Podcast Feed Builder

What it's for

Write the RSS feed that turns a folder of sound files on a web server into a podcast you can subscribe to in any podcast app. The feed is a single XML file listing the show and its episodes, with the tags Apple Podcasts and most other apps read.

For example, when you turn articles into speech or record notes for yourself, put the sound files on your own site, drop them here to make the episodes, upload the feed.xml beside them, and add its address to your podcast app with “Follow a show by URL” (or your app’s equivalent).

How to use it

Fill in the Podcast details; the feed updates as you type. To change an existing feed, Open a feed to edit (or drop it on that box) and its details and episodes are filled in.

For episodes, first set Where the sound files will be, the address of the folder they’ll be uploaded to, ending in /. Then choose sound files, or drop them on the Sound files box: each becomes an episode with the address, file size, type and length filled in, the title from the file’s tags (or its name) and the date it was last changed. Changing the folder address afterwards updates those episodes. Add an episode by hand adds a blank one. The files themselves are never uploaded; only their details are read.

The message lists anything a podcast app may refuse, such as a missing address or cover picture. Save feed.xml saves the feed, newest episode first; Copy copies it.

Example

Set Title to Reading List, Description to Articles read aloud. and the cover picture address to https://example.com/cover.jpg, then Add an episode by hand and give it the title First episode, the address https://example.com/audio/ep1.mp3 and a file size of 1048576. The feed’s episode reads:

<item>
  <title>First episode</title>
  <enclosure url="https://example.com/audio/ep1.mp3" length="1048576" type="audio/mpeg"/>
  <guid isPermaLink="true">https://example.com/audio/ep1.mp3</guid>
  <pubDate>…</pubDate>
</item>

with today’s date in pubDate, and the message reads “A feed with 1 episode.”

Good to know

This writes the feed only: hosting the files and the feed is up to you, and an app can only reach them at public (or, for a private feed, unlisted) addresses. Anyone with the feed’s address can listen. Each episode’s GUID, the identifier apps use to tell episodes apart, is its address unless you give one, so moving a file makes apps see a new episode. Opening a feed keeps the tags this tool knows and drops others, such as chapters, transcripts, seasons and episode pictures. Apple Podcasts has its own extra rules for listing a show publicly; check them before submitting.