Seriously Simple Podcasting FAQ
Will SSP automatically create an episode when my new episode publishes from my podcast host?
No, Seriously Simple Podcasting does not automatically create an episode in WordPress for new episodes published to an external RSS feed. If you're using a third-party podcast host, you will need to recreate the episode in WordPress and paste your episode's audio file URL into the Episode File field in the Podcast Episode details.
If you are hosting with Castos and your account's API Token is connected to Castos, newly-published episodes from WordPress will sync over to Castos. Read more about managing your podcast hosted on Castos in WordPress with Seriously Simple Podcasting here.
Can I connect more than one WordPress Site to a single Castos hosting account?
Only a single WordPress website can be connected to your Castos hosting account through the API. Castos fully supports multiple podcasts from a single WordPress site. If you're running podcasts on multiple WordPress websites, a separate Castos account will be needed for each site.
WARNING: Connecting multiple WordPress installations to a single Castos account can cause data inconsistencies, resulting in (but not limited to) episodes being irreversibly deleted from Castos, duplicated episodes or podcasts, incorrect episode data being returned to WordPress causing the wrong episode to play, analytics not being properly attributed to an episode.
I created a podcast on Castos. Can I switch to managing my podcast via Seriously Simple Podcasting?
Yes, but with a few steps.
The sync between SSP and Castos is one-way: from Seriously Simple Podcasting → Castos. Every podcast from the plugin has a special ID found in the metadata. When the podcast syncs to Castos, the API checks for that existing ID. If it's not found, a new podcast is created.
To manage your podcast on Castos:
- Import and/or start new podcast on Seriously Simple Podcasting while connected to Castos using your API token and sync it to Castos. Since this podcast was started/created on Seriously Simple Podcasting, it can be synced over to Castos correctly.
- Use a redirect to point the old version of the podcast (created on Castos) to the new version of the podcast (that was created on Seriously Simple Podcasting).
- Leave the redirect in on this old podcast for four weeks to ensure all podcast directories have picked up the change.
You can now delete the first (non-syncing) podcast that was created on Castos and manage your podcast directly on Seriously Simple Podcasting and your WordPress site.
Can I edit the Podcast page?
Seriously Simple Podcasting automatically creates a Podcast page on your WordPress site. This is by default at http://www.mysite.com/podcast
The podcast page takes its style and functionality of your WP theme's Archive page. It will look like any other Archive page on your site (such a Tag or Category pages).
The /podcast page will populate with any episodes that are set to be included in your podcast feed. This is by default the Podcast post type, but can also include any type of post that you select.
What is the maximum file size I can upload?
Due to limitations of the API, there is a maximum file size of 200 MB when uploading episodes in WordPress using the Seriously Simple Podcasting plugin and connected to Castos for hosting.
When following our guide for audio encoding, you can upload podcast episodes up to approximately 3 hours in duration. These files are roughly 1 MB per audio minute. If you have a media file that has been sent to you as a .wav file or another large format file by an audio editor, you can compress it to a smaller file size using a tool like Online Audio Convert.
Uploading a video episode? Check out Adding Video to Your WordPress Managed Podcast
What are WordPress Custom Post Types?
Seriously Simple Podcasting Plugin introduces a Custom Post Type called Podcast. This post type allows you to manage podcast episodes separately, offering specific fields for inputting detailed information about audio files, such as time and duration, and presenting them on your site like blog posts. That means:
- You can customize the appearance of Seriously Simple Podcasting's Custom Post Type on your website, and the episode page uses the single.php template file for flexibility.
- You have the freedom to display podcast episode posts wherever you prefer, whether on your main blog page alongside other content or on a dedicated archive page for your podcasts or podcast shows created as a Series.
Not sure if you're using the custom post type? If you're publishing episodes via Podcasting —> Add New Episode, you're using the SSP custom post type. If you're publishing episodes via Posts —> Add New Post, you're using WordPress' Posts post type. 👍
Can I manage multiple podcasts from my WordPress site?
Yes. With Seriously Simple Podcasting, you can manage as many podcast shows as you like from your WordPress website. Not only will each podcast have its own unique RSS feed, but listener analytics can also be tracked separately as well.
You can create additional podcasts by going to Podcasting → All Podcasts. After creating the additional podcast, don't forget to update the feed details.
Can I edit the content of the RSS feed?
templates directory. From there, copy the feed-podcast.php file and paste it into the root folder of your theme (or child theme).
Note: Please be aware that extensive customization of your RSS feed or the plugin itself, beyond the plugin's features, is your responsibility as it falls outside the scope of Castos and Seriously Simple Podcasting support.
What is Podping?
Podping is an alternative to WebSub for the open, RSS based podcasting ecosystem and allows for rapid, global notifications of podcast feed updates. In other words, Podping helps your new podcast episodes or feed updates get out to the world faster than traditional RSS crawling. Using the Hive Blockchain, Podping allows a wide variety of podcast hosting platforms like Castos and Seriously Simple Podcasting Plugin to send out instant notifications that your feed has been changed.
Podcast indexes and apps can then re-poll only the RSS feeds that have changed, becoming more efficient, using fewer resources, and getting new changes out to the world faster.
- Podping is open source, you can see the code and contribute to the project via GitHub here
- If you want to see Podping in action, you can watch the blockchain update in realtime, here: Podping Watcher
Where can I find my podcast on my WordPress website?
Once you've installed and configured the Seriously Simple Podcasting plugin, your podcast episodes will be accessible at https://www.yoursite.com/podcast, and your podcast feed will be found at http://www.example.com/feed/podcast/podcast-slug. You can also choose to display your podcast episodes in your website's main blog feed by adjusting the general settings.
If you're using Castos hosting, please note that media files won't be stored in your Media Library; they will be hosted on Castos. Episodes syncing with Castos will have Castos-hosted audio file URLs in their Podcast Details tab
In case the provided URLs don't function as expected, try re-saving your site's permalinks. To do this, go to your WordPress Settings → Permalinks in the admin menu and click the save button. Make sure your permalinks are set to something other than the default setting for this to take effect.
Can Seriously Simple Podcasting work with multisite?
Yes, Seriously Simple Podcasting works with subdomain and subdirectory multisites. If connected to Castos, each site will require its own Castos account.
Does Castos alter media files after they're uploaded?
No, Castos does not modify the metadata, bitrate, or file format of your podcast files when (or after) they're uploaded to the platform.
We do recommend you use the .mp3 file format and at a bitrate of 128kbps. Read more on our audio encoding guidance guide.
Can I disable the RSS Feed Stylesheet?
Under certain circumstances, you might need to disable the RSS feed stylesheet.
You can do this by adding the following PHP snippet in a plugin, or a child theme's functions.php:
<?php add_filter( 'ssp_enable_rss_stylesheet', '__return_false' );
My podcast RSS feed only shows 10 episodes
WordPress determines the number of items to show in syndication feeds on your WordPress site and Seriously Simple Podcasting respects this general setting.
- Go to Settings → Reading in your WordPress dashboard
- Set the number of episodes under Syndication feeds show the most recent.
- Click Save Changes.