RSS feed code for multiple iTunes U categories? + Where do subcategories appear in iTunes U?

Question

Level 1

20 points

RSS feed code for multiple iTunes U categories? + Where do subcategories appear in iTunes U?

I wonder if someone might be able to help me with a couple of questions I have with regard to iTunes U categories and subcategories.

Thanks

Tom

Q1 What is the correct RSS feed code for multiple iTunes U categories?

The example on this page tells me how to add iTunes U category codes to my rss feed at item level. It’s possible to list multiple categories for each item (although iTunes U only takes the first instance) but the example code only shows single category. Would the following be a correct example of RSS code for multiple categories?

<itunesu:category itunesu:code="100100" />

<itunesu:category itunesu:code="110101" />

<itunesu:category itunesu:code="109105" />

Q2 Where do subcategories appear in iTunes U?

The iTunes U category code schema has a list of categories and subcategories.

I can find the categories in the iTunes U drop down menu (see screen shot below) but not the sub categories. Even when I navigate to a category page the sub categories are not visible. How do users access the subcategories and if they can’t is there any point to using them?

Posted on Aug 2, 2011 4:56 AM

Reply

Answer 1

Tom_Williams Author

Level 1

20 points

Aug 2, 2011 11:08 AM in response to Tom_Williams

I have emailed a contact at Apple who is going to get back to me re: Q2.

re: Q1 I did some quick testing which revealed the following -

The example RSS code I posted for multiple categories is correct. As I mentioned previously, however, iTunes U only takes the first instance of the itunes:category element in each feed item and all other instances are ignored. For that reason Apple advise that you select the single most relevant category for each of your feed items.

In our case we're creating our RSS feeds programmatically in SQL and the iTunes U categories are also listed using the standard RSS <category> element. In addition to helping feed aggregators categorise content it offers the user the ability to filter the RSS feed by category in some feed readers - see example screen shot in IE below. For that reason we are going list multiple categories for each item in our feeds and ensure that the most relevant category (the one picked up by iTunes U) is listed first.

It is also worth noting that the category that is applied to your collection will be the dominant category at item level in your RSS feed. For example, if you have three items in your RSS feed, one is Social Science > Law, and two are Business > Economics, the category applied to your collection would be Business > Economics. The category for your collection shows in the category column of your collections page in PSM (see screen shot below). The category applied to your collection may change if new items are added and they have different category, it will all depend on which category is dominant. If no categories are applied in your RSS feed it will be listed in PSM using the default category 'iTunes U'.

Reply

Answer 2

Sep 18, 2013 1:44 PM in response to Tom_Williams

Hi Tom,

Did you ever get an answer RE: Q2? The collections which I have 'categorised' appear on one of iTunes U's 16 pre-defined category pages - yet those which I have sub-categoried don't apper to be visible. Am I missing something really obvious here?

Reply

Answer 3

Tom_Williams Author

Level 1

20 points

Sep 19, 2013 8:01 AM in response to L.C.Johnson

Hi There,

I'm afraid I long ago gave up trying to understand how iTunes U categories work and how category info should be represented in the RSS feed. I'm not even sure if what I have written above is correct not least because iTunes U has changed quite a lot over the past couple of years. The links to the old admin guide, for instance, no longer work. In the end I gave up because most of our content is multidisciplinary and would not fit under a single category.

Your message has piqued my interest, however, and I found the following links which might be of interest -

http://sitemanager.itunes.apple.com/help/AboutCategoryPages/chapter_8_section_3. html

http://sitemanager.itunes.apple.com/help/AboutCategoryPages/chapter_8_section_2. html#//apple_ref/doc/uid/iTUPSM-CH8-SW4

http://sitemanager.itunes.apple.com/help/CommonQuestions/chapter_14_section_5.ht ml#//apple_ref/doc/uid/iTUPSM-CH14-SW3

Tom

Reply