ATTN: ATS PODCASTERS -- Manage Your Member Feeds!

Podcasters, go to: www.abovetopsecret.com...

On this new page, you'll be able to manage your member feeds and decide which podcasts you'd like to appear within the XML of your member RSS Podcast feed.

Perhaps some of your replies or other podcasts might not be appropriate as you try to build an ongoing series of topics for your own feed. Now you can remove off-topic or other podcast replies from your personal feed. These are also removed from your list of podcasts on the Podcasters page.

Now you can register your own personal feed with podcast directories and ensure that only the content you want is broadcast via your feed.

I have no idea what you just said.

Picture me, blank-faced with 'XML', 'RSS' and 'FEED' circling around my head, tweetie-bird style...

If members don't know what a 'feed' is (which, trust me, many don't) we won't know what this means. (and trust me 'we' don't)

Does this mean that if we 'remove' a PODcast or reply from this page that it will still show up on ATS for other members to listen to but won't be available to non-members? Something like that? I hope?

There are three types of "feeds" available in ATS podcasting:

1. Main Feeds: these are the primary podcast feeds such as atsc.xml that contain the most recent 30 podcasts in our ten topical feeds. If you subscribe to these in software like iTunes, the podcasts are automatically downloaded.

2. PODthread Feeds: each podthread has another feed containing only the podcasts for that particular thread. Consider the Main Feeds to be similar to a board forum, and the PODthreads are a thread in the forum.

3. Member Feeds: just like the other feeds, but this one contains only your podcasts. But until now, contained all your podcasts by default. Now you can use the MyPODcast page to manage which of your podcasts remain in your feed, and which ones are omitted. All your podcasts will still appear in the other two feeds.


An "RSS Feed" is nothing more than a text file with a custom format that tells a "feed reader" (like iTunes and dozens of others) when and where new content exists... like podcasts.

Thank you very much. Please forgive my ignorance; I’m trying to deny it.

So, I’m thinking a ‘feed’ is like a storage vessel through which someone outside of ATS can access ATS PODcasts, without logging on or even being an ATS member.

- If they’re interested in all ATS PODcasts, they could subscribe to the Main Feed, so they’d know when any new PODcasts were posted.

- If they were interested in a particular PODthread (soficrow’s Bird Flu), they could subscribe to that PODthread Feed so they’d know when more PODcasts were added to that thread.

- If they only wanted to hear True American’s PODcasts, they could access his Member Feed so they’d know when he posted new ones.

Is that correct?

At this point, I have no ability to manage my PODcasts in the Main Feed or the PODthread Feed, but if someone ‘out there’ is on the lookout for MY particular PODcasts, and subscribing to the Benevolent Heretic Feed, then I can control which ones they hear. But they can still access them through one of the other feeds.

Is that correct?

I apologize if I seem dense. I'm not, really, this is just a brand new technology to me. I can make a PODcast like a pro, but as far as accessing them from anywhere but right here, I'd be lost.

Thank you for your patience.

Yes... you've got it.

About 2/3 of all ATS podcasts are actually obtained through the feeds. iTunes alone represents 53% of all accesses to our podcasts... and we have over 5,000 unique people who are using the feeds.

This is the "normal" way podcasts are obtained and played.

Our system is a hybrid; in addition to the feeds, we're integrating the individual podcast MP3 files into a PODcast Page and into the threads of the podcast forum.

Wow! I didn't know that. Very interesting.

And thanks so much for the information. This is very cool. I went to my member page and managed those puppies.

So glad BH had time to get these posts in today, so now I don't have to.

Excellent feature, it's been nagging at me I couldn't do this.

Thanks SO

Nice one SO. Just one small quibble. When I put my (or other members) feed into Firefox's Live Bookmarks and try to access any of my podcasts I get a page not found. It tries to load:

www.abovetopsecret.com...

but the actual file is at:
www.podtrac.com...

Hope that helps and kudo's for keeping the feeds so well organised.

p.s. how do i get negative points in bts?


[edit on 14-11-2005 by fingapointa]

I have a question:

For whatever reason, my last submission does not appear anywhere on the list.

www.abovetopsecret.com...

Do I need to do something to bring that one in?

EDIT: I also noticed it does not appear on the regular PODcast page. It seems to only be accessible from the thread page.

[edit on 15-11-2005 by loam]

Originally posted by loam
For whatever reason, my last submission does not appear anywhere on the list.

I removed it from the feeds. Intro submissions should not be uploaded to the feeds.

Oh, ok. I misunderstood. Sorry.

Thanks for the reply.