Using BlogThis! to create a customized podcast

From Bloggerhacks

To create your own PodcastThis! project you need to follow these steps:

Set up your blog/podcast

1. Open a Blogger[1] account(but not Blogger in beta as I'm not sure that offers all the attributes you'll need -- especially # 3) if you haven't got one and follow the steps to Create A Blog
2. When selecting your blog template it is better to select or utilize one that won't allow main page blog headings to become links to post pages. I use Minima.
3. Go to SETTINGS/FORMATTING : Show Link Field? Click YES.
4. SAVE.
5. Go to SETTINGS /SITE FEED : Descriptions? Click FULL.
6. SAVE
7. Copy the atom feed url Blogger gives you [Go to SETTINGS / SITE FEED and copy url from Site Feed URL] and process that through Feedburner[2] via podcast/burn a feed.
8. To complete your setup go to Blogger BlogThis![3] page and import the BlogThis! to your browser's link bar.

You are now ready to PodcastThis!

When in your travels on the web you come upon some Mp3 audio you'd like to listen  to, you do this:

1. Click on the targeted item marking off some text and the Mp3 file you want to podcast.
2. Click on BlogThis!
3. Sign into your Blogger account and make sure if you have more than one Blogger blog you select your BlogThis! blog
4. You'll see that the marked off text and the page or post url is replicated inside your BlogThis! window. This is the same process as tagging on sites like del.icio.us or Technorati. Its' that simple.
5. But you also need to do one more thing and that is to copy and paste the url for the mp3 file into the BlogThis! window.
6. Click PUBLISH POST and you're done.

What you get by following these protocol are :

• Your blog post header will link back to the originating site so that you can easily reference and credit the audio.
• That same site url will be replicated as a link on the first line of your BlogThis! post.
• The mp3 url you pasted into the BlogThis! window will be treated as a media enclosure and be taken up by the feed you created on Feedburner and be treated as a podcast.
• The enclosure will also be treated as playable audio by such news readers as Google Reader.[4]
• Each header on your blog will link back to the source of your linked to audio. While the headers carried by your feed will link back to your own PodcastThis! blog/podcast the first line in that feed should also link you back to the site where the audio originated from.

You can add on various bits and pieces to the package(such as importing your feed into Odeo[5](to do that go to:"Add a feed [6]") but you'll find that this is an easy and convenient way to link to, archive, and aggregate single mp3 files you want to tag and listen to at a later date.

You can also employ other BlogThis! hacks such as incorporating TagThis!

PodcastThis! Examples in action:

• On a Blogger blog[7]
• With the created feed imported into Odeo[8]--thus creating a directory and archive with its own range of automatically generated flash players
• Old form of PodcastThis! using limited attributes offered by tagging on del.icio.us[9] where the mp3 link making up the tagged url.This is the only way to create a podcast friendly feed using del.icio.us. More background information here [10]