Podcasting is easy to get involved in for anyone who



wants to create a podcast. The first thing necessary is

access to a web server. The user needs to be able to

upload files to the server itself, so podcasting can't be

done from a simple blogging or journal site. It's

probably best to register a domain and find a host for

the site. Once the site has been set up and the user has

access to the host server, a small program called

dircaster.php should be customized for your site, and

can be used to automatically generate the RSS feed that

the subscribers will download. The mp3 files should be

uploaded to the proper directory after all the

information about the file has been attached. After they

are in the directory, the address of dircaster.php, as long

as it is in the same directory as the mp3 files, will

generate an RSS file that will tell your subscribers

where to download the latest podcasts from. To update

and and a new episode, create and upload the new mp3

file to the same directory. When dircaster.php is

accessed, it will recognize the new file and relay the

information on to your visitors.

The next step for people who want to know how to

make a podcast is installing the software necessary to

maintain the podcast. A small piece of coding called

dircaster.php can be used to set up a basic level of

podcast. Dircaster.php can be found easily by searching

for it in any search engine. Once it is located, it should

be edited to reflect the particulars of the domain and

uploaded to the site. Dircaster.php will generate an RSS

file, or feed, that tells the subscriber about the new files

available for downloading. To begin podcasting, create

the audio files that should be podcast, fill in the

information about the file such as date, author, etc, and

upload them to the same directory that contains

dircaster.php. You now have a podcast, and all that is

needed is to publicise the address of the file

dircaster.php. To update the podcast with new

information, just upload the new files. Other things to

make the podcast better might be a site that contains

information about the podcast, but it isn't necessary.

With these steps, it is easy for anyone to create a

podcast with a small expenditure of time and effort. The

site is easy to set up; domains and hosting are now

cheap enough almost anyone to have a small site, and

the programs necessary are all easy to find and use.