Publish an Audio Sermon (as a podcast)

[For full podcast publishing instructions, go here]

Don’t create an audio sermon by using the Duplicate function. This doesn’t work with out our podcast software.

Getting Ready

Before we start, here are some basic technical requirements:

MP3 File:

• Should be at 128kbps. This is set when saving as an mp3. Not sure what the kbps is for a file? Right click, select Properties>Details>Bit Rate
• Clean up the file name. Remove any text like “-completed” or “-v3”. Just have the full name of the episode without any spaces. IMPORTANT: Only use English letters

Artwork

• The Episode Image (also known as album art, podcast cover image) must be at least 1400×1400 pixels. It must be square. Ideally we want to get the file size below 200kb.
• The Featured Image can be the same as your YouTube Thumbnail Image. Youtube recommends 1280x720px. Save a resized version of this image no larger than 1000px wide and no larger than 100kb. Use this for the Featured image on the website. Please always give your images good descriptive names, especially including the name of the podcast and episode.

Create a new episode

Give an episode title

If the sermon is in Sinhala, enter it in Sinhala. Otherwise, use English

Sermon Description

One sentence is enough. Do it in the language of the sermon.

Metadata

All of these settings are in the right sidebar. You may need to click on the gear icon and be sure Podcast and not Block is selected.

Sections that should not be changed are not mentioned here.

Schedule publication

If you don’t change this setting, then as soon as you click Publish the podcast will go live. If you want the episode to be published automatically at a certain time, click on Immediately and choose a time in the future. Then the Publish button will change to Schedule.

Permalink

The URL/permalink will be automatically generated from the title you give the episode. But it’s always a good idea to double check it. Only use English letters!

Series

Featured Image

Do not re-upload an image that is already in the library.

This is the featured image you prepared above. It should be rectangular, probably the same image that you are using for the YouTube thumbnail. It should be no more than 1000px wide and no more than 100kb large. The file name should include the podcast name and episode name. If you don’t have a special image ready when you publish, there are some generic featured images already uploaded for each of the podcasts. Try to use one of those.

This is the image that Facebook and Whatsapp will use when the link to the episode is shared.

Excerpt

This should be the one sentence description use used above. Remember, use the language that the sermon is in. If you enter the title, excerpt, and featured image correctly, you will see this when you share it:

MP3 File

This is the most important part:

Do not upload the file multiple times. If you upload the wrong file, please delete it from the media library.

Episode Image

This should be the generic image for the series. Unless you are starting a new series, there will already be an image for it in the library. Do not upload a new one each time.

Publish and check!

That’s it. All that’s left is to publish. Of course preview the episode by clicking on Preview > Preview in a new tab.