Podcasting CONTINUED

I've spent probably way too much time this week trying to figure out the Podcast situation and compatability with free online hosting programs. As it turns out, many of these resources are not free and depending on what one wants to do with one's Podcast, there are technological limitations. I can't quite regurgitate the lingo but let's just say it's not as easy as loading a picture onto Flickr or Photobucket. Blogger.com, for instance, does not have an option for uploading MP3 files. I was initially disappointed and considered searching for another blog site that hosts Podcasts and starting over. But I figured if Blogger.com has options for upload video, then there has to be a way to upload audio.

So I researched this momentary setback further and discovered how to do it. It requires setting up another account that hosts the MP3s which you then link to on your blog. Luckily, google -- which operates blogger.com -- also operates "FeedBurner." FeedBurner.com explains it better than me:

Feeds are a way for websites large and small to distribute their content well beyond just visitors using browsers. Feeds permit subscription to regular updates, delivered automatically via a web portal, news reader, or in some cases good old email. Feeds also make it possible for site content to be packaged into "widgets," "gadgets," mobile devices, and other bite-sized technologies that make it possible to display blogs, podcasts, and major news/sports/weather/whatever headlines just about anywhere.

Here's the quick explanation:
http://www.hellogiri.com/podcasting-on-blogger-or-wordpress-blog-without-making-rss-or-xml-file-manually/

And here's a step-by-step tutorial:
http://google.about.com/od/googleblogging/ss/podblogger.htm

Because google.com runs/owns both Blogger.com and FeedBurner.com, the technologies work together. In fact, if you have a blogger.com account, you are a step away from a FeedBurner.com account. Then you simply have to link the feed to the blog. Once I have a Podcast ready to post, I'll try the step-by-step tutorial above. They rate this as "intermediate" level so hopefully I'm savvy enough to sort it out!