
Setting the feed type to Episodic will display the most recent episode at the top of your show listing across apps, whereas setting it to Serial will display the first episode at the top, so listeners can start at the beginning.
New Feed URL
This option works primarily for the Apple Podcasts directory only and should only be used if you are unable to implement an HTTP 301 redirect. A 301 redirect will route all podcast clients including Apple Podcasts to your new feed address.
We recommend that you do not alter this setting unless you know what you are doing.
Advanced Options
SETTINGS BELOW HAVE PERMANENT CONSEQUENCES
Block
Prevent the entire podcast from appearing in the Apple Podcasts directory. Note that this may not apply to other podcast apps and sites, so there may be additional measures to take to ensure the podcast cannot be found outside of your website.
Complete
Indicate the completion of a podcast. Apple will no longer update your listing in the Apple Podcast directory. This option may not apply to other podcast apps and sites.
Website
Website Settings
Enable PowerPress Media Players and Links
This is turned on by default. Select this option if you would like your selected player to show up with the links under it.
Disable PowerPress Media Players and Links
Select this option if you would like to disable it, then your media file will only be available in your RSS feed unless you manually put a player or link into the post.
Permalinks
When configured to Match Feed Name to Page/Category, yourdomain/podcast is matched to the page/category named “podcast.” Otherwise, the site will use the WordPress default behavior.
Episode Box Appearance
Check this box to display all episode settings before the media is verified.
If this is selected, you risk losing all your entered data if you try to publish an episode that has no media attached. This setting should only be enabled by very experienced PowerPress users.
Blog Posts and Pages
Display Media & Links
In this section, you can place your player and links below or above your post content, disable them entirely, and put them in manually using the PowerPress shortcode.
Player Settings
Decide whether you’d like to display your player and links in excerpts, hide the player and links altogether. There is also a setting to put the Media Player and links in the WordPress Excerpts.
Display player / links: WordPress Excerpts
This will allow the player and the links under it to be displayed in your WordPress post excerpts, which can be useful in search engines.
Hide player / links: Read More tagged posts
Enabling this option will hide the player and links by using a Read More link after your post excerpt.
Display Player
Detected mobile and tablet devices use an HTML5 player with a fallback link to download the media.
Media Links
Display Play in new Window Link
Opens the media file in a new window or tab to be played even if a user should leave your website. They would need to return to your website to play additional content.
Display Download Link
Links directly to your media file. Depending on browser settings, users may have to right-click (or command-click) to download the file. You can include the file size and duration of the file with additional options.
Display Player Embed Link
This allows users to embed your media player in their own websites.
Subscribe Links Under Player
Enable or disable the subscribe links such as Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Android, Email, and RSS displayed below the player and media links. These can be managed in the Destinations settings.
Subscribe Page
Add a link to a page on your site explaining to your audience how to subscribe to your podcast. The drop-down allows you to choose a pre-existing page on your website or you can create a new subscription page using a template provided by PowerPress.
Subscribe Widget
Select the styling options and change the appearance of the subscribe buttons used on your subscribe page. We provide two different style and shape options, but there are options available for custom styling via CSS.
More information can be found here [https://create.blubrry.com/resources/powerpress/advanced-tools-and-options/powerpress-subscribe-shortcode/]
PowerPress Shortcodes
This section explains how to use the shortcodes available from PowerPress. More information is provided within PowerPress itself on how to implement each of these shortcodes, but you can use the links below for additional documentation.
Player Shortcode
Playlist Shortcode
Subscribe Shortcode
Skip-to-Position in Player Shortcode
Having Issues?
Use this option if you are having problems with the players not appearing on some or all of your pages. Some plugins and themes can conflict with PowerPress and using this tool may be helpful. If you still find yourself having issues, refer to this document for more information.
Play In New Window
With this section, you can specify a custom width and height of the window your content plays in if a listener clicks the Play In New Window link. By default, PowerPress adds to the width and height above to compensate for possible vertical and horizontal scroll bars. There is an option to ignore scroll bars if you do not want PowerPress to compensate for browser scroll bars.
Destinations
We’ve added information in this settings tab for some of the top podcast directories to make it easier to submit your show and to manage the subscription buttons and links shown with your player and in the PowerPress subscribe shortcodes and widgets.
Each platform listed here also includes additional options for where the link is displayed on your site.
Basic Info
We’ve provided a quick reference at the top of this area so you know what your podcast RSS feed is. That’s what you’ll submit to podcast directories in order to syndicate your show.
Apple
Follow the steps to submit your podcast to Apple then come back here and enter the Subscription URL. Apple will email your Subscription URL to your Apple Email when your podcast is accepted into the Apple Podcasts Directory.
How to submit a podcast to Google
Google Podcasts directory is available through Google search, Google Home smart speakers, and the new Google Podcasts app for Android. As long as your podcast website is discoverable by Google search, your podcast will be included in this directory.
Stitcher
How to submit a podcast to Stitcher
TuneIn
How to submit a podcast to TuneIn
Spotify
How to submit a podcast to Spotify
Blubrry Directory
How to submit a podcast to Blubrry Directory
iHeartRadio
How to submit a podcast to iHeartRadio
Deezer
How to submit a podcast to Deezer
Pandora
How to submit a podcast to Pandora
Android
The subscription link for Android is auto-populated by PowerPress and utilizes our Subscribe on Android service. There’s no need to submit your feed, but you can manage where the link is displayed.
The subscription link for email is auto-populated by PowerPress and utilizes our Subscribe on Email service. There’s no need to submit your feed, but you can manage where the link is displayed.
Advanced
These features should only be used for experienced PowerPress users. If you have additional questions regarding them, please refer to the documentation provided and/or contact the Blubrry Support team so we can help.
Import Podcast
Import podcast feed from Libsyn, PodBean, Buzzsprout, or other podcast services that use RSS.
Migrate Media
Migrate media files to Blubrry Podcast Media Hosting with only a few clicks.
Podcasting SEO
Search engine optimization (SEO) features have been incorporated to help improve the discovery of your podcast on search engines such as Google and Apple podcast directories.
Audio Player Options
Select from 3 different web-based audio players.
Video Player Options
Select from 3 different web-based video players.
Custom Podcast Channels
Manage multiple media files and/or formats to one blog post.
If you’re planning on having multiple podcasts on one site, but already have an existing show, this would be the best option to use.
Category Podcasting
Create and manage podcasting feeds for specific categories. If you’re planning on having multiple podcasts on one site, but haven’t started, use this feature to set up individual feeds for them.
Taxonomy Podcasting
Create and manage podcasting feeds for specific taxonomies. This is an advanced podcasting option and isn’t recommended unless you’re certain that you know what you’re doing.
Post Type Podcasting
Create and manage podcasting feeds for specific post types. This is an advanced podcasting option and isn’t recommended unless you know what you’re doing for sure.
PowerPress Playlist Player
Create playlists for your podcasts.