When you are creating an episode in WordPress, the Libsyn Publisher Hub provides several options for entering information about your episode and updating some visuals, like episode art or the look of the podcast player. This article gives you detailed information about how to use those options.
To get started, you need to create a blog post and add a Libsyn Publisher Hub block to it. For more information about how to do so, see Publish an Episode Directly from WordPress.
After you add the Libsyn Publisher Hub block, the Libsyn Publisher Hub pane opens on the right. You can click any section in the pane to expand it and see the options it contains. Click it again if you want to close the section.
Player Settings
The Player Settings section gives you a way to update the look of your podcast player. You customized the look of the player when you set up WordPress to publish your episodes, but you can override those settings by entering new settings in this section if you want your player to look different for this episode only. For a reminder about how to use the settings, you can review the "Player Podcast Settings" section in Set up Your Account to Publish Directly from WordPress.
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Note You can still update the look of the player even if you've already published the episode. When you enter new information and save your changes, the look of the player updates automatically. |
Episode Media
You can use this section to upload the media file that contains your episode. For more information about how to do so, see the "Upload Your Episode" section of Publish an Episode Directly from WordPress.
Episode Details
The fields in this section provide a way to enter information about your episode, including a subtitle, category, and keywords.
Episode Subtitle
The subtitle you enter in this field appears as a short description in podcast directories, including Apple Podcasts. However, this field is optional. If you leave it blank, Libsyn automatically enters your episode description as the subtitle (your official episode description is the content of your blog post). If your episode description is too long, Libsyn truncates it for you.
Episode Category
You can create categories to help you organize your episodes. For example, if you host a podcast about sports and some of your episodes are about the NFL, but others are about the NBA, you can create categories to distinguish between them.
The Libsyn Podcast page uses the categories you enter to organize your episodes so you can sort them quickly. Also, you can create a player that only lists the episodes in a certain category. This feature is useful in case you want to embed the player in a webpage, but you only want it to play a certain category of your episodes. To expand on the example of the sports show above, if you're posting a player to an NFL site, you can use an "NFL" category to make sure only NFL episodes appear in the player.
Note that this field is different from the Category field when you set up your show. The show-level category is for specifying what your show is about so that podcast directories can organize it appropriately. This field at the episode level is for you to organize your own show on the Libsyn Podcast page or in a podcast player.
Tags / Keywords
Tags and keywords help people find your episode. For example, if your episode is about meditation, creating a “meditation” tag makes it more likely that your episode will appear to listeners who are searching for that keyword. Note that tags are most useful if your show is on YouTube because YouTube uses tags to help people find episodes. Most podcast directories, including Apple podcasts, don’t make use of tags.
To create a tag, enter a single word and press Enter on your keyboard. Or, you can look for tags you've already created by typing in the first few letters of the tag's name.
Episode Thumbnail
Upload a thumbnail only if you want to use artwork for this episode that is different from your regular show artwork. For example, if you want to include the episode number in your artwork, you can upload a new image that replaces your show artwork for just this episode. If you don't upload an image, your normal show artwork will appear.
Any image you upload must adhere to the following requirements:
- 1400 by 1400 px (minimum)
- 3000 by 3000 px (maximum)
- Must be square
- Under 500 kb
- use sRGB color space
- JPG or PNG files only
Apple Podcasts Optimization
Because Apple Podcasts has different requirements than other podcast directories, the fields in this section help ensure that your episode appears correctly in Apple Podcasts.
If you do not publish to Apple Podcasts, you can leave the fields in this section blank.
Explicit Content
Use this field to specify whether the episode you’re uploading is clean or explicit.
You entered a rating for your show when you first configured your settings. However, you can use this field to replace that setting for this episode only. For example, if you have a clean show, but the episode you’re uploading is an outlier that happens to be explicit, you can use this field to label just this episode as explicit. Leave the field blank if you don’t need to update your rating for this episode.
Your episode’s (and show’s) rating is important for establishing parental controls. Also, keep in mind that some countries do not permit explicit content, so marking an episode explicit might result in your episode, and your whole show, becoming unavailable to listeners in those countries.
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Note Not sure whether your episode is clean or explicit? Explicit can mean a show uses language that is inappropriate for young listeners (such as some famous “four-letter words”), but it can also mean that the subject matter is inappropriate even if the language is “clean.” If you’re not sure whether your subject matter qualifies as explicit, conduct the following thought experiment: “If I were a parent of young children, would I be comfortable with them listening to this episode?” |
Episode Number
The episode number you enter appears in the iOS Podcast App, and your episode appears in the correct order based on the episode number (and season number, if you’re using one).
Season Number
Enter the season that the episode you’re uploading belongs to. If you don’t use seasons to organize episodes, you can leave this field blank.
Episode Type
Specify the kind of episode you’re uploading so that podcast directories can organize it correctly. For example, if you’re uploading a trailer of your show rather than a full episode, you can specify that detail here.
Click the Episode Type field and select the type from the list that appears. Here are your options:
- Full: A complete, traditional episode of your show.
- Trailer: A short promo of your show, usually between 30 and 60 seconds in length.
- Bonus: An episode that’s not consistent with the traditional length or content of your show. For example, a bonus episode might consist of a short follow-up to a previous episode.
Episode Summary
Enter a short version of your episode description. The summary should be about one or two sentences long. Consider the summary an elevator pitch about your episode: quick and to the point, but enough to get your audience excited to listen to it.
Episode Title
Apple Podcasts has different requirements for titles than other podcast directories. In Apple Podcasts, the title of your episode should not contain information like the name of your show (i.e., the name of your podcast). It should also not contain episode or season numbers. Apple Podcasts displays that information in other places, so the episode title should contain just the title and nothing more.
Here are a few examples:
- Correct: Welcome to My Awesome Show
- Incorrect: Episode 1: Welcome to My Awesome Show
- Incorrect: Episode 1 of Alistair’s Great Show: Welcome to My Awesome Show
The title you enter in the Apple Podcasts Title field appears only in Apple Podcasts. You can enter a different blog title if you want the episode title it to appear differently in other places. For example, if you want your title to appear as “Episode 1: Welcome to My Awesome Show” in most podcast directories, you can make that the title of your blog. Then, you can enter “Welcome to My Awesome Show” in the Episode Title field to make sure your show appears correctly in Apple Podcasts.
Episode Author
Enter the names of this episode’s authors in this field if they are different than the author names you entered when you configured your show.
Entering new information in this field is useful if you’re hosting a guest that you want to feature. For example, if you are hosting a famous guest in this episode, enter your name as well as your famous guest’s name in the Author field. Doing so helps listeners find your episode if they are searching for your guest author.
The names you enter in this field appear as the authors for this episode only. If you leave the field blank, the information you entered when you configured your show appears as the author.
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Note Enter the names as you want them to appear when you publish. For example, if there are several authors, you can separate the names using either "and" or "&," depending on your style and preferences. |