Adding PDF Files in a Podcast Feed
How does one add a PDF, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Pages, Keynote, etc files into a podcast subscription format? For instance my iTunes subscription to Make Magazines video podcast often offers PDF files that go along with the video podcast. What does one “do” to the file to include it in the podcast subscription?
It’s not something you do to the file. It’s something you do in the feed.
iTunes supports .m4a, .mp3, .mov, .mp4, .m4v, and .pdf files, but not Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc. Take a look at their Podcaster Tech Specs page for more details.
In order to include a PDF file in your podcast feed, you’ll need access to edit the actual feed. And you’ll need a bit of knowledge about RSS tags. Rob Walsh, at Podcast411, has a great guide for editing your RSS feed.
The tag you’re looking for is the Enclosure Tag. It looks like this:
<enclosure url="http://domain.com/file.mp3" length="123456789" type="audio/mpeg" />
This particular example is for an audio file (.mp3). You’ll just need to change it to filename.pdf. Instead of type=”audio/mpeg”/, use type=”application/pdf”/. And of course, your URL link will point to a .pdf stored on your server.
“Length” refers to the size of your file, in bytes. So if your file is 199.7MB, then you’ll enter the length as 209367040. Don’t worry! You don’t have to calculate it every time. If you’re on a Mac, click on the file, and hit Apple-I to Get Info. You’ll see the size in both MB (or GB) and bytes. If you’re on a PC, right click on the file, choose “Properties” and you’ll find the size in both MB (or GB) and bytes.
When you save your rss file (and upload it, if you’re not using an online editor), the file will be released on your feed.
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Or you could run your feed through Google’s Feedburner and anything you attach to your blog post will become an enclosure without all the hassle.