Libsyn gives you the convenience of uploading and publishing your podcast episodes to all the publication destinations you've connected your show to, and you can do it all without leaving your WordPress account. When you publish from WordPress, you'll have access to many of Libsyn's publishing capabilities, including generating your RSS feed and using Libsyn's flexible distribution and advanced scheduling features.
The episodes you create in WordPress upload to Libsyn, so you'll be able to make use of Libsyn's powerful statistical tools whenever you log in to your Libsyn account. Also, your media files and RSS feed will be safe if anything ever happens to your website.
Note | Before you start publishing from WordPress, you need to connect your show to WordPress. Then, you need to download and set up a WordPress plugin called the Libsyn Publisher Hub. For more information about how to do so, see Set up Your Account to Publish Directly from WordPress. |
Create a Post
To get started, create a post the way you normally would by clicking Posts in the left pane and then selecting Add New in the menu that appears.
Enter a title and write your blog content. The title you enter will appear as the podcast title when you publish, and your blog content will appear as the show description (also known as show notes) in the publication destinations you publish to, such as podcast directories or social media.
Set up any other features you want in your post, such as images, tags, categories, or more.
When you're done preparing your post, you can then create your podcast episode.
Note | Are you ready to publish your episode? Make sure you have configured your show and connected it to the publishing destinations where you want it to appear, including WordPress itself. For an overview of everything you should prepare, see Are You Ready to Publish an Episode? |
Create Your Podcast Episode in Your Post
When your post is ready, you can create your podcast episode. To do so, find an appropriate place in your post to add a new block that will contain your episode player. Open the window you normally use to add a new block, and select Libsyn Publisher Hub as shown in the image below (if necessary, search for Libsyn Publisher Hub in the Search for a block field).
When you select Libsyn Publisher Hub, a New Podcast Episode block opens and the Libsyn Publisher Hub pane appears on the right of the page. The Libsyn Publisher Hub pane on the right contains sections that you can use to upload your episode, enter important information about it, and schedule its publication.
Upload Your Episode
Now that you've added the new block for your episode, you can upload the media file that contains it. To do so:
- In the Libsyn Publisher Hub pane, click Episode Media to expand the section.
- In the Select Media Source field, select the location of your episode.
Upload Media Select this option if the file you want to upload is on your hard drive. Wordpress Media Select this option if the file you want to upload is available in WordPress. FTP/Unreleased Select this option if you have already uploaded your episode using FTP. - Click Upload.
- Choose the file you want to upload in the window that opens. A progress bar appears to show you the status of your upload.
Enter Information About Your New Episode
The Libsyn Publisher Hub pane contains sections that give you options to fine tune your publication similar to the publication fields in your Libsyn account. Click any section in the pane to expand it. When you do so, you can review the options the section contains.
For guidance about how to complete each section, see Prepare Your Episode to Get Published from WordPress.
Schedule Your Episode for Publication
You can either publish your episode through WordPress's scheduling feature to all your destinations, or you can use the Libsyn Publisher Hub pane to select which publication destinations you want to publish to and when.
Publish to All Destinations on the Same Date
Publishing through WordPress is easy if you want to release your episode to all of your publication destinations at the same time. All you have to do is schedule your WordPress post for release as you normally would. When your post is published in WordPress, it will also be published to all of your publication destinations at the same time. After you set up a time for your post to get published, see the "Publish Your Episode" section below for last steps to get your episode out to the world.
If you want more control over when your episode gets published to certain destinations, refer to the section below.
Customize Your Publication Schedule
This option gives you a way to set different publishing dates for different publishing destinations. For example, if you want to make your episode available a week earlier on Spotify and Google Podcasts than in other places, you can enter different dates for just those directories.
Also, this option gives you a way to “expire” the episode, meaning that you can set a date after which the episode will no longer be available to listeners. However, the episode will remain uploaded to Libsyn after the expiration date in case you ever need it.
To schedule publishing dates for different publishing destinations:
- In the Libsyn Publisher Hub pane, click Advanced Destination Scheduling to expand the section.
- Click Customize Scheduling & Release. The Publishing Destinations window opens.
- In the Download Availability section, choose one of the following:
a. Media files are always available: Choose this option if you want to make your episode available to share before the date you've scheduled it to be published. This option is useful if you want to share your episode with someone who needs to listen to it before the general public does. b. Media files are available based on the release schedule: Choose this option if you don't want your episode to be available to anyone before the scheduled time for publication. Note Because the selection you make affects when your episode is available to share, it also affects how Libsyn stats track your episode. Selecting Media files are always available makes your episode available to share as soon as you click Publish. Therefore, if you schedule your episode to be released to podcast directories next week, but you click Publish today, Libsyn stats begin to track your episode today because that is the moment that it is first available. - Optionally, clear the check box next to any publication destinations you don't want to publish to. To clear them all, clear the check box in the dark gray row at the top of the table.
- In the Release Date column, select Release Immediately to publish the episode as soon as you click Publish. Or, select Set new release date and enter the date and time you want to publish the episode in the fields that appear.
- Optionally, select Set new release date in the Expiration Date column for any publication destinations you want to expire. Then, in the new fields that appear, enter the date and time after which you no longer want the episode to be available in that destination.
Note If you want the episode to always be available, leave the Release Immediately option selected. - When you're done setting publication dates, click X to close the Publishing Destinations window.
Now that you've scheduled your episode, you can publish it.
Publish Your Episode
When you've finished all the steps above - including writing a title and content for your post, uploading your media file, entering information about your episode, and scheduling your publication - you're ready to publish. To do so, click Publish at the top, right-hand side of your post above the Libsyn Publisher Hub pane. After you click Publish, your episode will appear in WordPress as well as in all the publication destinations on the dates and times you set.