Podcasting support

today announced new standards-based support for Podcasting, allowing users to publish podcasts for distribution from a Weblog or over a Really Simple Syndication (RSS) feed. Podcasting is a new audio file distribution technique for recording select audio broadcasts for later playback and using XML to publish descriptive data and metadata associated with the audio file. The XML files used in podcasting from Web Crossing sites are compatible with RSS 2.0 and can include dates, titles, descriptions and links to the audio files themselves.

Web Crossing's RSS feeds now use Unicode Transformation Format (UTF) encoding to prevent any non-ASCII characters in a file from creating XML parsing errors of the feed. The new Podcast capabilities are incorporated in the latest Web Crossing Weblog and RSS plug-ins. The Weblog and RSS plugins require no knowledge of XML, allowing administrators to add Podcasting support in minutes with a simple point-and-click.



The Web Crossing RSS plug-in gives a site's visitors current access to podcasts, using any modern RSS Reader. In addition, the Web Crossing Weblog plug-in makes podcasting audio files as easy as attaching an MP3 file to any Weblog entry. In Weblogs, RSS subscription designations automatically apply to categories assigned by the blogger and chosen by the reader. Alternatively, the new RSS support provides podcasting in addition to the RSS plug-in's traditional
integration with weblog categories, weblog comments, topic folders, and
individual discussions.



Free for a limited time, the new Podcast-enabled Weblog and RSS plug-ins are available today and compatible with all Web Crossing 5 installations.

by MacNN Staff