Blubrry PowerPress WordPress Podcast Plugin

Blubrry Powerpress

WordPress in its default install configuration does not support podcasting at a level that most people need. The PowerPress Podcast Plugin has all of the elements needed to have your podcast RSS feed in complete compliance to obtain an iTunes listing, is optimized for listings in podcast directories and the Zune Marketplace.

The PowerPress Podcast plugin also includes a player that you can configure to appear on your blog posts so guests can listen/view your podcast episodes straight from your website. It should be noted that nearly half of people listen to podcast online versus through their portable media player.

Features Include:

  • Easily add/modify/remove podcast episodes from blog posts and pages
  • Integrated audio/video media player
  • Podcast Only Feed
  • Custom Podcast Feeds (no limit)
  • Category Podcast Feeds
  • Integrated Media Hosting via Blubrry Services
  • Integrated Media Statistics via Blubrry Services
  • Mp3 ID3 Tagging via Blubrry Services
  • iTunes RSS tags
  • Enhanced iTunes summaries from blog posts option
  • iTunes album/cover art
  • Upload new iTunes/RSS cover art
  • Ping iTunes
  • Media size detection
  • Duration detection (mp3 only)
  • 3rd party statistics integration
  • Import PodPress settings and media episodes
  • Import Blogger/Movable Type media episodes
  • Category Podcast Feeds (Category Casting)
  • Tag/Keyword Podcast Feeds (Tag Casting)
  • Hosted Feed Support (FeedBurner.com)
  • User Role Management (Control which users on blog can Podcast)

File Types supported: mp3, m4a, ogg, wma, ra, mp4a, m4v, mp4v, mpg, asf, avi, wmv, flv, swf, mov, divx, 3gp, midi, wav, aa, pdf, torrent

The Powerpress Podcast Plugin has had a high level of Quality Assurance to ensure that all RSS Specification and Apple iTunes standards are met with flawless integration with WordPress Version 2.5 and greater.

I think you will find that this Podcast Plugin for WordPress to have all of the required element needed without impacting the performance of your website and system databases. This plugin has been designed by podcasters with 4 plus years of experience in the space.

Picture of Podcast Episode box found in the Edit Post page:

Powerpress Settings

Easily Migrate from PodPress

Blubrry PowerPress was developed to replace Podpress seamlessly. All you have to do is install/enable the PowerPress plugin, configure PowerPress settings with the "PodPress Episodes" to "Include in Posts and Feeds", then Disable PodPress. PowerPress can detect Podpress and will disable itself in your blog if PodPress is enabled. PowerPress also imports all of your PodPress settings so migrating is a snap.

When you decide you want to keep PowerPress, you can use the Import Episodes Tool to convert your PodPress created episodes to PowerPress.Basic Settings

Integrated Media Player

The integrated media player in Blubrry Powerpress is designed to be clean and simple. For mp3 and flv formatted media, Blubrry Powerpress utilizes FlowPlayer. For all other media types (m4v, m4a, avi, mpg, mpeg, mp4, qt, mov, wma, wmv, asf, rm, swf), the appropriate embed and object code is inserted into either the page or in a new window.

Limitations (not in our opinion)

Blubrry PowerPress does not allow you to include multiple enclosures per blog post item in your feeds. This is because each podcatcher handles multiple enclosures in feeds differently. iTunes will download the first enclosure that it sees in the feed ignoring the rest. Other podcatchers and podcasting directories either pick up the first enclosure or the last in each post item. This inconsistency and combined with the fact that Dave Winer does not recommend multiple enclosures is why the Blubrry PowerPress does not support them.

As a better alternative, PowerPress offers Custom Podcast Feeds which will allow you to create a feed for each media format.

Blubrry PowerPress does not include media statistics. This is not because Blubrry has its own statistics service, although that's a good reason by itself. Maintaining and calculating statistics is a resource and server intensive task that would add bloat to an otherwise lightweight WordPress podcasting plugin. We recommend you use your media hosting's statistics and you're more than welcome to use the Blubrry Statistics service as well.

Why did we create this plugin?

We have thousands of members on Blubrry, most of which host their web sites using WordPress. With the launch of our latest services (Podcast Publishing Premium and Podcast Publishing Premium with Hosting), we found it necessary to offer a podcasting plugin that can support episodes posted from our system. The task was simple: develop a WordPress podcasting plugin that stores podcast episodes the way WordPress expects them. Now our Publishing members can publish their episodes through our system which cross posts their podcast episodes to their WordPress blog.

You haven't heard about our Publishing system? It's a robust platform that takes much of the work out of creating podcast episodes by allowing you to easily upload your media, quickly enter your show notes and then click 'Publish'. We do all the redundant work, such as writing all those pesky ID3 tags and cover artwork to your media files, cross posting to Twitter, email newsletters, and more!

Looking for a better Audio Player?

We didn't want to re-invent the wheel, so the player provided in Blubrry PowerPress is very light weight and simple. If you're looking for a player that is customizable, please check out the WP Audio Player 2.0 beta. Latest features include ability to place the player above or below the post content and it has many color configuration options.

WP Audio Player

Give us feedback

Have any suggestions, comments, code or thoughts about the plugin? Let us know!

Download Blubrry PowerPress

Download version 0.8.1

Released on May 28, 2009

Changelog

New features: Category Podcast Feeds, Blubrry Services Integration and Tool for adding Update Services.

A number of bug fixes also included in this version.

Complete changelog available at wordpress.org under Blubrry PowerPress Other Notes.

 

Blubrry Services Integration

Blubrry PowerPress now includes features that tie into the statistics and media hosting services provided by Blubrry. Click here to learn more and see how these features simplify your podcasting process all from within your WordPress blog.

Media Uploader

If you are Blubrry Hosting Customer, download the Blubrry Media Uploader for quick and seamless media uploading when publishing with Blubrry PowerPress.

Plugin Requirements

  • WordPress version 2.6 or newer.

  • PHP must have allow_url_fopen enabled or the PHP-cURL library installed.

Plugin Installation Instructions

  1. Drop the entire directory from the downloaded zip file into the /wp-content/plugins/.

  2. Activate the "Blubrry Powerpress" plugin in the Plugin Management page.

  3. Configure Blubrry Powerpress by going to the Settings > Blubrry Powerpress page.

Blubrry PowerPress Support

Additional support and documentation is avaialble on the Blubrry Help Center » PowerPress section.