For anyone who wants to begin creating a podcast,
podcast hosting is the most important part. Before
anyone can begin distributing a podcast, they need a
place to store the files and keep the feed file that will
tell their subscribers about the new episodes available.
The first thing required is a domain name where the site
will be located. Many domain registrars are available
who will help one register a domain name for a small
fee. Once the domain is registered, hosting is required,
and again there are many different companies willing to
do the hosting for a small fee. One of those is
bluehost.com, but many others are available. When
looking for a host, the most important thing is to make
sure that a lot bandwidth and storage space is available
and cheap. Since podcasting deals with large media
files, a lot of disk space will be taken up storing the
files and bandwidth will be eaten quickly when they are
downloaded by the subscribers.
After podcast hosting has been acquired, it needs to be
used and the site needs to be set up. The DNS addresses
of the site need to be set to the addresses that the host
provides you so that the servers that underlie the
internet will know where your site is. DNS addresses
can be set by going to the domain registrar that was
used to acquire the domain and inputting the addresses
provided by the host. After that is done, it will take a
few days before the master list the domain registar
updates will be shared throughout the internet and all
name servers know where to find your specific domain.
You can then go about setting up your own podcast.
Using the podcast hosting you now have, you will need
to look at the disk space allocated to the site using
something called and FTP browser. The host may
provide one as part of their hosting plan, but if not there
are many available free to choose from. Using the FTP
browser, log on to the host and upload a file called
dircaster.php after editing it to fit the specifics of the
site. Dircaster.php is an easy to find piece of coding that
generates a feed file by looking at the contents of its
directory or folder. The individual episodes to be
podcasted can then be uploaded to the same folder as
dircaster.php for cataloging. Make sure that all the meta
data, or information about the mp3 file is correct before
doing so.
The podcast hosting you now have will allow you to
distribute a podcast. It would be best to upload more to
the site, such as an index page that tells visitors about
the podcast and provides the address of the file
dircaster.php on your site. When they subscribe to that
file, the podcast client thy use will access it and recieve
information about the latest podcasts available.
