Since moving iWeb site my podcast won't publish to iTunes

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Level 1

29 points

Since moving iWeb site my podcast won't publish to iTunes

Ok, I have just recently moved my iWeb site from MobileMe to LCN and they seem to be hosting it fine EXCEPT my podcast is no longer downloadable from iTunes. This is obviously cos it's still pointing to the old MobileMe address so, using iWeb to try and republish the podcast from the new site I get the message "We had difficulty reading this feed. Bad http result code: 404"

It seems to be the case that, since moving my site, I no longer have an rss feed to send to iTunes. I have asked LCN about this and I got this response:

"Unfortunately we are not able to assist with this functionality of the iWeb software - as the publishing to itunes via the iWeb software is not something over which we have any control or any advanced knowledge to be able to advise if this functionality is simply not possible if not publishing to the Mobile-Me service.

I would recommend raising this enquiry directly with Apple support as they should be more able to advise on a resolution to this problem."

Does this mean I have just moved my site to the wrong people and should use a different hosting service or is there something I can do here? Please help, I'm kind of lost here!

iMac, Mac OS X (10.7.4), 4 GB RAM

Posted on Jul 5, 2012 2:29 AM

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Answer 1

Best reply

Roger Wilmut1

Level 10

131,158 points

Jul 5, 2012 2:38 AM in response to MrApollo

The feed on MobileMe is no longer available as the service is closed. You needed to add the 'itunes:new-feed-url' tag to the old feed in order to change iTunes to the new URL, but this is no longer possible.

You have only two courses of action: you should first check that the current feed works OK by subscribing to it manually from the 'Advanced' menu in iTunes and making sure it appears in the 'Podcasts' section and downloads the latest episode.

1. Email Support at podcasts 'at' apple.com and explain the situation and ask them to change the Store to using the new feed. Give them the ID number and both feed URLs. I can't promise they will do this, though they have for some other people so you may be in luck.

2. Failing that you will have to submit the podcast as a new one: you will have to change the title slightly or you will be told it has already been submitted.

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Answer 2

MrApollo Author

Level 1

29 points

Jul 5, 2012 2:45 AM in response to Roger Wilmut1

Thanks. This seems like it's going to be quite a production I fear. My first and main problem is that I don't have a new feed to subscribe to. The podcasts are held here: http://www.thetrap.co.uk/Podcast/Podcast.html and here: http://www.thetrap.co.uk/Event_Horizon_Crescent/Event_Horizon_Crescent.html

but i think I need an 'RSS' feed don't I and that doesn't seem to there on the new site. Am I being thick?

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Answer 3

Jul 5, 2012 2:55 AM in response to MrApollo

Web should create the RSS files automatically - there are links to them on the sites - and they should be at

http://thetrap.co.uk/web/Podcast/rss.xml

http://thetrap.co.uk/web/Event_Horizon_Crescent/rss.xml

(two separate podcasts) but there are no files at these addresses. The first thing to do is to check that these checkboxes are enabled in the Inspector:

though I would have thought the fact there are links to the feed would mean that these boxed were checked.

Then you should do a Publish all files from iWeb, using the FTP option in the publish pane. (If you had simply copied the pages over from MobileMe, that could cause problems; you need always to publish from iWeb).

If that doesn't do any good you have some ongoing problem in iWeb and the best place to ask would be in the iWeb Forum.

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Answer 4

MrApollo Author

Level 1

29 points

Jul 5, 2012 3:18 AM in response to Roger Wilmut1

Thanks Roger. Unfortunately, despite those both being ticked and me publishing directly from iWeb using the FTP option it's still showing nothing at either of those links. Am wandering over to the iWeb section to see if anyone there has any smart ideas. Thanks so much for your help though, you are something of a guru, sir!

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Answer 5

Jul 5, 2012 3:28 AM in response to MrApollo

Found it. The feeds are at

http://www.thetrap.co.uk/Podcast/rss.xml

and

http://thetrap.co.uk/Event_Horizon_Crescent/rss.xml

Somehow a redundant 'web' folder has got into the link on the page - I can't say how that has happened.

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Answer 6

MrApollo Author

Level 1

29 points

Jul 5, 2012 3:33 AM in response to Roger Wilmut1

Sir, you deserve some sort of knighthood! Thank you!

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Answer 7

MrApollo Author

Level 1

29 points

Jul 9, 2012 2:07 AM in response to Roger Wilmut1

Hi Roger

One last step I need for this. Apple have now redirected my feed to those addresses which is great. However, at that address, the links to the files are wrong. For example, if I click on Trap Sodcast 65, it give me a 404 not found at: http://thetrap.co.uk/web/Media/Trap%20Sodcast%2065.mp3

However, again, by removing the word 'web' I find the right file which is actually at: http://thetrap.co.uk/Media/Trap%20Sodcast%2065.mp3

I guess I'm asking if you know how I can get those links in the feed to point to the right addresses (the ones without the 'web')

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Answer 8

Jul 9, 2012 2:12 AM in response to MrApollo

Since you can't amend the feed directly in iWeb this is a bit problematic. You need to set iWeb to get the URLs correct when it creates the feed. Probably you can do this by going to the publishing page and making sure that the 'Website URL' section has the correct URL entered in it - presumably the URL of the home page - and re-publishing.

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Answer 9

MrApollo Author

Level 1

29 points

Jul 9, 2012 2:19 AM in response to Roger Wilmut1

Hmm, the site url in the publishing page is just http://thetrap.co.uk

'Web' is the 'Site name' which seemed to get added when I moved from MobileMe to the new place so I have no idea how to take it out of the podcast urls.

Perhaps there is a way I can move my site to something other than iWeb that would be easier to use but would also publish to the same url? I guess there's no way to edit the RSS feed with another piece of software while using iWeb huh?

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Answer 10

Jul 9, 2012 2:24 AM in response to MrApollo

It's not worth editing the feed by hand because you would have to do it for every link every time you added an episode. I can only suggest you ask in the iWeb forum.

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Answer 11

MrApollo Author

Level 1

29 points

Jul 9, 2012 3:59 AM in response to Roger Wilmut1

Thanks. Have put a message up there. But if I was to say move my site from iWeb to something like Rapidweaver would that make things easier? Do you know if there would be a way to edit or amend the feed to tell it to point to the correct places?

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Answer 12

Jul 9, 2012 4:05 AM in response to MrApollo

You can't exactly move the site to RapidWeaver - you would have to recreate it from the ground up. In the process all the links should work correctly. Though I have to say neither RW nor iWeb are ideal for podcast creation because of the relatively limited options, though both do work.

iWeb ought to be able to get this right: there is an issue somewhere in your publishing process but I can't say where it is. Hopefuly someone who uses it more will be able to pinpoint the problem.

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