Perpetua

Ready to start podcasting?
Perpetua has the tools you need to start podcasting. These frequently asked questions will help jump start you into your very own podcast. If you still have questions about the features of podcasting, feel free to call our technical support at 888.320.5278 or drop them an email at support@artistrymarketing.com.

What's a Podcast?
Do I need an iPod to listen to Podcasts?
What's an RSS Feed?
How do my readers subscribe to my Podcast?
How do I add a Podcast to my site?
How do I add a post to my Podcast?
Is there a list where I can see all the Podcasts on my site?
How do I edit my Podcast's styles?
How do I edit one of my posts?
How do I delete one of my posts?
How much space do I get for my Podcast?
I have a lot of photos on my site. Do these take up my Podcast space too?
How do I see how much space I have left for my Podcasts?
I only have a few posts and I'm already out of space!
How do I compress my audio files?
How do I purchase additional space for my Podcasts?
I see an option for an iTunes link when I edit my podcast. How do I use this?

What's a Podcast?
A podcast is much like a blog with the added ability to attach audio files to your posts. Your readers can then subscribe to your podcast through a program such as iTunes or Juice to download, listen and keep up to date with the podcast. Or they can listen directly off of your webpage.

Do I need an iPod to listen to Podcasts?
Although you can certainly use an iPod to listen to podcasts, they are not required.

What's an RSS Feed?
RSS stands for real simple syndication. An RSS feed is a file that is stored on a webserver that contains the content of the podcast. This file allows users to automatically download the latest podcast posts without having to visit the site using a RSS reader. A RSS reader serves as a collector for all of the content that you want to receive from various RSS feeds.

How do my readers subscribe to my podcast?
The process of adding a new RSS feed to your RSS reader is called subscribing. If you like a podcast you are reading or listening to, simply subscribe to it to receive new content as it is posted. Don’t worry, there aren’t any fees or contract terms involved. The “Add to Google” and “+ MyYahoo” buttons on your podcast allow you to quickly subscribe to it, if you use Google or MyYahoo as your RSS reader.

1. From the Add Items menu on your administrative tool bar choose Podcast
2. The Add Podcast screen will pop-up. This screen allows you to setup up your podcast before you create your first post. Fill out each of the fields listed:
   

• Podcast Name – This is the title of your podcast. A common choice is the name of your organization followed by the word "Podcast". For example: Artistry Marketing Podcast. Your podcast name will identify it in your reader’s RSS reader.
  

• Description – This is a general description of your podcast. It applies to the entire podcast. The description is only included in your podcast’s RSS feed, it is not displayed on your podcast’s webpage.
  

• Tags - Tags are one-word descriptors used to label your podcast. In the future we plan to offer the ability to search for podcasts and posts by tags. Tags cannot contain quotation marks or spaces, but are otherwise unrestricted. Separate tags with a space.
  

• Owner Name - The name of the owner associated with the podcast. For example, this could be the name of the website, or the name of the church.
  

• Owner Email – The email address associated with the podcast.
  

• iTunes Podcast Link –When clicked, this link will automatically subscribe the reader to your podcast through iTunes.
  

Click the Save Podcast button to save the podcast and to continue to the Add Post window to post your first podcast entry.

1. To add a post to a podcast that you have already created, click the Edit Icon in the top right hand corner of your podcast.
2. In the View Podcast window choose Add a Post.
3. Fill out the appropriate fields in the Add a Post screen
   

• Title - This is the title of your post. It will display in bold letters above the text of your post.
  

• Audio File – This is where you upload the audio file associated with the post. This is typically an MP3 file. We recommend a compression rate of 32kbps mono for a non-music file, and 64kbps for a music file.
  

• Audio Duration – The duration of the audio file. Always use this format: for 33min 21 seconds, use 00:33:21
  

• Description - This is the main content area for your podcast entry. You can type text using the same tools available in Content Boxes, or copy and paste it (Ctrl + V) from another program like Microsoft Word.
  

• Author – The author of this post. (Optional)
  

• Tags - Tags are one-word descriptors that you can use to label your post. In the future we plan to offer the ability to search posts by tags. Tags cannot contain quotation marks or spaces, but are otherwise unrestricted. Separate tags with a space.
  

Click on the Save Post button

1. To see a list of all the podcasts on your site, click the edit icon in the top right hand corner of a podcast.
2. In the View Podcast window choose List of Podcasts.

This window shows each podcast’s name, the date it was created and the amount of space the podcast is using. Below the list is the total space taken up by all the podcasts, shown in green when they are using less than 75% of the space allocated for the podcasts, orange when using between 75 and 90% of the space allocated, or red when using 90% or more of the allocated space, next to the total amount of space allocated for the podcasts.

Clicking on the podcast name will take you to the View Podcast screen for that podcast.

1. To start changing the styles on your podcast, click the Edit Icon in the top right hand corner of your podcast.
2. In the View Podcast window choose Edit Podcast Style.
3. Make changes to alter the look of your podcast using the following options:
   

• Content Box Width - Choose "Full Width" for your podcast to stretch across the entire page. If you have multiple columns on your page you’ll want to choose "Partial Width".
  

• Page Location - This field tells you which page your site is currently located on. You can also move your podcast to another page by selecting a different page from the drop down box and then clicking the Save button
  

• Podcast Font - Choose the font for your podcast. This font will be applied to all of the text within your podcast. Remember, keeping fonts consistent across your website is a good thing.
  

• Podcast Font Size - Choose one of the font size combinations for your podcast
  

• Post’s Title Color - Click on the colored box to choose the color for your podcast’s post titles. Remember consistency with the rest of your site is a good goal here.
  

• Post’s Body Color - Click on the colored box to choose the color for your podcast’s body text.
  

• # of posts to display - Pick how many posts display on your page. Based on the number you choose, the most recent posts will be displayed.
  

• Subscribe button placement - By default a number of buttons are placed at the bottom of your podcast. These buttons offer users an easy way to subscribe to your podcast. You can choose which buttons, if any you want to display by clicking the checkbox beside each title. For example, if you want the Add to Google button to display, click the check box to the right of Add to Google.com
  

While in the 'View Podcast' window click the name of the post to be edited. This will bring up the 'Edit Post' screen. After making your edits, click the 'save post' button to save the changes.

While in the 'View Podcast' window, click the name of the post to be deleted. This will bring up the 'Edit Post' screen. To delete the post, click 'delete post.'

Currently we offer 30mb of space for all Youth Fusion and Children's Fusion clients with options to upgrade, and 60mb of space for all Church Fusion, Ministry Fusion and Custom Design clients with options to upgrade. This space is dedicated to your Podcasts.

To upgrade the space allotted for your Podcasts, please call an account executive at 888.320.5278 x250 for further assistance and pricing.

The space is only for your Podcasts. All images and other items you may have on your website are not included in this limit.

While in the 'View Podcast' window, click 'List of Podcasts.' This will list all the podcasts on your site along with the date the podcast was created and how much space each podcast is using. At the bottom of the list is the total amount of space used by all of the podcasts on the site, as well as the total amount of space allowed for podcasting. Click a podcast's title to see all of it's posts.

This is probably because the audio files associated with the posts are not compressed very well. We recommend compressing your non-music files at 32kbps mono channel, and files with music at 64kbps.

This depends on which software you are using to do the compression. Unfortunately, we can't provide anything more than a basic level of support for software we do not create.

If you do not have compression software, we can recommend a few:

• winLAME is a free software program that will take any standard audio file and convert it to mp3 for podcasting.
  

• Wavepad is a free software program that will allow you to convert any standard audio file to an mp3 file. This program also has more advanced features than winLAME.
  

• Audacity is a free software program that will let you open a standard audio file and export it as an mp3 file. This program is more complex and requires extra steps with installing to allow mp3 exporting and therefore is only recommended for advanced users.
  

Please call an account executive at 888.320.5278 x250 for further assistance and pricing.

iTunes allows someone to submit their podcast to them to facilitate users instantly subscribing to podcasts. In order to accomplish this, you must have iTunes installed on your computer, and an iTunes account. If you don't have an iTunes account you will be asked to create on during the process:

1. Go to the podcast on your website
2. Click the 'XML RSS 2.0' button under your podcast
3. Copy (CTRL + C) the URL in the browser's address bar; this is the Podcast Feed Url
4. Open iTunes
5. In the left menu click 'iTunes Store'
6. In the store left menu, click 'Podcasts'
7. Click the purple and white icon in the middle of the page labeled 'Submit a Podcast'
8. Type or paste (CTRL + V) the Podcast Feed Url into the provided box and click continue.