Author Topic: Import from existing iTunes podcast XML feed - REALLY need this  (Read 6209 times)

bpotter

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I have an existing podcast with 300+ episodes:

http://drcraigjohnson.org/audio-sermons/?podcast

What I want to do is something I think a lot of people would find very useful. I would like to import this XML feed into PowerPress and create posts from the entries with the following attributes:

Title
Author
Description / Summary (With XML safe characters)
Image (if set)
Enclosure
Size
Length
Post Date
Link (if set)
Any other iTunes required XML attributes


Basically, I need to create PowerPress posts from my existing iTunes feed. I understand there is error checking and other programatic functionality in this, but it is sorely needed. I really want to use PowerPress because it's so robust and solid. I equally strongly don't want to enter these manually (at worst) or attempt to use other plugins or hacks / database tricks to generate funky posts.

I don't care about downloading MP3s to my current site, I'm happy to continue using the enclosure URL. I can manually update that if I decide to move content, or replace URLs in the database.

Please help me make this happen.

mgdell

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Re: Import from existing iTunes podcast XML feed - REALLY need this
« Reply #1 on: March 18, 2015, 08:53:15 am »
Are you currently using wordpress for your site with posts for each "episode"?

-Mike

bpotter

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Re: Import from existing iTunes podcast XML feed - REALLY need this
« Reply #2 on: March 18, 2015, 03:54:29 pm »
I built a new site and imported the existing feed to SermonBrowser, which is outdated and not updated or supported. It has horrible permalinks, which is bad for SEO, not valid XML (I had to hack the plugin to validate the feed), etc etc.

I've been working with the developer of the MySQL to PowerPress plugin. It hasn't been updated in a long time and I was able to get some support but it's lacking some key features I really need.

What I want to do is tell PowerPress to create new posts from the existing XML feed. I'd like to not use a "Featured Image", I'd like PowerPress to detect the length and size and replace the current length and size (because I don't trust the current plugin to do it correctly).

I hope that all makes sense.

bpotter

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Re: Import from existing iTunes podcast XML feed - REALLY need this
« Reply #3 on: March 23, 2015, 11:15:30 pm »
Bumping. Any update or feedback would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

angelo

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Re: Import from existing iTunes podcast XML feed - REALLY need this
« Reply #4 on: March 24, 2015, 03:03:50 pm »
This is rather custom, in that you need this to work on a frequency, like once an hour or once a day.

Are you looking for a developer to code this solution for you? You are certainly welcome to use the functions and features already available in PowerPress to simplify what ever you need to do.

bpotter

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Re: Import from existing iTunes podcast XML feed - REALLY need this
« Reply #5 on: March 24, 2015, 03:07:37 pm »
Sorry, I should be more clear. I need a one time solution. I have an existing podcast feed, I want to import it and maintain using the plugin from that point. Does that help?

angelo

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Re: Import from existing iTunes podcast XML feed - REALLY need this
« Reply #6 on: March 24, 2015, 03:52:13 pm »
Oh yes big difference!

We have a plugin we use in-house that will be incorporated into PowerPress 6.1 actually to migrate podcast feeds. But yes, big difference between doing it manually with a tool vs automating the process daily or hourly!

I know without even looking that it covers these items:
Title
Description
itunes:Subtitle
itunes:Summary
itunes:explicit
itunes:closedCaptioned
Enclosure
Size
Length
Post Date


As far as the following, I need to look:
itunes:Image (if set)
itunes:Author
Any other iTunes required XML attributes

I also know "Link" when imported into WordPress becomes a link to that blog post in WordPress. So that may never work if you have to have the page link off of WordPress.

Also, not sure on "With XML safe characters" characters, can you explain?

bpotter

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Re: Import from existing iTunes podcast XML feed - REALLY need this
« Reply #7 on: March 24, 2015, 03:56:29 pm »
Oh yes big difference!

We have a plugin we use in-house that will be incorporated into PowerPress 6.1 actually to migrate podcast feeds. But yes, big difference between doing it manually with a tool vs automating the process daily or hourly!

I know without even looking that it covers these items:
Title
Description
itunes:Subtitle
itunes:Summary
itunes:explicit
itunes:closedCaptioned
Enclosure
Size
Length
Post Date


As far as the following, I need to look:
itunes:Image (if set)
itunes:Author
Any other iTunes required XML attributes

I also know "Link" when imported into WordPress becomes a link to that blog post in WordPress. So that may never work if you have to have the page link off of WordPress.

Also, not sure on "With XML safe characters" characters, can you explain?

Awesome!! That's great news! What I mean by XML safe characters is characters like &, :, ', etc. Basically special characters. Need to make sure they are encoded properly and don't break the feed. Does that make sense?

angelo

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Re: Import from existing iTunes podcast XML feed - REALLY need this
« Reply #8 on: March 24, 2015, 05:25:29 pm »
Yes and luckily all the functions needed to handle that are already built into wordpress.

What is your timeline? We are starting on powerpress 6.1 this weekend we may have a beta that you can try as early as next week.

bpotter

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Re: Import from existing iTunes podcast XML feed - REALLY need this
« Reply #9 on: March 24, 2015, 05:30:47 pm »
That's no problem. I would like to get these transferred over, but the current system is working so testing out a beta would be fine. I'd be happy to submit beta feedback, as well. Thanks for the prompt responses!

bpotter

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Re: Import from existing iTunes podcast XML feed - REALLY need this
« Reply #10 on: April 01, 2015, 03:33:19 pm »
Hello! Wanted to check in to see how this was coming along.

angelo

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Re: Import from existing iTunes podcast XML feed - REALLY need this
« Reply #11 on: April 01, 2015, 09:23:27 pm »
I'm making a sprint on this version on Saturday. Stay tuned.

bpotter

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Re: Import from existing iTunes podcast XML feed - REALLY need this
« Reply #12 on: April 08, 2015, 01:52:09 pm »
Where can I find the sprint that was created?

angelo

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Re: Import from existing iTunes podcast XML feed - REALLY need this
« Reply #13 on: April 08, 2015, 02:46:21 pm »
When I get a working version I will post here.

The following week is NMX and NAB in Las Vegas, I may not get this completed until after the conference.

bpotter

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Re: Import from existing iTunes podcast XML feed - REALLY need this
« Reply #14 on: May 06, 2015, 12:34:04 am »
Hello! Checking in to see how this is coming along. Thank you!