Gadget Name: Ultra Podcast and mp3 Player v1.0
Add to iGoogle | Add to Website | Direct XMLNew Features!I have added support for additional types of play list data. It should play custom play lists using my
XML Playlist Generator, RSS Podcast play lists feeds,
FeedBurner SmartCast Podcast Feeds and
XSPF (XML Shareable Playlist Format - Spiff) and also just a single mp3 URL for those who do not want to create a play list for it which was previously required for Website functionality.
Additionally, You can syndicate your blog posts (Blogger, Movable Type, WordPress, TypePad) with
Feedburner. When enabling FeedBurners SmartCast feature, it will convert the first link into an RSS 2.0
<enclosure> element for compatibility with this gadget. This way you will not need to worry about making a custom play list as your FeedBurner Feed will now generate the code for it. If you want FeedBurner to create the podcast enclosure from a specific link, rather than the first eligible one it finds, insert
rel="enclosure" as an attribute of the anchor tag. This attribute forces FeedBurner to ignore other links and try to use this one first.
Some useful Resources:
Making a Podcast with Blogger and FeedBurnerPublish Your Podcast With FeedBurnerQuickStart Guides for Blogger, WordPress, TypePad, MySpace, PodcastingNote: If checking out a custom skin, set the current style to "none - Skins Mode" to see the unmodified version of the skin.
Gadget Description: A very handy compact mp3 and Podcast player gadget that allows you to add the URLs to your mp3s or upload you own custom play list and CSS to further customize it.
Lots of options and versatility included!
Gadget Type: HTML (Fun for all!)
Gadget Features: (LOTS!)Name: Give the gadget a name
Mp3 and Podcast URLS:Add the url to your mp3 or podcast and click add
Tip: List items is an iGoogle homepage feature only. To be able to add items for use on your website you can easily add your own custom XML playlist (no experience necessary) and load it in to the gadget when you publish it. (More on this below)
Load a Playlist:This is one of the more cool features of this gadget. You can load your own or others mp3 podcast playlist in to the gadget by creating a very basic XML file that has the name and url to the mp3. You do not need any experience in XML to make one. I will include more details and examples on creating a playlist at the bottom of this post. * New Play list types and Feeds supported! See the
New Features notice above.
Promote Playlist:You can promote your playlist in the gadget. When you load you own playlist it will include the options on the gadget to email the playlist to others and also add it to Google Bookmarks where you and everyone else can keep a list of their favorite playlists.
Messages Off:If you are new to this gadget you can leave this option on. It will display simple messages to help get your started with it. It will ask you to add some mp3's or to load a play list. It will also inform you if there was an error loading your playlist, and when it has loaded.
Once you have your gadget working the way you want, you can turn this feature off when publishing it on your site if you don't want these messages displayed.
Credits Off:It is only fair that you give some credit to the people who have developed this gadget and host it for your use for free. Also when people submit featured skins to the gadget it's this option that allows you to give some credit to those involved. If you are only using it on your iGoogle homepage, you may decide to disable the messages and credits to compact the player into a nice compact area on your page. (Like right above my Ultra Feed Reader gadget for example)
Gadget Style:I built in some basic color styles to match some of the theme colors in iGoogle. They are nothing elaborate and meant to optimize load time if your on dial up. This prevents any extra files from needing to load. Like external CSS files. These styles are applied using javascript on the fly during the generation of the gadget display code.
Load a Style Sheet:Make sure Gadget style and Submitted skins are set to none. This should help prevent conflicting styles.
Tip: Loading a style sheet does not take priority over built in gadget styles if they are not set to none. Additionally, you can use it with one of the defaults if you want to adjust or enhance the built in styles. The class names (in this gadget) should be after the style attribute so your settings should prevail. If your having problems you can use the
!important attribute to make sure it takes priority over a pre existing style.
This is a neat feature if you want to style things the way YOU want. I have tried to build as much versatility for a CSS based design in this and it should allow for some very interesting designs from our user community.
Submitted Skins:This will take priority over a custom loaded CSS. This is so you can check out the featured skins with out having to remove your custom one to prevent conflicting styles.
Designers! Have you created a custom skin for this gadget and want to share it with the world? You can email me the link to your CSS file and if it is something really amazing it just might make it in to our features skins list in the gadget it's self where all our gadget users will have access to it.
Tip: Take a look at my sample one also (Royal Blue) to see how it can also integrate with the built in styles also. It is designs like this that will ensure your skin gets added as it gives many more combinations of visual styles also. ;-)
If your skin is included in the gadget you will receive a link to your site and a display of your efforts. :-)
If lots of people end up submitting skins for this gadget and I can't include them all, I will run a rotation and post them all on my site also and start a Podcast skins gallery.
I may also build in a random skins function to display a different skin each time it loads.
All user feedback regarding this gadget is welcome.
If you have any issues with the custom CSS or creating a play list you can post your question in my
Webmaster Support Group. I also welcome the support and contributions of others.
CREATING A CUSTOM PLAYLISTNew Playlist Generator!Podcast Custom XML Playlists How To:(For Vision Jinx's Ultra Podcast and mp3 player gadget)
I tried to keep this as simple as possible even for someone who has never even worked with XML at all. All you need is Good Ol' Notepad or any plain text editor. Do Not use MS Word! (Plain text email format would be a better editor)
Creating an item to be added to the playlist requires three parts:
1. The item tag wrapper
2. Title for mp3's to display in the drop down menu
3. A link to the mp3. This must be the full url including the http:
(must be online and not on your local computer hard drive)
Sample XML would look like this (Keep all tags lowercase)
<item>
<title>My Podcast</title>
<link>http://www.mydomain.com/podcast.mp3</link>
</item>
This will display "My Podcast" in the drop down menu and play the mp3 at the url in the <link> tag.
You make one of those for each mp3 you want added to your playlist. (to be visible in the drop down menu) All podcast audio files MUST be in
.mp3 format to work. (More on making an mp3 at the bottom of this post)
These item tags need to be put into an XML format by enclosing them in a <rss> and <channel> tag as shown below (The XML starting tag does not have an end tag).
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<rss version="2.0">
<channel>
***YOUR ITEM TAGS GO HERE***</channel>
</rss>
The full sample code would look like
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<rss version="2.0">
<channel>
<item><title>My Podcast</title><link>http://www.mydomain.com/podcast.mp3</link></item></channel>
</rss>
With multiple entries
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<rss version="2.0">
<channel>
<item><title>My first mp3</title><link>http://www.mydomain.com/podcast.mp3</link></item><item><title>My second mp3</title><link>http://www.mydomain.com/podcast2.mp3</link></item><item><title>My third mp3</title><link>http://www.mydomain.com/podcast3.mp3</link></item></channel>
</rss>
Save this code as an xml file (playlist.xml) using a plain text editor like notepad or Download one my my samples by
right clicking and save as or
click here.
Upload it to a website that is accessible by Googles FeedFetcher (not blocked by a robots.txt file) You can use Google pages that comes with your Google account.
Then you can add the URL to your playlist in to the gadget and your entries will display in the gadgets drop down menu. If there is a problem fetching the playlist and you have message on, it will display an error fetching the playlist message. Please check your XML syntax as that is the most likely cause of the issue and that you can access it via http: using your browser.
Tip: To help with load times and performance Google caches your playlist so your gadget will load faster next time you load your page. When you make changes to your playlist it will update about once an hour when Google re fetches your playlist. Note: If your playlist is popular and changes frequently Googles fetcher may fetch it more often. If this is a problem for the users of this gadget let me know as I have been considering putting in a user settable cache interval in the second version depending on the feedback from my users.
Once you have created your custom playlist you also have to option to promote it with other users of
Vision Jinx's Ultra Podcaster Gadget by enabling the "Promote Playlist" option in the gadgets preferences. When using this gadget on your website it will display links in the gadget where your visitors can add the playlist to their gadget and also add it to their Google Bookmarks to better help keep track of all their favorite playlists. Note: These playlists only work with this gadget so make sure you include a way for your visitors to get this gadget also if they don't have it yet.
Tip: You can post my direct gadget url in my Google Gadget button generator box found on my homepage (link available). You can paste the URL in to that box and it will generate the code to add it to your website. They will be able to click the link to add it to their page and your link to your playlist is available in the gadget running on your site.
Tip: If you are running it on your iGoogle homepage you have the option to share your tab. When clicking this option you can email your tab setting including the Podcaster gadget and your playlist. Your recipient will receive a link to add it to their page. This a a very fast and easy way to share and promote your Podcasts.
Making an mp3 PodcastYou can make a mp3 podcast with little effort, all you need is a basic mic (some webcams have this ability) and a way to record the audio in mp3 format. A podcast is nothing more then a simple audio file usually in mp3 format. You can record one using Windows Media Player or
Download Audacity an Open Source Audio editing software if you want more advanced tasks including splicing and so on, or search the Internet for the wide variety of free mp3 recording and conversion tools. (convert to mp3 from other audio formats)
Podcasts do not have to be anything elaborate at all, what ever interests you, you can make it into a podcast. You can also think of it as an Audio Blog too.
Some ideas could be... Record grandmas recipes, family wishes for birthdays and holidays for those who missed it or just want to remember the good times. Musicians can record your chops (and interviews) and put them on your site and share your playlist with your visitors. You can even record your own poem or sweet sentiments for that special person in your life you want to let know how you feel. Have kids? They can have their own special messages to family and friends to send them your playlist and the possibilities are endless.
ADVANCED SKINS CUSTOMIZATION - Only for those with experience in CSS Designs
DOM StructureDue to the multiple issues I have been having trying to post sample code in this blog I will need to save it to a file and ask that you right click and save as to download it instead.
Download DOM Structure Code and Sample XML Playlist codeDon't forget to get the gadget here also
Add to iGoogle | Add to Website | Direct XMLI look forward to hearing your feedback,
Enjoy and Happy Podcasting!
Vision Jinx
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