What is a PodCast?
How do I Listen to or Subscribe to a PodCast?
I clicked on the RSS Subscribe button and now I see some kind of code - What do I do?
What is a Podcast?
Podcasting makes an audio file, typically an MP3 file, available online for downloading via an automatic "feed." You can then hear the podcast whenever you want from your computer or a portable media player. You can also still manually download the MP3 from the website anytime you choose, or listen in streaming audio (an audio file which is played while it is being downloaded...saving wait time).
The "feed" that is called a "podcast" is something that your podcast or aggregator software can subscribe to (like bookmarking a webpage). This will cause the software to check for new files daily and download the show/episode while you are not using your computer. Then when you are ready to listen, you don't have to click and wait for it to download!
How do I Listen or Subscribe to a Podcast?
There are three steps involved in setting up your computer to receive podcasts.
1. Get some podcast software (a.k.a an Aggregator)
You need to install a piece of software which will search the web to find the latest episode and automatically deliver it to your computer. This can be a stand-alone program, or a plug-in for your web browser.
This software (called an aggregator) is usually free and there are packages available for different computer operating systems (Windows, Mac OS, Linux, etc). Note: always read the set-up and help guides for new software...
Here are three popular aggregator examples for Windows users:
Example listing of podcast software from podcastingnews.com
2. Subscribe to podcasts
Once you have the software installed you need to subscribe to some podcasts.
How you do this will vary depending on which software you have chosen. Here is a rough guide to how this might work:
If you have iTunes...
You can subscribe to some podcasts through the iTunes Podcast Directory.
- Open iTunes
- Select Menu > Advanced > Subscribe to Podcast
- Enter : http://exploreyourspirit.com/shows/exploreyourspirit.xml
If you have Apple iTunes installed, you can also simply click here to automatically launch iTunes and be subscribed to our podcasts.
If you have Juice, Doppler or other podcast software
If you have Juice, Doppler or another piece of software then this is likely to be the method you will need to follow. This is also the case if you can't find the podcast you want in iTunes.
In all of these cases you need to add the "feed" of the podcast to your software. The feed is really just the address of the podcast, which the software will go to each time it wants to check for a new episode.
You will need to copy this feed address and paste it into your podcast software. How you do this will depend on your software, but you should look out for buttons or links that say "Add" or "Subscribe".
Copy this text into your chosen aggregator software to be subscribed to Explore Your Spirit with Kala podcasts:
Copy this: --> http://exploreyourspirit.com/shows/exploreyourspirit.xml <-- copy from http to the .xml only
3. Listen to the audio
When a new episode becomes available for the podcast you have subscribed to, your software will automatically download it. You can then listen to this show or episode on your pc or transfer it to your portable player to listen to later.
You may want to check the settings of your podcast software for details including how often it will check for new episodes, whether it will keep old episodes for you etc. This will vary depending on the software you have chosen, and your personal preferences.
If you decide that you no longer want to receive podcast episodes then it should be very easy to unsubscribe. Again, how you do this will depend on your software, but you should look for "Clear" or "Unsubscribe" options.
I clicked on the RSS Subscribe button and now I see some kind of code - What do I do?
If you click on our subscribe button and all you see is XML code, you will need to read the instructions above.
You have to have special software that understands this code, and many times, you will need to copy the URL shown below into the software. Copy this link into your aggregator software, so it knows what shows we currently have available for download.
Here is the Link you should use...: http://exploreyourspirit.com/shows/exploreyourspirit.xml
