RSS Basics

In RSS terminology, the channel element is the container for all metadata about your podcast show itself. Everything listeners see when they view your show listing—before clicking...

The enclosure tag is the critical RSS element that tells podcast apps where to download your audio file. It's what transforms a standard RSS feed into a podcast feed capable of del...

Feed validation is the process of checking your RSS feed against technical specifications to ensure it's properly formatted, contains all required elements, and will be accepted by...

A GUID (Globally Unique Identifier) is a permanent, unique identifier assigned to each episode in your RSS feed. Podcast apps use GUIDs to track episode identity across feed update...

In RSS, each episode is represented by an element within the channel. Items contain episode-specific metadata like title, description, publication date, duration, and the enclosure...

iTunes tags are Apple-specific XML namespace elements (prefixed with ) that extend standard RSS with podcast-specific metadata. Originally created for the iTunes Store podcast dire...

A podcast episode is a single installment of audio content within a podcast series, delivered as an individual item in the show's RSS feed with its own title, description, and audi...

A podcast feed is the complete RSS XML document that serves as the single source of truth for your podcast. Every directory, app, and aggregator reads this same feed to display you...

The pubDate element specifies when an RSS item (episode) was published. Podcast apps use this timestamp to sort episodes chronologically, determine which episodes are new, and trig...

RSS (Really Simple Syndication) is an XML-based format that serves as the backbone of podcast distribution. Every podcast app, directory, and aggregator reads RSS feeds to discover...

XML (Extensible Markup Language) is the structured data format underlying RSS feeds. Every podcast feed is an XML document that organizes show and episode data in a hierarchical, m...