The podcast.php file functions pretty much the same as rss2.php. It's not entirely up to date with the rss features, but the idea is that it will generate a podcast friendly rss feed with embeded items. The enclosed items are determined by the url that you submit, such as mp3, avi, mov and other media formats. What this means is that if you set up a site to only accept media extensions using the extension checker module designed by AshDigg, you are able to create a podcast feed based on your front page/published stories. The file needs updating to give it the same functionality as the rss feed so that you will be able to grab podcasts from unpublished, user submitted, user voted and other rss story methods. The code was slapped together really fast as a hack job and needs updating.
To put it simply:
- Install and enable the extension checker module. This can be downloaded from the SVN. Tutorial Here, TortoiseSVN Download. Modify the module to check for media extensions such as mp3, aac, avi, mov, mp4 and so on.
- Disable the "validate url" by changing the value to "false" in /admin_config.php?page=Submit
- Submit a new article pointing to a media file url.
- Publish the article to the front page. Make sure that all front page items are acceptable media extensions. html, php, cgi links will break the podcast file.
- Open the podcast file /podcast.php. You can now subscribe to the podcast using software such as iTunes.