What to look for in WordPress podcast plugins?

Fortunately, since WordPress is so popular (and runs on nearly 40% of all the websites on the internet!), there are many WordPress podcast plugins that are well known and well tested so you’re in good hands. There are plugins for almost any aspect of podcasting – Many podcast hosts offer their own WordPress plugins that connect their podcast hosting platform. This can help publishing your episodes directly from the podcast hosting provide into the website.

There are plugins that allows you to create and host your own podcast RSS feed directly on your WordPress servers, so you can submit it yourself to Apple Podcasts or any other podcast publishing platform. Other plugins may offer sleek podcast audio players, with podcast-specific features such as control of the playing speed, quick rewind or forward, and more. Furthermore, there are plugins that can help you import your existing podcast to WordPress by pulling the RSS feed, or display beautiful podcast subscribe buttons in WordPress.

In addition to WordPress podcast plugins, it’s always important to have a matching WordPress Podcast Theme. Our themes are fully compatible with all WordPress podcast plugins. Most importantly, the themes offer advanced podcasting functionality that could help you not only display your podcast on your website, but display it beautifully and with full control on the technical, visual and aesthetics areas.

The Top 11 WordPress Podcast Plugins for 2022

1. Podcast Importer (Free)

The Podcast Importer plugin, developed by SecondLineThemes is the best tool to import your podcast into WordPress. This plugin will take any podcast RSS feed and import it directly into your WordPress website. The plugin is especially helpful when you want to automate the process of cross-posting the episodes from your feed to your WordPress site – you can set it to check for updates automatically and import your future episodes.

There are separate settings you can choose from, like importing the episodes into a certain category, import an embed audio player, featured images, and more. The plugin can import more than one podcast, so you can easily aggregate your different podcasts on the same website!

The Pro Version of the plugin includes unlimited scheduled imports, import categories and tags into custom taxonomies, setting the intervals for scheduled imports, applying a global image to all imported episodes, and much more.

You can use the plugin to import several separate podcast shows/series into WordPress and this feature works great with our Podcast Network themes (like Tusant and Bolden)

To learn more about the Podcast Importer plugin, we’ve gathered a few key features –

• Create separate imports for different podcast shows.
• Continuously import your podcast episodes from an external RSS feed – no need to manually create the episode post in WordPress.
• Many additional import options like setting up different categories, append the episode number to the title, import images and more!

2. Castos / Seriously Simple Podcasting (Free)

Seriously Simple Podcasting – a well designed, feature rich WordPress plugin from Castos. Just like the name point out, Seriously Simple Podcasting (SSP) is simple to configure and easy to use on any website.

SSP works with Castos’ premium podcast hosting plans, but it’s free if you upload the MP3 files to your server. If your podcast is already hosted with a different provider, you can still use the SSP plugin, but it’s not as important if you do want to host the podcast on your WordPress server or if you are already hosting with Castos.

SSP offers a nice HTML5 player you can display on any post. Seriously Simple Podcasting also handles RSS feeds and publishing for you. You can link the feed create by Seriously Simple Podcasting directly to Apple Podcasts, Spotify or any other podcast aggregator and publish your new episodes directly from WordPress.

Castos works best with themes that support podcasting and the plugin itself right out of the box. You can use our Podcast Themes for an optimal experience.

3. Blubrry PowerPress (Free)

PowerPress, just like Seriously Simple Podcasting, is a “do it all” plugin that handles everything you need for your Podcast within WordPress. You can connect to the premium Blubrry podcast hosting plans. In other words, you can upload your own MP3 files to WordPress for free, and you can also or connect your premium Blubrry account so your WordPress server isn’t inflated with audio files and traffic.

You can use PowerPress to create your podcast RSS feed and submit it to plaftorms such as Apple Podcasts.

Like SSP, PowerPress works best with themes are built for podcasting and support the PowerPress plugin. Check out our own Podcast Themes for to enjoy PowerPress even more.

4. Simple Podcast Press (Paid)

Simple Podcast Press, a premium WordPress podcast plugin brought to you by Hani Mourra is one of the best WordPress podcast plugins out there.

Not only it offers a really powerful import tool that would automatically create posts from existing podcast feeds, Simple Podcast Press is also built to improve conversions of your podcast. That means downloads, subscribers, and engagement rate are a heavy focus of this plugin.

Simple Podcast Press offers a complete audio player full of features, which is also working beautifully within our WordPress podcast themes. Additionally, SPP can integrate with both the Smart Podcast Player plugin and with Blubrry’s PowerPress plugin and display SPP’s player while still using either one of the other plugins. The plugin imports all your episodes and uses the SPP player to display your episodes.

5. BuzzSprout (Free)

Buzzsprout Podcasting is a free WordPress podcast plugin offered by a premium Podcast Hosting service. (therefore fees may apply if you are signing up as a customer on their website.)

The plugin offers a custom audio player, integration with iTunes and other aggregators, statistics etc.

You’ll have to use shortcodes for each episode, but the plugin can display Buzzsprout podcasts on your website.

6. Fusebox (Free/Paid)

Fusebox (previously known as Smart Podcast Player) enables you to use a custom designed HTML5 audio player that is dedicated for podcasting.

You can create a playlist or display shownotes within the audio player. The plugin is also responsive and looks great on any device. You can easily customize the colors and layouts, and much more.

Fusebox isn’t available on the WordPress plugin repository, you have to have an account on their platform and only then download the plugin and connect to your site. You can read more about their monthly fees and documentation on their website.

7. Auto YouTube Importer (Free)

The Auto YouTube Importer plugin helps video creators and/or podcasters to import entire YouTube channels to WordPress. This plugin is a great tool for automating the import process (including past and all future videos, as they are released) so you don’t have to worry about any manual work.

The plugin also includes a Pro version that can help you import categories, set a featured image for all posts, import tags, and much more.

8. Podlove Podcast Publisher (Free)

Podlove Podcast Publisher helps creating podcast feeds and display episodes in a audio player. The plugin supports the Podlove Web Player and you can easily create audio or video podcast episodes with it.

9. Libsyn Podcast Plugin (Free)

Libsyn is among the most poplar Podcast Hosting services. They offer multiple plans for Podcasters who wish to host their MP3/audio files with them.

While this plugin is free, you may need to have a paid subscription for Libsyn’s service in order to properly enjoy all of the features. This plugin connects your WordPress website with your account on Libsyn and allows you to display episodes published on your Libsyn account into your WordPress website. It also allows you to upload new episodes directly via WordPress, so the link can go both ways.

Libsyn also have an Embedded audio player. You can display it on your WordPress website, without any plugin or additional configuration.

10. Podcast Subscribe Buttons (Free)

The Podcast Subscribe Buttons plugin, developed by SecondLineThemes, is a completely free plugin that allows you to easily create different subscribe buttons for your podcast and display them with a shortcode on any page or post in your WordPress podcast website. To clarify, we initially developed the Podcast Subscribe Buttons plugin as a core part of our WordPress podcast themes.

Additionally, the Podcast Subscribe Buttons plugin offers 3 different layouts –

1. You can display a pop-up modal with buttons in it.
2. Display a vertical list that can fit your sidebar or content area.
3. Add a simple row of inline subscribe buttons for your favorite platforms.

11. Presto Player (Paid)

The Presto Player is an all around video player plugin for your WordPress website. It has some powerful features that can help you feature your video content in different ways and offer a better experience for your visitors.

Here’s a quick recap of their top features –

• Multiple Video Sources
• Sticky Video Player
• Video Chapter Support
• Analytics & Reports
• Email Optin Gate

Conclusion

In conclusion, with so many options, the best WordPress podcast plugin for each user depends on the user’s needs. You can connect some of the above plugins with specific Podcast Hosting services. (Libsyn, PowerPress, Castos, BuzzSprout)
This means that if you already use of one of those platforms, it would make sense to their respective plugin. If you want to import an existing podcast into your site, Simple Podcast Press would be our top recommendation.

Lastly, but nonetheless a very important note to keep in mind is – all of our WordPress podcast themes are fully compatible with all the plugins above. Whether you just want to display a list of your existing that are hosted elsewhere, import an existing podcast into a new website, or host your own podcast on a WordPress website, our themes work simply great with all of the above solutions!

The post The 11 Best WordPress Podcast Plugins in 2022 appeared first on SecondLineThemes.

In this article, we’ll guide you through the process for importing videos from YouTube to WordPress in bulk, and automatically import new videos as they are released.

Why should I even import my YouTube videos to WordPress?

You may ask yourself – why to bother? The videos are already there on YouTube, and you can share the link with anyone so they can access your videos. That’s a legitimate question, but there are many reasons why you would want to import the videos to your own WordPress website, rather than just linking to YouTube pages.

Here are the key reasons:

• When you direct people to visit your site, and your custom domain – you’re strengthening your brand name and domain name. People would see your URL and your logo/branding rather than YouTube’s.
• Control the surrounding – When you send people to YouTube, they can easily lose concentration and click on other sections, videos, or keep on going after watching your video without checking your channel or your about page. On a website, they’re more likely to go over a couple of other pages.
• Control the content – While you definitely can and should add descriptions to your YouTube videos, it’s not possible to add more types of content to them. For example, if you want to add images, other videos, or structure the content a little differently, it’s going to be impossible on YouTube. On your website, you’re in complete control of how and where your content appears.

How to import YouTube videos to WordPress

Importing your entire YouTube channel to WordPress is a breeze with the YouTube Importer Pro plugin. In this section, we’ll guide you through the process of setting up the import options, ensure it keeps on importing future videos, and getting connected to the YouTube API.

Step 1: Download the YouTube Importer plugin

If you haven’t already, you’ll need to install and activate the Auto YouTube Importer plugin. (and potentially upgrade to the Pro version if you need more, but we’ll get to that later).

To install the plugin, either download it from the above link, and install it manually on WordPress, or just search for it on your WordPress website:

Step 2: Connect the plugin with the YouTube Developer API

This may sound a bit intimidating, but no worries, it’s an easy step and you don’t have to be a developer or an IT person to get through this!

In order to automatically import YouTube content in bulk, you’ll need to get a unique API key. YouTube is requiring that in order to avoid abuse and to ensure only approved applications and integrations can pull data from YouTube.

We wrote down an extensive, step-by-step guide on how to get your YouTube API key here. Read through that post to learn how to register your app and get your YouTube API connected.

Once you get your API key, you’ll be able to add it in the plugin (via “Tools -> YouTube Importer”) and hit the “Save” button:

If your API key is valid, you’ll see the success message and you’ll be able to go through all the plugin’s settings. Unfortunately, the plugin cannot function without a valid API key, so if you don’t add the correct key (or if your key is inactive or not valid), you’ll see an error message and won’t be able to import videos to your site.

Step 3: Create a new import from YouTube

Once you added your API key, you’ll be able to move to the main plugin tab called “YouTube Import”.

In this tab, you’ll find all the importer settings to make sure your videos get into the perfect spot on your WordPress website. We’ll now guide you through all the settings before importing the plugin: (Note – most settings are optional!)

1. YouTube Channel ID – This is the only required input in the form – you obviously cannot import anything from YouTube without specifying what you want to import, so this setting needs to contain your YouTube Channel ID. To find your Channel ID, you can browse through your channel’s main page on YouTube, and copy the ID from the URL.
   Another option is to find it online, like on this page.
2. [Pro setting] Post Type – If you’re using the Pro version of the plugin, you’ll be able to use any Custom Post Type for your imported videos. Otherwise, you’ll be restricted to the default post type (called “Posts”).
3. Post Status – By default, all imported videos will be published immediately. If you want to import them as drafts, and manually go over them and only publish when you’re ready, choose the “Draft” option here.
4. Post Author – You can change the published post author, otherwise the plugin will assign the site admin.
5. Post Category – You can assign one or multiple categories to your imported videos. By default, the plugin will use the “category” taxonomy, but if you use the Pro version, you’ll be able to use any custom taxonomy here as well.
6. Ongoing Import – This is one of the most powerful options of this plugin. When ticked, the plugin will continuously scan your YouTube channel and whenever you release a new video, it’ll be imported, automatically. (there could be a delay of up to two hours)In the free version, you’re limited to only import one channel continuously, while in the Pro version you can import as many channels as you want with the continuous import.
7. Import Featured Images – If you want the YouTube thumbnails to be imported as featured images, tick this box. Note – the images are imported with some delay, so it might take a bit of time until all are imported.
8. Date Limit – If you only want videos from a certain point in time, set the date limit here and only videos from that date and beyond will be imported.
9. Truncate Post Content – To skip importing the text/description content from YouTube, use 0 here and it’ll only import the videos and titles. You can also use any number to limit the imported description to a certain number of characters.
10. Append Text to Post Title – In case you want to prefix your titles with some text, add it here. For example, you can add the text “My Video Channel – ” and all your imported posts would get this text in the title, for example “My Video Channel – Video 1”, “My Video Channel – Video 2” etc.
11. [Pro setting] Re-sync data – Basically once you import posts from YouTube, they won’t be imported again (to avoid duplicates). If you change your video, the description, or anything else – check this box to force a re-sync and override any previously imported content. (this will override any manual changes you’ve made to the imported content)
12. [Pro setting] Set a Global Featured Image – You can choose one main image to be added to all episodes if you have the same thumbnail for all videos.
13. [Pro setting] Import video player to custom field – If you need the embed/iframe video to be imported to a custom field (instead of importing it to the content area), use this field and insert your custom field name here. Any custom field is supported, but just make sure you implement it as part of your theme.

Step 4: Managing saved imports

After you’ve imported several channels and saved them with the “Ongoing Import” option, you’ll be able to access the “Scheduled Imports” tab to manage those.

In here, you’ll be able to:

1. Manually re-sync the channels – if a video is missing, hit the “Sync” button and it’ll automatically re-run a sync of your channel.
2. Edit your import parameters – if you need to change a setting after the import has been scheduled, edit it here. (for example, add an extra category or add featured images to the imports)
3. Delete a scheduled import – when you want to stop importing videos from a certain channel, simply delete the import.

Conclusion: Importing your YouTube Videos to WordPress

In the past, importing your YouTube videos could have been a real pain. You had to use plugins that are not specifically designed to import YouTube videos, manually create entries one-by-one, or run an import process manually rather than let it run continuously like with our plugin.

Luckily, the YouTube Importer Pro plugin solves all of these issues, and you can relax and lean back while your videos are being imported automatically. The plugin takes care of all your future videos, so there’s nothing to worry about whenever you publish a new video on YouTube.

The post How to import YouTube videos to WordPress appeared first on SecondLineThemes.

With the YouTube API, you’ll be able to create new apps yourself (or use existing apps and integrations, without coding) and pull data from YouTube, embed content, or even publish videos.

What’s the YouTube API?

An API is a standard way for developers to interact with 3rd party programs. For example, if you’re an independent developer, who wants to integrate with 3rd party platforms like YouTube, Facebook or Twitter – you can sign up to their APIs and create apps that embed functionality or content from those platforms on your own app/site.

With the YouTube API, you can extract videos (based on users, channels, playlists, categories, search terms and more) and display those videos on your site or use them in any other way.

YouTube (and its parent company, Google) doesn’t allow that anyone just accesses their data at any time. This can lead to abuse or heavy scarping that is not allowed, so YouTube requires you to register on their Developer platform, generate an API key and only then connect your app or website.

How to use the YouTube API? A Step-by-step guide –

In this section, we’ll guide you through the process of generating an API key for your app or website.

1. First off, log in to the Google Developers Console (or sign up if you don’t have a Google account)
2. Find the Google Cloud Console and create a new Project:
   
3. Once you create your project, find the YouTube V3 Data API in the search or click this link. (You can also find it via the sidebar at APIs & Services > Library).
   
4. Click on the “Enable” button, then on “Create Credentials”:
   
5. In the list of APIs, select the YouTube Data API (v3) and set the checkbox for personal or public data. (if you’re not sure what to use, click on the “Public Data” option) –
   
6. Once you click “NEXT”, you’ll find your actual API Key. It’s important that you copy this key, and never share it with anyone – only use it with your apps or wherever the key is needed, but it needs to remain in a safe place:
   
7. Once you save the API key, you’ll be redirected to the main page where all your keys are listed:
   
8. That’s all! Your key is ready to use, and you can restrict that key, if you want, to only one app or website origin.

What else? Key things you need to know

Multiple API Keys

Remember that the API keys are planned to be used on just one project each time. If you need to create a different project also using the YouTube API key, you can generate another key.

You can create a completely separate project on the Google Cloud platform if you want to separate your keys properly.

Is the YouTube API completely free?

The YouTube API is free as long as you don’t exceed your daily API request quota. If you have a massive project that needs many requests to the API every day, you’ll need to request for a Quota Extension here:
https://support.google.com/youtube/contact/yt_api_form

Using the YouTube API on Your WordPress Website

If you need a solution that would automatically import your videos from YouTube as posts, and include the title, content, and of course – embed the videos on your site – you’ve reached the right place.

We created a special plugin just for that – the YouTube Importer Pro. Not only does this plugin helps you to create posts from your YouTube channels, it also checks for new videos continuously and updates your website whenever you release a new website!

You don’t need to manually create entries for each video, and this plugin will take care of all your future videos as well. You can import the YouTube content into any custom post type, custom taxonomy, and enjoy a full range of advanced settings.

The YouTube Importer Pro plugin can also handle import of several channels at once. If you have a handful of YouTube channels, you can add them all and they would remain synced with your site forever!

Conclusion – Using the YouTube API

The YouTube Data API is very powerful and easy to use even if you’re not a developer. It’s essential that you create your own key in order to use popular apps and integrations around YouTube.

If you have a WordPress website, and want to import all your videos automatically (and keep importing future episodes too), you’ll want to check the YouTube Importer Pro plugin made by SecondLineThemes.

The post How to use the YouTube API and find your API Key appeared first on SecondLineThemes.

In this article, we’ll learn more about Buzzsprout’s features. We’ll also give you a guide that covers three different ways to integrate Buzzsprout into your WordPress website. Let’s dive right in!

Understanding the Benefits of Using a Podcast Host

Choosing a podcast host often requires a bit of research. You’ll want to keep your specific situation in mind as you review your options. For example, if you are on a budget, you might be looking for the best value you can get.

If you’re just getting started with podcasting, you might be debating whether you actually need a dedicated host or not. Technically, the answer is “No.” However, this doesn’t mean you should eschew separate hosting altogether from the start. In fact, we recommend separate hosting to your website.

You can always use your WordPress server to host your podcast, that’s not really recommended as it has several downsides.

This is because uploading large media files to your web server can bog down how fast your page responds. Since it’s been determined that slow page load times have a negative impact on your web traffic, it’s best to keep your site optimized for speed.

Additionally, when you choose a podcast-specific host – such as Buzzsprout, which we’ll discuss next – you’ll also have access to features designed specifically for podcasters. These typically include the ability to easily publish new episodes to platforms like Apple Podcasts, for example.

Everything You Need to Know About Hosting a Podcast With Buzzsprout

Let’s now take a look at Buzzsprout’s features. This is one of the few podcast hosts that offers a free plan option – you’ll get two hours per month for podcast uploads, and your content will be stored for 90 days:

For many new podcasters, this is plenty to experiment with. Essentially, you can get a weekly, half-hour show up and running for free with Buzzsprout. However, it’s worth mentioning that the free plan does place ads on your podcast page.

If you want to scale up later, you can choose from any of Buzzsprout’s premium plans, ranging from $12–14 per month. Each paid plan includes:

• Advanced podcast statistics
• A simple web page
• Access to podcast directories
• Custom players for embedding
• A monthly bandwidth allowance of 250 GB

Another unique feature you get with Buzzsprout is that you’ll never have to sign an annual agreement. All of their plans operate on a month-to-month basis.

How to Embed a Buzzsprout Podcast Within WordPress (In 3 Different Ways)

Another positive about Buzzsprout is that you have options when it comes to integrating your podcast and website. We mentioned earlier that it was best to host your podcast separately, but it’s also beneficial to build a website for your show.

When you have both up and running, you’ll want to look at the following integration methods.

1. Embed Your Podcast With Code From Buzzsprout

We recommend using WordPress for building your podcast website. Not only is it the most widely used Content Management System (CMS) on the market, but it also has a lot to offer podcasters. Before we get to some of those features, let’s look at how you can embed a Buzzsprout episode on your site.

Signing up with Buzzsprout takes just a few seconds. Once you’ve uploaded and published your episode, you can retrieve an embed code by clicking on the specific episode, then Embed this ONE Episode: 

Next, you’ll receive a popup window containing the information you need, including a snippet of code to copy:

Next, open up the page or post you want to add your episode to in WordPress. You can then choose the HTML Block and paste in your embed code:

In edit mode, you’ll only see the code. In order to preview your embedded podcast, you will need to click Preview at the top of the screen. You should see your podcast displayed in a stylish player on your post:

This is just one way to embed your Buzzsprout podcast into a WordPress website. Let’s take a look at another way to achieve this functionality.

2. Integrate Your Podcast With the Buzzsprout Plugin for WordPress

If pasting embed code is not part of your ideal workflow, you can also install and activate the Buzzsprout Podcasting plugin for WordPress:

This is a free plugin that brings a a number of additional settings to your WordPress dashboard. First, fill in your Buzzsprout feed address:

Now you’ll be able to add any of your Buzzsprout podcast episodes to your posts and pages through your Media Library. In the WordPress Block Editor, you need to add the Classic Block. This will drop the classic text editor into your post. Then, you’ll need to select the Add Media icon:

This will bring up your options for adding media. By installing the Buzzsprout plugin and filling in your podcast’s feed URL, you’ll now be able to choose your podcast from a list and easily add it to your post. When you click on Buzzsprout Podcasting in the list of options, all your published episodes will be displayed. Choose the episode you want to embed and click on it, which will place a shortcode in your content. Finally, preview your post, then save and publish your changes.

3. Use Our Podcast Importer Plugin For Advanced Features

If you’re looking for a more automated way to post your podcast episodes on your website, we’ve created a plugin to get the job done. The result is Podcast Importer:

After installing the plugin, you’ll need to navigate to Tools > Podcast Importer SecondLine in your WordPress dashboard:

Then, paste in your podcast feed URL as you did with the Buzzsprout plugin. However, with the Podcast Importer plugin, you will also have some advanced options:

For example, you can choose an Ongoing Import. This means all your new episodes will automatically be imported into your website as new posts. You can also configure whether you want these posts to automatically publish or be saved as drafts.

Our Podcast Importer plugin also enables you to select a specific post type and author for your imports. This is a great feature that works seamlessly with all of our WordPress podcast themes. At this point, all of your new podcast episodes will post to your website automatically.

Conclusion

Now you know more about Buzzsprout’s economical and user-friendly podcast hosting options, you should be ready to get your podcast published. Having the right tools in place can help you produce the best show possible.

To fully integrate Buzzsprout into your website, don’t forget the three options you have for embedding your show, including:

1. Pasting the Buzzsprout embed code into an HTML Block in your WordPress post.
2. Leveraging the ease of using the Buzzsprout plugin for WordPress to add episodes to your posts and pages.
3. Getting advanced features for your podcast website by using our Podcast Importer plugin.

With some of the technical configurations out of the way, you can focus more on the user experience and overall design of your podcast website. Using one of our podcast-friendly themes for WordPress is one way to make sure your podcast website is optimized for your listeners!

The post 3 Ways to Integrate Your Buzzsprout Podcast With WordPress appeared first on SecondLineThemes.

Nothing says “I’m serious about my podcast” like publishing episodes regularly and building an entire website for it. Fortunately, WordPress is the perfect platform to help you do that. There are great tools for WordPress that could make your life easier if you’re looking to display your podcast on it. For example, you’ll want to be able to upload new podcasts to your website, and then categorize and publish them. A great way to implement that functionality is by using a plugin like Seriously Simple Podcasting (which also works perfectly with all of our WordPress podcast themes).

In this article, we’ll talk about why it makes sense to use a WordPress podcasting plugin. We’ll also teach you how to set up Seriously Simple Podcasting in just three steps. Let’s get to work!

Why You May Need a Podcasting Plugin for Your WordPress Site

As you may know, it might get a little complex to create a podcast website with WordPress right out of the box. You can upload audio files to your website easily enough, but this doesn’t necessarily mean that your theme would play nice with it, or that you can link an existing podcast with ease.

That can become an issue as your episode library grows. Fortunately, there are plenty of plugins that add all the functionality you need to run a podcasting website with WordPress. For this article, we want to focus on Seriously Simple Podcasting (SSP), and see if it lives up to its name:

Before we start tinkering with the plugin, let’s talk about its features. SSP enables you to use the Castos platform to host your podcast episodes. However, the plugin can also connect with other podcasting services, and you can even self-host your library if you prefer.

With SSP, you can also choose from two styles of players to use on your website. Both look stylish, and you shouldn’t have problems integrating them with any modern design:

Finally, this plugin enables you to categorize your episodes into series. That means you can host multiple podcasts on a single website without confusing your listeners. If you’re using the Castos hosting plans, you’ll also get access to advanced statistics within the dashboard for each podcast, which can help you track their success.

The SSP plugin itself is free to use, and you can increase its functionality with multiple free add-ons. However, if you want to host your podcasts using the Castos platform, it does require a subscription on Castos.

How to Use Castos and SSP on Your WordPress Site (In 3 Steps)

Getting started with the SSP plugin is remarkably simple, just like the plugin’s name might suggest. All you have to do is configure it, and you can start publishing new episodes right away. Let’s walk through how this process works.

Step 1: Set Up and Configure SSP

Naturally, the first thing you’ll need to do is install the SSP plugin. Once you activate it, a new Podcast tab will show up in your dashboard. If you click on it, you’ll see a list of all your existing episodes (which should be empty right now):

Before you start adding episodes, however, you’ll want to configure the plugin. Go to the Podcast > Settings section, and you’ll find several tabs full of options.

If you scroll down, you’ll be able to pick from two default player styles. You can also tweak its primary colors, so that it matches your theme’s design:

Once you’re done with that, it’s time to decide how you’re going to host your podcast.

Step 2: Configure Your Podcast Hosting Settings

Now, let’s move over to the Podcast > Settings > Hosting tab. Inside, you’ll find the option to connect your website with the Castos platform:

Keep in mind that you don’t need to use Castos to host your episodes. However, if you expect a lot of traffic, having a dedicated host for your podcast can lessen the impact on your servers. That can improve your site’s overall performance. Depending on your web host and plan, however, your website might be able to handle the traffic just fine.

In either case, if you want to use Castos, you’ll need to sign up for a subscription. Then you can connect it to WordPress using your email and your provided API token.

Step 3: Create a New Series and Add Your First Episode

Once you decide how you want to handle hosting, it’s time to publish your first episode. To do that, return to the Podcast tab and hit the Add New button at the top of the page.

On the next screen, you’ll see the familiar WordPress editor. Below it, you’ll find several new options where you can add the details for your episode. First, you can pick between the audio and video formats, and upload the corresponding file:

If you’re using Castos (or another podcast host), all you have to do is paste in the URL for the episode you want to publish. Below that, you can enter the duration of the file, its size, and when it was recorded:

All of this information will appear within the player, so listeners know when an episode originally aired and how long it lasts. Finally, SSP enables you to mark episodes as explicit, and block them from appearing on other platforms:

Then, look to the right for the Series tab. It should be empty, but you can click on Add New Series to create one:

Naturally, each episode should have its own name, but we also recommend that you add it to a series for organization’s sake. When you’re done, hit the Publish button and your podcast will be live!

Using SSP with Our WordPress Podcast Themes

Once you have the key functionality you need to podcast with WordPress, you’ll also want to find the right theme. Our library includes five unique themes that are all about podcasting.

Tusant, for example, features a bold and modern design that’s a great fit for all types of podcasts:

With any theme you pick, your priority should be making sure it works well alongside your podcasting plugin. Fortunately, each of our themes works perfectly with the SSP plugin and Castos. That means all you have to do is pick whichever one fits your style best, and get to work publishing new episodes.

Other Important Suggestions

• The Seriously Simple Podcasting plugin uses a custom post type called “Podcast” so it completely separates your podcasts from your regular WordPress posts. If you already have older posts that needs to be migrated, you can easily do that with the Post Type Switcher plugin. It’s also possible with SSP to use the Posts as the default post type, so you can easily modify that in the SSP settings.
• Even if you host your podcast elsewhere with hosts like Libsyn, Anchor, Podbean, SoundCloud and so on, it’s still super easy to import your existing episodes into the Seriously Simple Podcasting plugin. Just run the import once within the SSP settings screen and you should soon have all your episodes on your WordPress website. Castos also makes it easy to import an entire podcast to their hosting platform, if you wish to make some changes in that area.
• When creating any post list or grid with our WordPres themes, it’s easy to select any post type, so if you’re using the “Podcast” post type, simply go into the “Query Settings” within the Elementor page builder (it would appear whenever you add one of our custom Elements) as seen in the screenshot below –

Conclusion

Running a website for your podcast opens up a lot of possibilities. You can use it to publish new episodes, set up a companion blog, engage with your audience, and more. WordPress, combined with the right plugins and theme, provides you with those options and more.

Seriously Simple Podcasting is a great plugin, and it helps running thousands of podcasts. If you’re interested both in WordPress and podcasting, there also lot’s of podcasts about WordPress, so be sure to check here a list of the best WordPress Podcasts.

The easiest way to set up a podcast with WordPress is by using the Seriously Simple Podcasting plugin (which works seamlessly alongside all of our themes). All it takes is three steps:

1. Set up and configure SSP.
2. Configure your podcast hosting settings.
3. Create a new podcast series and add the first episode.

That’s all you have to do to get your podcast up and running!

The post How to Use Castos and Seriously Simple Podcasting on Your WordPress Site appeared first on SecondLineThemes.

What is WPML?

WPML is a WordPress plugin that helps creating multilingual websites. It is one of the most known (and used) translation plugins out there, and built to simplify the creation of website in more than one main language. When you create a Podcast website, if you want to include an additional version of the site in another language, this is exactly what you need! With WPML you’ll be able to translate all posts, pages and any other areas of your website. Additionally, if you have a podcast in more than one language, you could upload it to any of our WordPress podcast themes and by using WPML, you’ll be able to display different audio episodes per language.

WPML has a bunch of addons you can use to manage your site’s translation even better.

What you should expect from the WPML+SecondLineThemes integration

We are glad to announce a full compatibility between our themes and WPML. If you wish to use WPML with any of our Podcast WordPress Themes, you should be all set without any additional action. In the unfortunate case you do notice any bug or issues, please contact us directly and we’d be happy to help out resolving the issue, whether it is on our side, or whether we need to contact the WPML team.

The post WPML Now Fully Compatible with Our WordPress Themes appeared first on SecondLineThemes.

As the plugin became more and more popular, many of our podcast theme users asked to add this integration. We’re finally proud to ship the latest version for all of our WordPress podcast themes with the integration.

Why We Integrated Our WordPress Podcast Themes With WPForms

WPForms is an easy-to-use WordPress contact form plugin. It is user friendly and very intuitive for beginners and experienced WordPress users at the same time. WPForms includes a drag & drop form builder, which would allow you to create advanced forms with ease without working with code or formatting.

The plugin includes many pre-built form templates, so you can save valuable time while creating a variety of forms and quickly add them into your podcasting site. WPForms supports multiple 3rd party integrations, such as marketing, subscription or automation tools (e.g. MailChimp, Drip, Zapier, and the likes) and also with various payment tools such as PayPal, Stripe and so on.

There are lots of addons you can install in order to extend WPForms. These addons allow advanced functionality and integrations, and this can always be helpful any podcaster looking to monetize a podcast, create a subscription funnel for the podcast, create polls and surveys, or simply have a more advanced contact form for the podcast’s website.

WPForms Lite is a free plugin available on the official WordPress plugin repository. You can easily create forms with the free plugin, but you would need a paid plan for the more advanced features. Both the WPForms Lite and Pro versions are fully compatible with all WordPress Podcast Themes created by SecondLineThemes.

For a quick overview about the plugin, please watch the video below:

The post WPForms Now Compatible With Our Podcast Themes appeared first on SecondLineThemes.

Many times, when installing a new plugin or theme, you may encounter the Parse error: syntax error, unexpected T_FUNCTION error. This error is basically indicating you that there’s something wrong in one of your functions.

Most of the times, you should also get the exact located of where the error actually appears – Parse error: syntax error, unexpected T_FUNCTION in /public_html/wp-content/themes/custom-theme-name/functions.php on line 123.

Fixing the “Parse error: syntax error, unexpected T_FUNCTION” Error

There are multiple ways in which you could fix the “Parse error: syntax error, unexpected T_FUNCTION” error. We’ll explore the different methods here, but first, let’s discuss the actual origin of these errors. Basically, the T_FUNCTION error appears whenever there’s some syntax errors within your plugin or theme files. It can either be a non-valid part of your code, or alternatively the plugin or theme is trying to use features of a more advanced PHP version than the one actually installed on your server.

Method 1: Upgrading Your PHP Version (Recommended)

This method would be the best way to solve the “Parse error: syntax error, unexpected T_FUNCTION” error. Specifically if it really originates from a use of new PHP features while you are running an outdated version. Running an updated PHP version could both solve these errors and upgrade your performance, so it’s a double win for you!

Most hosts would allow you to manually change the PHP version via the cPanel:

1. Log in to your hosting provider cPanel
2. Look for the PHP Configuration button
3. Manually select the a newer PHP version. We recommend PHP7 if available, but otherwise try to make sure it’s 5.4+

If you don’t have access to the cPanel, or prefer that the hosting provider deals with it, you can try contacting them by email with the following message:

Hello,

I’m an admin of a WordPress site hosted on one of your servers. Unfortunately, I get many errors due to my outdated PHP version. I’ll deeply appreciate if you could help me upgrade my PHP version to PHP7 if you support it. Otherwise, 5.4+ would be also acceptable.

Can you please let me know if it would be possible to upgrade my PHP version?

Your help is much appreciated.

Method 2: Deleting the function located in the error message

As mentioned above, you can usually see the exact path of the error – Parse error: syntax error, unexpected T_FUNCTION in /public_html/wp-content/themes/custom-theme-name/functions.php on line 123..
Now, you can browse to the full path by using an FTP Client, and edit the file mentioned in the error (in our example, it is the functions.php file, on line 123). Then, check the function or the few lines of code that are located there, and comment them out. This should work well for non-important functions. Unfortunately in case we deal with core features of your theme/plugin you will have to use Method 1 and upgrade your PHP version.

If you need a savvy WordPress developer to help you out, please consider Hiring an Expert.

The post Fix “Parse error: syntax error, unexpected T_FUNCTION” appeared first on SecondLineThemes.

The WordPress White Screen of Death errors and issues can be painful, especially on shared web hosting servers. It is one of the most common errors on WordPress. Why? Mainly because of their security measures. Hosting companies make it twice as hard to track down the error, and see what’s actually broken. Many errors can invoke the weird, and quite common “WordPress White Screen of Death”. Quite a poetic name for an error, isn’t it? This happens when you go to your website, or some address on your domain, and the page loads, yet nothing is really rendered. You get a white screen – hence the name. Often times, you might even get locked out of your website. Let’s see why this issue occurs, and how we can fix it.

If you’re looking for 24/7 WordPress support for podcast websites, WPBuffs is on of the most recommended services out there that would help you avoid these kinds of fatal error.

Fix the WordPress White Screen of Death

Even though the user sees a blank white page, there is usually some sort of a PHP error displayed behind the scenes. But this warning, fatal error or notice is blocked/automatically hidden by the hosting provider, so they can avoid vulnerabilities or exposure of server configuration. That’s how things are set in the world of shared hosting. Companies have to be very, very careful — since hundreds of websites depend on a single PHP/server configuration.
If you are on a VPS, you can tweak PHP’s settings, and actually see through the white screen of death. So, what can cause this error? A handful of things come to mind, starting with exhausted memory and bad server configuration, to faulty plugin or bad-coded theme. Let’s see how we can identify the problem and fix it, so that our website can properly render.

Possible Solutions

Now if you don’t want to tinker with debugging, which is totally fine for people who are not comfortable with debugging and changing code, there are a few general tricks you could try to get rid of the WordPress White Screen of Death. Let’s check them out.

Increase the Server’s Memory Limit

Increasing the server memory isn’t a too complicated process but it can help you solve the WordPress White Screen of Death. In a nutshell, you have to locate PHP configuration file, modify a directive’s value and restart Apache. You can read some further info on the basic PHP settings here.

Disabling All the Plugins

Like mentioned at the beginning of the article, the most probable cause of this error is a faulty plugin or a theme related error. The fastest way you can cross this out, is to disable all the plugins on your website, and see if the error is gone. Go to the Plugins page, and you can check/uncheck a single checkbox and select all the plugins. Once you do that, click on the multiple actions drop-down option, and select deactivate. Now try to open the page with the WordPress white screen error, and see if it loads properly. If it does, you can try to activate your plugins one by one, until you see which one is causing the error.

In case the White Screen of Death is showing when you try to open the WordPress dashboard, or it is showing across every page on the website, you can login on the server via FTP, and download all the plugins at first, and then delete them one at a time, or rename the folder names to see at which point in time the white screen issue disappears.

Important: Make sure to backup everything in your /wp-content/plugins folder, before you start removing and uploading plugins back.

Change Your Theme

You can try changing your currently active theme. Go to Appearance->Themes, and select a different one — just to see where the problem is. If changing the theme fixes the white screen issue, you can contact the developers, or maybe downgrade to a previous version, until they fix the bug.

Some core debugging

If you want to skip guessing, and checking out dozen of things to see if they are broken, the first thing to do is to try to modify the PHP configuration. You should look for debugging and error handling settings in the php.ini file, and check whether they are turned off. This might be tricky or entirely forbidden in shared hosting environments, but if you have the access, it is worth checking out.

One other thing to do, is to open wp-config.php, and find the WP_DEBUG global variable — which should be initially set to false. Set it to true, and save the file. This variable controls error handling, and when you set it to true, WordPress should start displaying errors, issues and warnings on your site. Now try to refresh your website and see whether some sort of error is displayed. In most cases, this is where the white screen of death stops being just white. There is some sort of a error message that gives further details on what needs to be fixed, to get your website up and running.

The error message should give you a pretty good idea of what’s wrong, whether it’s a plugin, something you did in code, or your theme. There is also a hint in which file and on which line the error took place, when the code was interpreted. Let’s try to visualize this, and see what you might get:

Fatal error: Call to undefined function in file /plugins/plugin-name/functions.php on line 233.

This means that you should probably either fix what your plugin is doing wrong, or disable it, to see whether the “white screen of death” error is gone.

The post Fix WordPress White Screen of Death appeared first on SecondLineThemes.

When getting the “Bundled outdated copies of WooCommerce template files”, make sure not to panic. That sounds more confusing than you might think, and a solution isn’t that complicated to achieve – let’s see what causes this error, and how we can easily fix it:

Fix WooCommerce 3 Bundled Outdated Copies of WooCommerce Template Files

Origin of the Error and How To Fix It – Why does this error occur?
Well, this error can theoretically occur whenever a new version of WooCommerce is released and you manually or automatically update the WooCommerce plugin. In your custom theme, there might be some WooCommerce templates that are overriding the original WooCommerce files, and as you can assume, once people start modifying files, each update carries a slight risk that something will be broken.

Generally speaking, having an outdated versions of WooCommerce template files won’t affect the plugin’s performance. However, this can cause display errors, lack of new features etc.
The old template files that are modified by the developers of your theme need to be updated accordingly.

How to Fix WooCommerce 3 Bundled Outdated Copies

The solution depends on which templates are outdated, but the procedure of fixing this error is always the same. You have to change the WooCommerce files within your theme with the updated ones.

To find out which files are outdated, navigate to Admin -> WooCommerce -> System Status. Once you see which template files have issues, write these down, and open your theme’s folder via FTP or on your hosting File Manager.

(Side note – it is a good idea to create a child theme. This would keep the original Theme files from being affected if you make a mistake. If you already have a child theme — that’s great! But if you don’t, please see our tutorial first, and then come back to continue with the fix.)

Since there are many files that may be outdated, we will proceed with an example. Let’s say that the following template files are outdated:
theme-name/woocommerce/pagination.php
theme-name/woocommerce/form-shipping.php

You can simply Fix WooCommerce 3 Bundled Outdated Copies errors by checking which updates were applied to these specific files on the official WooCommerce Github repository.

Once you do this, you’ll have to see if there weren’t massive changes to the WooCommerce functionality on the problematic templates, and then update your files. It is important to manually update the version number on the top of your file. This would ensure the WooCommerce 3 Bundled Outdated Copies message disappears.

Wrapping Up

To sum up – the best way to fix the WooCommerce 3+ “Bundled outdated copies of WooCommerce template files” error in case you have a premium theme is to update the theme itself. This should ensure everything is up to date in regards to your theme as well, as long as the theme developer has patched the theme.

What if your theme cannot be updated, or you’re using a custom theme? Well, try to find out which template files are problematic and manually update them.

The post Fix WooCommerce 3 Bundled Outdated Copies appeared first on SecondLineThemes.