Simple Podcasting Plugin

Easily set up multiple podcast feeds using built-in WordPress posts. Includes a podcast block and podcast transcript block for the WordPress block editor (aka Gutenberg).

Podcasting is a method to distribute audio and video episodes through a feed to which listeners can subscribe. You can publish podcasts on your WordPress site and make them available for listeners in Apple Podcasts and through direct feed links for other podcasting apps by following these steps:

Create your podcast

From the WordPress Admin, go to Podcasts.
To create a podcast, complete all of the “Add New Podcast” fields and click “Add New Podcast”.

• Name: this title appears in Apple Podcasts and any other podcast apps.
• Slug: this is the URL-friendly version of the Name field.
• Subtitle: the subtitle also appears in Apple Podcasts and any other podcast apps.
• Artist / Author name: the artist or producer of the work.
• Podcast email: a contact email address for your podcast.
• Summary: Apple Podcasts displays this summary when browsing through podcasts.
• Copyright / License information: copyright information viewable in Apple Podcasts or other podcast apps.
• Mark as explicit: mark Yes if podcast contains adult language or adult themes.
• Language: the main language spoken in the podcast.
• Cover image: add the URL for the cover art to appear in Apple Podcasts and other podcast apps. Click “Select Image” and choose an image from the Media Library. Note that podcast cover images must be between 1400 x 1400 and 3000 x 3000 pixels in JPG or PNG formats to work on Apple Podcasts.
• Keywords: add terms to help your podcast show up in search results on Apple Podcasts and other podcast apps.
• Categories: these allow your podcast to show up for those browsing Apple Podcasts or other podcast apps by category.

Repeat for each podcast you would like to create.

Add content to your podcast

• Create a new post and assign it to one or more Podcasts using the panel labeled Podcasts.
• Upload or embed an audio file into this post using any of the usual WordPress methods. If using the new block-based WordPress editor (sometimes referred to as Gutenberg), insert a Podcast block. Only one Podcast block can be inserted per post.
• For more advanced settings, use the Podcasting meta box to mark explicit content or closed captioning available, season number, episode number, episode type, add a transcript and to optionally specify one media item in the post if you have more than one in your post. In the block-based editor, these are the block settings that appear in the sidebar when the podcast block is selected.
• Transcript: If desired, an optional transcript can be added from the settings of the Podcast block. This will add a Podcast Transcript block, allowing you to add a transcript consisting of time codes, citations, and paragrah text that can be embedded in the post, linked to an external plain HTML file, or linked in a special <podcast:transcript> XML element.

Submit your podcast feed to Apple Podcasts

• Each podcast has a unique feed URL you can find on the Podcasts page. This is the URL you will submit to Apple.
• Ensure you test feeds before submitting them, see Apple’s “Test a Podcast page” for more information.
• Once the validator passes, submit your podcast. Podcasts submitted to Apple Podcasts do not become immediately available for subscription by others. They are submitted for review by Apple staff, see Apple’s “Submit a podcast” page for more information.

Submit your podcast feed to Pocket Casts

• Validate your feeds at [https://www.castfeedvalidator.com/ Cast Feed Validator] before submitting them.
• Submit the podcast feed to https://pocketcasts.com/submit/

How do I get my podcast featured on Pocket Casts?

The Featured section of Pocket Casts is human-curated. To ensure that all podcasts have an equal opportunity at being featured, selections are made on the basis of merit.

If you’d like to suggest your podcast for a featured spot, reach out to [email protected]

For more information, [https://pocketcasts.com/podcast-producers/ read more].

How do I submit private and paid podcast feeds?

Follow this documentation to submit [https://support.pocketcasts.com/article/password-protected-podcasts-2/ private and paid podcast feeds]

Control how many episodes are listed on the feed

If you want to adjust the default number of episodes included in a podcast RSS feed, then utilize the following to do so…

<?php add_filter( 'simple_podcasting_episodes_per_page', 'podcasting_feed_episodes_per_page' ); /** * Filter how many items are displayed on the feed * Default is 250 * * @param int $qty Items count. * @return string */ function podcasting_feed_episodes_per_page( $qty ) { return 300; } 

Customize RSS feed

If you want to modify RSS feed items output, there is a filter for that:

<?php function podcasting_feed_item_filter( $feed_item = array(), $post_id = null, $term_id = null ) { if ( 42 === $post_id ) { $feed_item['keywords'] = 'one,two,three'; } return $feed_item; } add_filter( 'simple_podcasting_feed_item', 'podcasting_feed_item_filter', 10, 3 ); 

Technical Notes

• Requires PHP 5.3+.
• RSS feeds must not be disabled.

1. Install the plugin via the plugin installer, either by searching for it or uploading a .zip file.
2. Activate the plugin.
3. Head to Posts → Podcasts and add at least one podcast.
4. Create a post and insert an audio embed (or a podcast block in Gutenberg) and select a Podcast feed to include it in.

1. 

   Podcast in classic editor

2. 

   Podcast block in the WordPress block editor (aka Gutenberg)

3. 

   Creating a podcast

4. 

   Podcast feed

1.8.0 – 2024-04-03

• Added: “Latest Podcast Episode” query block variation (props #jeffpaul, @cadic, @barneyjeffries, @faisal-alvi via #266).
• Added: Ability to add Unique Cover Art for Episodes (props @jamesburgos, @jeffpaul, @zamanq, @iamdharmesh via #273).
• Added:simple_podcasting_feed_title filter hook to modify feed title (props @martinburch, @psorensen, @dkotter via #279).
• Fixed: Incorrect feed title (props @martinburch, @psorensen, @dkotter via #279).
• Fixed: Fatal error in WordPress 5.8 and earlier (props @peterwilsoncc, @Sidsector9 via #277).
• Changed: Disabled auto sync pull requests with target branch (props @iamdharmesh, @jeffpaul via #281).
• Changed: Removed PULL_REQUEST_TEMPLATE.md template (props @iamdharmesh, @jeffpaul via #286).
• Changed: Replaced lee-dohm/no-response with actions/stale to help with closing no-response/stale issues (props @jeffpaul, @dkotter via #287).
• Changed: Upgrade the download-artifact from v3 to v4 (props @iamdharmesh, @jeffpaul via #285).
• Security: Bumps ip from 1.1.8 to 1.1.9 (props @dependabot, @Sidsector9 via #278).

1.7.0 – 2024-01-16

• Added: Ability to add a transcript to a podcast episode by utilizing a new Podcast Transcript block. This block is added by clicking the Add Transcript button that will now show in the sidebar panel of the Podcast block (props @nateconley, @peterwilsoncc, @sksaju, @kirtangajjar via #221).
• Added: Support for the WordPress.org plugin preview (props @dkotter, @jeffpaul via #265).
• Fixed: Ensure we show all Podcasting terms in the Block Editor sidebar (props @dkotter, @channchetra, @Sidsector9 via #268).
• Security: Bump axios from 0.25.0 to 1.6.2 and @wordpress/scripts from 26.9.0 to 26.18.0 (props @dependabot, @Sidsector9 via #263).
• Security: Bump follow-redirects from 1.15.3 to 1.15.4 (props @dependabot, @dkotter via #269).

1.6.1 – 2023-11-21

• Added: Repo Automator GitHub Action (props @iamdharmesh, @jeffpaul via #253).
• Changed: Bump WordPress “tested up to” version to 6.4 (props @qasumitbagthariya, @jeffpaul via #259, #260).
• Changed: Ensure end-to-end tests work on Cypress v13 and bump cypress from 11.2.0 to 13.2.0, @10up/cypress-wp-utils from 0.1.0 to 0.2.0, @wordpress/env from 5.4.0 to 8.7.0, cypress-localstorage-commands from 2.2.2 to 2.2.4 and cypress-mochawesome-reporter from 3.4.0 to 3.6.0 (props @iamdharmesh, @Sidsector9 via #254).
• Security: Bump postcss from 8.4.27 to 8.4.31 (props @dependabot, @faisal-alvi via #256).
• Security: Bump @babel/traverse from 7.22.8 to 7.23.2 (props @dependabot, @Sidsector9 via #257).

1.6.0 – 2023-08-31

• Added: Ability to create a Podcast from within the Block Editor (props @Sidsector9, @iamdharmesh via #232).
• Added: New Podcast Platforms block that allows you to display icons and links to multiple podcast platforms (props @Sidsector9, @iamdharmesh, @jeffpaul via #241).
• Added: Check for minimum required PHP version before loading the plugin (props @kmgalanakis, @dkotter via #248).
• Changed: Rename TAXONOMY_NAME constant to PODCASTING_TAXONOMY_NAME (props @jayedul, @peterwilsoncc, @dkotter via #238).
• Changed: Bump WordPress “tested up to” version to 6.3 (props @dkotter via #248).
• Fixed: Resolved a PHP warning when creating a new podcast (props @kmgalanakis, @iamdharmesh via #247).
• Security: Bump word-wrap from 1.2.3 to 1.2.4 (props @dependabot, @iamdharmesh via #243).

1.5.0 – 2023-06-29

• Added: Post Grid Block to display a grid of episode posts (props @mehul0810, @cadic, @nateconley, @dkotter, @jeffpaul, @ajmaurya99, @nickolas-kola, @achchu93 via #214).
• Added: Mochawesome reporter added for Cypress end-to-end test report (props @jayedul, @iamdharmesh via #236).
• Changed: Mark any required fields when adding/editing a podcast feed (props @mehul0810, @cadic, @nateconley, @jeffpaul, @Spoygg, @ggutenberg, @peterwilsoncc, @Sidsector9, @ravinderk, @faisal-alvi, @helen via #216).
• Changed: Bumped WordPress “tested up to” version 6.2 (props @jayedul, @peterwilsoncc, @jeffpaul via #230).
• Changed: Run end-to-end tests on the zip generated by the “Build Release ZIP” GitHub Action (props @jayedul, @Sidsector9, @iamdharmesh via #227).
• Changed: GitHub Action uses updates (props @Sidsector9, @iamdharmesh via #234).
• Changed: Updated Dependency Review GitHub Action (props @jeffpaul, @Sidsector9 via #237).
• Removed: Deprecated <itunes:summary> tag (props @ggutenberg, @Sidsector9, @cadic, @jeffpaul via #223).
• Removed: Unnecessary term meta registration on “init” (props @kmgalanakis, @faisal-alvi, @cadic via #225).
• Fixed: Deprecation notices for strpos and str_replace on PHP >= 8.1 (props @bmarshall511, @Sidsector9, @peterwilsoncc via #239).
• Security: Bump simple-git from 3.15.1 to 3.16.0 (props @dependabot, @cadic via #215).
• Security: Bump http-cache-semantics from 4.1.0 to 4.1.1 (props @dependabot, @cadic via #219).
• Security: Bump @sideway/formula from 3.0.0 to 3.0.1 (props @dependabot, @cadic via #220).
• Security: Bump webpack from 5.75.0 to 5.76.1 (props @dependabot, @faisal-alvi via #222).

1.4.0 – 2023-01-06

• Added: New podcast onboarding flow (props @Sidsector9, @cadic, @iamdharmesh, @helen, @jeffpaul, @Nicolas-knight, @jnetek via #193).
• Added: Description field to RSS feed (props @supersmo, @cadic via #204).
• Added: Build pre-release zip GitHub Action (props @Sidsector9, @iamdharmesh, @jeffpaul, @dkotter, @faisal-alvi, @vikrampm1 via #199).
• Changed: Bump WordPress “tested up to” to 6.1 (props @jayedul, @dkotter via #201).
• Changed: Cypress integration migrated to 11+ (props @jayedul, @cadic, @jeffpaul via #205).
• Changed: Updated docs to add podcast feed to Pocket Casts (props @jeffpaul, @Sidsector9, @cadic via #192).
• Fixed: Spotify not accepting feeds with empty <description> field (props @supersmo, @cadic via #204).
• Security: Bump json5 from 1.0.1 to 1.0.2 (props @dependabot[bot], @cadic, @jeffpaul via #212).
• Security: Bump loader-utils from 2.0.2 to 2.0.4 (props @dependabot[bot], @cadic, @jeffpaul via #195, #198).
• Security: Bump simple-git from 3.14.1 to 3.15.1 (props @dependabot[bot], @jeffpaul via #202).

1.3.0 – 2022-10-18

Note that this version bumps the minimum PHP version from 7.0 to 7.4 and the minimum WordPress version from 4.6 to 5.7.

• Added Podcasts Taxonomy term(s) added in block settings (props @helen, @jeffpaul, @faisal-alvi, @peterwilsoncc, @cadic via #183).
• Added Type of show setting for the podcast (props @cadic, @faisal-alvi, @jeffpaul via #188).
• Changed Podcasting Categories and Sub-Categories (props @zamanq, @jeffpaul, @dkotter, @cadic, @dchucks via #179).
• Changed Bumped minimum PHP version required from 7.0 to 7.4 (props @peterwilsoncc, @cadic, @jeffpaul, @vikrampm1 via #184).
• Changed Bumped minimum WordPress version required from 4.6 to 5.7 (props @peterwilsoncc, @cadic, @jeffpaul, @vikrampm1 via #184).
• Changed Upgraded dependencies (props @cadic, @faisal-alvi via #187).
• Fixed Saving podcast enclosure with Classic Editor (props @cadic, @faisal-alvi via #186).
• Security Bump got from 10.7.0 to 11.8.5 (props @dependabot[bot], @faisal-alvi, @iamdharmesh, @jeffpaul via #185).
• Security Bump @wordpress/env from 4.5.0 to 5.2.0 (props @dependabot[bot], @faisal-alvi, @iamdharmesh, @jeffpaul via #185).

1.2.4 – 2022-07-27

• Added: Season number, episode number and episode type attributes can now be stored with a Podcast (props @zamanq, @dchucks, @cadic via #175).
• Changed: Bump WordPress version “tested up to” 6.0 (props @cadic via #171).
• Fixed: Incorrect Language value in the Feed (props @zamanq, @dchucks, @cadic via #176).
• Security: Bump terser from 5.12.1 to 5.14.2 (props @dependabot via #180).

1.2.3 – 2022-04-28

• Added Compatibility tests against PHP 7 and 8 (props @cadic, @dkotter, @jeffpaul).
• Added Default Pull Request Reviewers via CODEOWNERS file (props @jeffpaul, @cadic).
• Added Dependency security scanning (props @jeffpaul).
• Changed Unit tests against PHP 8 (props @cadic, @dkotter, @jeffpaul).
• Changed Bump required PHP 7.0 (props @cadic, @dkotter, @jeffpaul).
• Changed Replaced custom commands with @10up/cypress-wp-utils in end-to-end tests (props @dinhtungdu, @cadic, @jeffpaul).
• Fixed Missing <enclosure> in feed item (props @davexpression, @cadic, @jeffpaul).
• Fixed Failing Cypress test on WP Minimum (props @dinhtungdu, @cadic, @jeffpaul).
• Fixed Updated badges in readme (props @cadic, @jeffpaul).
• Security Upgraded node dependencies (props @cadic, @dharm1025, @jeffpaul).
• Security Bump async from 2.6.3 to 2.6.4 (props @dependabot).
• Security Bump node-forge from 1.2.1 to 1.3.0 (props @dependabot).
• Security Bump minimist from 1.2.5 to 1.2.6 (props @dependabot.

1.2.2 – 2022-03-01

• Added: Filter ‘simple_podcasting_feed_item’ to modify RSS feed item data before output (props @cadic, @dharm1025, @jeffpaul).
• Added: Unit tests (props @cadic, @dkotter, @jeffpaul).
• Added: GitHub action job to run PHPCS (props @cadic, @dkotter).
• Added: Auto-create pot file in languages folder during the build process (props @dkotter, @cadic).
• Changed: Bump WordPress “tested up to” version 5.9 (props @sudip-10up, @cadic, @peterwilsoncc).
• Fixed: End-to-end tests with WordPress 5.9 element IDs (props@cadic, @felipeelia, @dinhtungdu).
• Fixed: Podcast feed link output on Edit Podcast screen (props @mehidi258, @jeffpaul, @cadic).
• Fixed: Bug fix for is_feed being called too early (props @tomjn, @jeffpaul).
• Fixed: Missing and incorrect text-domain (props @dkotter, @cadic).
• Security: Bump nanoid from 3.1.25 to 3.2.0 (props @dependabot).

1.2.1

• Added: Filter ‘simple_podcasting_episodes_per_page’ to override default of 250 episodes per podcast feed (props @pabamato, @dinhtungdu, @monomo111, @jeffpaul, @jakemgold).
• Added: End-to-end testing using Cypress and wp-env (props @dinhtungdu, @markjaquith, @youknowriad, @helen).
• Added: Issue management automation via GitHub Actions (props @jeffpaul).
• Added: Pull request template (props @jeffpaul, @dinhtungdu).
• Changed: Default number of episodes in RSS feeds increased from 10 to 250 (props @pabamato, @dinhtungdu, @monomo111, @jeffpaul, @jakemgold).
• Changed: Use @wordpress/scripts as the build tool (props @dinhtungdu).
• Changed: Bump WordPress version “tested up to” 5.8.1 (props David Chabbi, @jeffpaul,@pabamato).
• Changed: Documentation updates (props @meszarosrob, @dinhtungdu).
• Fixed: ‘podcast’ block core dependency (props @pabamato, @dinhtungdu, @monomo111, @jeffpaul, @jakemgold).
• Fixed: Minimum WordPress version used by wp-env (props @dinhtungdu).

1.2.0

• Added: Podcast image in the taxonomy list table view (props @jonmchristensen, @helen).
• Added: Ability for user to transform to/from the podcast and audio blocks (props @jonmchristensen, @helen).
• Added: Core MediaReplaceFlow to edit the podcast media (props @jonmchristensen, @helen).
• Changed: GitHub Actions from HCL to YAML workflow syntax (props @helen).
• Changed: Stop committing built files to Git (props @helen).
• Changed: Documentation updates (props @jeffpaul, @nhalstead).
• Fixed: Using the upload or drag and drop instead of media library populates duration and mimetype (props @jonmchristensen, @helen).
• Fixed: Issue where it is possible to add non-audio files to the Podcast block (props @mattheu).
• Fixed: Issue where React would throw an error relating to keys for list items (props @jonmchristensen, @helen).
• Fixed: Ensure podcast-related meta is deleted after block is removed. (props @dinhtungdu).

1.1.1

• Fixed: Compatibility with WordPress 5.2 (props @adamsilverstein).

1.1.0

• Added: Retrieve metadata for externally hosted audio files in the block editor.
• Added: Specify email address for a given podcast.
• Added: Set language for a given podcast.
• Tweaked: Clearer language on the add new podcast form.
• Bug fix: Delete all associated meta when block is removed from a post.
• Bug fix: Restore all block editor functionality to align with Gutenberg/block changes.
• Bug fix: Fully clear add new form after creating a new podcast.
• Developers: Add linting for coding standards.

1.0.1

• Bug fix: Properly output podcast categories and subcategories in the feed.
• Bug fix: Avoid a minified JS error when selecting a podcast image.
• Bug fix: Display podcast summary on edit form.

1.0

• Initial plugin release.