Finding Podcast Hosting

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.

What is Podcast Video?

A growing trend online is podcast video. While podcasting was originally only for audio files, more people are beginning to send video, especially with broadband connections more accessible. To podcast video, content distributors enclose it in a web syndication file that users can download and view when they want. Users subscribe to the different files, checking them for updates regularly, and download the new offers when they become available. Each file is often referred to as an episode, and may be part of a video blog, or vlog.

Podcast video, and other types of podcasting are thus part of the blogging revolution. Individuals and groups around the world, with a small investment in equipment and time, can become content producers. Because it is so simple to use and cheap to set up, many people are getting involved. They can podcast video around the world, becoming producers and directors for any small niche they want to exploit.

Many of these podcasters have small audiences that download their podcast video, but larger groups are getting involved. News organizations and websites that serve massive audiences are discovering that podcasting and podcast video can distribute their content to millions of people easily. These groups have found that podcasting video is yet another way to distribute their news and information. Since podcasting is so easy to use, it’s likely that even more people will start using podcast video.

A Podcast Client

A podcast client is the software used to access and download podcasts. Podcast clients are also known as media aggregators, programs designed to automatically access an online file, or feed, and download the audio or video file associated with it. Hundreds of these programs exist, with names like IpodderX, Juice, Nimiq, and PodSpider.

These podcast clients are easy to find, and because there are so many available for free, it is easy to find one that suits an individuals needs and style. These programs run on the users computer, periodically downloading a small RSS file from sites that it has been told to monitor. The file tells the program about an audio or video file stored on the server, and the podcast client then downloads that file for the user to view or listen to.

The podcast client thus allows the user to view information on a wide range of topics from their computer, without even using a web browser. Just like blogs let people find writers they enjoyed for any niche topic they were interested in, podcasts let people do them same for audio and video. Its as if a thousands of radio and television channels were created to serve every possible interest, and more were made every day.

Using the podcast client to access and download the files makes it as easy to keep up with the sites one likes as it is to publish the feed.