Today this site’s “podcast” (although you know it as a “bible talk”) was submitted to iTunes and added to their directory. It will take a few days for it to show up in searches in iTunes, but this post should make it easy to find and “subscribe” to it, if you want to. Along with a few additions to the site you’ll be an expert in no time.
Please note that this is not the only way to listen and automatically get podcasts, but it is the easiest and most straight forward to get your head around.
So the good news is that the podcast was submitted and accepted by Apple. This is significant because iTunes is the biggest directory of podcasts in the world and Apple sell a lot of iPods. In fact the iPod is the most popular portable MP3 player in the world. But before we get carried away please understand that: You do not need an iPod to subscribe to podcasts, you don’t need an iPod to subscribe in iTunes, despite the term “subscribe” to do so is free. These are common misconceptions that should be buried before I start. The other thing is that even though one way to access podcasts is in the “iTunes Store” it does not mean that everything there costs something. Indeed most podcasts are free!
You will notice in the left hand side bar (you might have to scroll down a bit) that this icon has been added 
. That icon links directly to the iTunes directory where this podcast is listed. You need iTunes for this to work. If you don’t have it your browser window will say so. If you want iTunes please check the links at the bottom of this post.
Now if you do have iTunes, it has now opened and you are looking at the SCPC podcast page:
You will see our great album art along with the podcast details at the top of the page with a subscribe button (”free” written next to it). If you click that you will be “subscribing” to this site’s podcast. In addition you will see that the podcasts published so far are listed at the bottom of the screen, this list will grow over time. We only have two at writing this.
So what does “subscribing” mean?
When you subscribe to a podcast in iTunes, the iTunes software will automatically check and download the latest talk or “podcast”. You don’t have to manually download it every week from the web page or come to the site and listen to it. You can listen in iTunes offline if you wish. Once downloaded all your podcasts are listed under the “Podcasts” section in iTunes on the left hand side, the menu looks like this:
If you do happen to have an iPod then the iTunes software is essential in order to synchronize your iPod with iTunes (make them have the same thing on both the computer’s copy of iTunes and the iPod). If you would like I can make a further entry about iPods, podcasts and iTunes and how they work together, just let me know.
iTunes is a fantastic all in one solution to subscribing to podcasts. It is simple, easy to use and straight forward. I would recommend the software to anyone that is new to podcasts and is interested in the medium of podcasting. The best thing is that iTunes is FREE.
For the technically minded out there - what you are doing here is subscribing to an RSS (Really Simple Syndication) feed, using iTunes as the thing to do it with. Keep a look out for a page that will be added in the future on subscribing to RSS feeds if you are interested in this idea of RSS feeds.
Oh and one other thing, if you are browsing the available podcasts in iTunes and want to listen before you subscribe then just double click a show listed on the bottom that you want to hear and it will stream through iTunes, straight to your ears.
I don’t want to make this more complicated than it needs to be, because it is not, so…
Assuming that you have iTunes, check the link at the bottom of the post if you don’t have it and want to download it and give this a go. Lets review the steps:
- Open iTunes (makes it easier, quicker and less chance of a problem you can minimize it though)
- Click the iTunes button on the left sidebar
- Hit the “subscribe” button in iTunes
- Watch it download
- Listen to the talk when you want to and how you want to
Subscribing is like getting the newspaper delivered, it is at your door when it comes out and you get it before everyone else because they have to go to the shop to get it!
Links:
If there are any questions please don’t hesitate to ask in the comments. If this needs clarification then let me know that as well. If you would like posts like this again, just ask. I hope this makes the process simple enough, because it is really easy!
UPDATE: Since writing this article there has been some feedback that some people are thinking that you “have” to use iTunes to listen to the talks. This is not the case. This is just one way. You can also listen directly off the post or download it with the supplied link. A broadband connection is recommended for listening off the web and downloading. I hope that clears up any possible confusion.
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11 responses so far ↓
1 Pete
// Sep 27, 2007 at 11:09 am
thanks Dave
I’m a subscriber!
2 Mark Wade
// Sep 27, 2007 at 8:17 pm
Hey, being able to subscribe in iTunes is a great idea and the best things about using iTunes is that it will keep the podcast (talks) organised and up-to-date on your system. It will make accessing and listening to the talks on your system even the more simpler.
If you subscribe this will be done automatically with little effort by the user. I recommend that if you want to keep the talks on your system then download the subscribe through iTunes.
3 Admin 01 (Dave Gray)
// Sep 27, 2007 at 8:44 pm
Yup true Mark. I will add to your comment that if you want to keep the downloaded talks permanently in iTunes then make sure that your settings are set not to delete podcasts after a certain number.
Because this affects every podcast that you are subscribed to and you may not want to keep all of them another way around it: Go to the directory that iTunes saves downloaded podcasts to and copy them to a more permanent directory somewhere else on your system. Or to the “music” folder of iTunes (never deleted automatically).
But great idea and I like the thinking Mark, thanks for the comment.
4 Mark Wade
// Sep 27, 2007 at 9:38 pm
Thanks Dave,
Yeah i agree. Good idea to copy talks to a permanent place, like the music folder in iTunes and then even creating a playlist of the talks to keep them separate from other music files within.
Thanks for clarifying that Dave, i never knew they were automatically deleted after a period of time.
5 Admin 01 (Dave Gray)
// Sep 27, 2007 at 9:51 pm
To be honest I can’t remember the default setting and thought it was worth throwing that in so that people check
I just checked iTunes - you can set it keep any number of podcasts - not based on time, rather episodes (2 - 10), or all.
Plus I have just discovered that you can individually select an episode, show or the whole podcast as not for auto deletion. Cool, even I did not know that
But I like the idea of moving them to the music folder.
To change these settings go to the settings at the bottom of iTunes and select “settings” - next to “unsubscribe”. This will give you all the options.
To protect an individual show or podcast series from auto deletion right click either the episode or the podcast name and select “Do Not Auto Delete” from the menu (about 1/2 way down the context menu that appears).
6 Mark Wade
// Sep 27, 2007 at 10:06 pm
Cheers Dave, thanks for that. Will remember to do that when i install iTunes and subscribe to the podcasts.
7 David Roberts
// Oct 9, 2007 at 4:48 pm
Hi there,
I have a few questions for you:
1. I believe Dave Gray left an answer to my question about how to download the Bible Talks to standard CD format so they can be played in a non-MP3 player CD player. How do I find his answer?
2. My son Mitchell loves playing chess, and I’d like him to be able to play over the Internet against people I know are safe (I don’t want him to exposed to predators, foul language etc). Is there a way for Mitchell to be able join with others from SCPC to play against them on a web site or some other way? I’d like him to be able to know who he is playing against for safety reasons.
I’d also like to recommend a music album. It is call “In a little while” by Stephen and Mark Altrogge. They are part of Sovereign Grace music, and Mark wrote the song we sing at SCPC call Jesus My Only Hope. You can listen to samples of the songs on the album and check out the lyrics at http://www.sovereigngraceministries.org/Resources/Music/LittleWhile.aspx
Emu Music doesn’t have the album for sale yet, but I just ordered my directly from Sovereign Grace in the US and it still only cost about $25.
Thanks a lot.
8 Admin 01 (Dave Gray)
// Oct 9, 2007 at 8:27 pm
1. I can give you a link to that answer:
http://www.scpc.org.au/2007/09/23/comments-please/#comment-68
There is no way to search comments at this time. But asking again is fine
If you need more explanation than what is there then let me know.
2. There are some great Chess sites out there to play others. I know understand the desire for your son to be safe online.
First up there are no guarantees that anyone is safe online. Anyone can say they are someone and they are not. The best way to ensure his safety is to supervise him and be there. The Internet is like TV or a bookshop - I would not give my son the remote and say what what you want to or let him pick anything he wants to read. We are the gate-keepers and guardians and so we need to monitor it. But I think your probably already thinking that given your question. SO
How old is your son? I might be able to suggest some sites that are aimed at his age group and consist of similar ages and people. Even some that don’t have a “chat” facility - just the game.
If you have a chat with him about this issue and are around when he is online then you’ll be able to both monitor and know he is safe and when he should tell you he needs you. That combined with the right site for him - we should hit on a wining formula.
There may even be others that have read your comment that join in on the site and then you will really know who he is playing. But even given your valid concern and the obvious issues here - it can be safe for him to play people he does not know.
Short of that there are a limited number of email and stand-alone chess games that can be purchased. This however is limiting and relies on someone else having the same application.
Hope that helps
9 Graeme
// Feb 7, 2008 at 4:48 pm
Hi Dave
I finally got my wife’s ipod shuffle working (had to download the podcasts using itunes rather than just use itunes to access already downloaded mp3’s) and have been doing a little browsing of itunes podcasts. When I went to look for scpc I could not find it under podcasts/religion and spirituality/Christianity. Instead I had to go to the church website, click on the itunes link to take me to the appropriate itunes location (podcasts/Christianity). Is it possible at all to navigate your way to the scpc sermons without using the website link?
Cheers
Graeme
10 Admin 01 (Dave Gray)
// Feb 13, 2008 at 8:00 pm
@Graeme Great to hear that you are exploring podcasts - there are heaps out there. In fcat there are 1000’s in fact there are 100’s of 1000’s… I am saying that to illustrate a point… I’ll get to that.
Basically - yes you can find the iTunes listing but it is hard. The ones that you do see are hand picked by Apple, who’s motives only God Himself would know because they are not telling.
To cut to the chase - iTunes is not a very good discovery tool at all. This is in fact one of it’s shortcomings. It is also a debate that rages with all podcasters - your small show or even medium show gets lost with the ones that are massive - because of this selected “highlighting” by Apple. And because there are so many out there.
Oh, and when I say small show - that means you might have 20,000 listeners a week or episode - the big ones have audiences larger than TV. So when you consider that the average downloads for SCPC is about 60 per episode per week - then this podcast is microscopic - more chance of being lost.
So you have iTunes not giving people full listings - when it does appear that they are. Second is that the categories are more complicated than they appear. They act like a hierarchy - spirituality and religion is the top, then you have the different lower categories… I might make some tweaks to how ours is listed and it may change where it appears. But that aside - it is more complex than it appears in the actual iTunes software - it certainly is for publishers. There are 3 main sections to list in and within those appears 6 categories!!
So, what do we do? Well no one uses the way that you mentioned to find anything in iTunes. Most ppl that have been monkeying around iTunes for a while do one of two things:
1: use the search function - top right of iTunes. Search for Southern Cross Presbyterian and it is the only result. Searching for southern cross works as well - but you get more than 1 result.
2: see in the bottom right hand corner there is an eye symbol? it is the second from the right - click that - you are now in “browse” mode - you are browsing the entire listings of podcasts - not just the ones that iTunes hand picks. Having said that I am browsing and can’t locate the SCPC - but that might be a matter of tweaking the category again (see what I mean about the categories :P) OK so from here you get more of an idea of the number of podcasts that are out there. and you can click the arrow next to each one to go to the graphical listing of the show.
Next thing is that this answer illustrates why every podcaster out there has an iTunes link on their blog!
So summary:
1: iTunes is a strange beast and I as well as most tech commentators are still trying to work it out…
2: Don’t browse - search!
3: If you are wanting to browse - use the eye thing.
4: iTunes is a strange beast…
Let me know if that answers your question.
Now these categories…
11 Graeme
// Feb 14, 2008 at 2:11 pm
Thanks heaps Dave. That clears up heaps. The scales have fallen away from my eyes, if not my ears.
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