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How Do I Subscribe To A Podcast via iTunes?
It's almost daily that we hear this question at DoctorTrey.com. So I figured this might be a nice thing to post on the RSS feed.
Subscribing to a podcast can seem like a difficult thing at first, why? Well I think the reason is that there are just too many ways to do it. So I would imagine that it can get very confusing with all the different ways. This article will address the iTunes method of subscribing.
What does it mean to subscribe?
This is a very valid question because more often than not, when someone says the word "subscribe," it simply means that you will need to pay money for it. In the case of Podcasts and blogs, that is not the case. They are free, and a subscription simply means you are asking to be informed when an addition or new episode goes online.
Why does DoctorTrey.com want their listeners to subscribe?
It's important to remember that the only way we can tell how well the show is doing, and if we are pleasing our listeners with our content (besides email feedback) is to see how many people are actually subscribed to it. When you subscribe, we see it as one more subscriber. If you decide not to subscribe, all we know is that the mp3 file was hit and someone listened to it. We don't know if that listener will listen again. So basically subscriptions help us understand who our listening audience is.
So lets get to it, How already?
Probably the most popular way to subscribe these days is through iTunes. Whatever the case, we will continue to describe the procedure. There are actually more than one way to subscribe via itunes so this could get confusing as well but we will list both.
iTunes Subscription Method 1 (easier)
Open itunes on your computer (if you don't have itunes, download it from itunes.com for free)
Once in itunes, click on the "Advanced" tab, then on "Subscribe to Podcast..."
This will pop up a window that looks like this. Type in:
http://feeds.feedburner.com/Doctortrey for the regular version of the show and
http://feeds.feedburner.com/DTenhanced for the enhanced version of the show. Then hit the OK button.
The enhanced version shows pictures while playing, is broken into chapters, gives you weblinks while playing, and has titles for each chapter. Note: the enhanced version is only playable in itunes and on a photo enabled ipod. Also note that the enhanced version is only available in itunes, we will not put this feed elsewhere mainly because it is currently only playable in itunes.
That's it! At this point you are subscribed and iTunes should take you to the podcast page which you can always go to. It's located on the left panel in itunes and it is called "podcasts."
iTunes Subscription method 2
Open itunes on your computer (if you don't have itunes, download it from itunes.com for free)
Once there, click on the Music Store Link shown above
Then click on the podcast link shown with the red arrow above.
This will take you to the podcast page in iTunes. Once there, type DoctorTrey in the search box and hit the magnifying glass button as shown above.
Notice that this takes you to a page with two different feeds from DoctorTrey.com indicated on the list and with the two logos. One is the regular podcast which is audio only, the 2nd is the enhanced podcast. The enhanced version shows pictures while playing, is broken into chapters, gives you weblinks while playing, and has titles for each chapter. You don't actually need to subscribe to both unless you want to.
So at this point click on the logo that you want to subscribe to. Note: the enhanced version is only playable in itunes and on a photo enabled ipod. Also note that the enhanced version is only available in itunes, we will not put this feed elsewhere mainly because it is currently only playable in itunes. For the purpose of this article, we will proceed with a subscription to the enhanced version although subscribing to the non enhanced version is very similar.
See the button called "subscribe?" Click that one.
A window will pop asking if you would like to subscribe, if you really want to subscribe, click the button. That's it. You're subscribed. Every time from that point on that you boot up itunes, it will automatically download the latest episode.
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