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Podcast feed not working in iTunes

Hi there,


I am trying to get a podcast feed for a client set up to work in iTunes. About the setup:


This is a self-hosted wordpress site, using the feedburner/SmartCast to create iTunes-friendly feeds. The site does use HTTPS as parts of it handle credit card processing.


Here is the feed XML (Chrome): view-source:http://feeds.feedburner.com/UnderTenFitness

Here is the feed link: http://feeds.feedburner.com/UnderTenFitness


The feed validates at http://castfeedvalidator.com/ and http://validator.w3.org/. Other podcast services pick it up just fine. Just iTunes. I've tried testing it by manually subscribing to it in iTunes, and the episodes/meta load fine, but the audio files neither play nor download. I also can't seem to find any kind of error message to describe what the hold up seems to be - just the ! next to the episode. I can briefly see a window that says "Connecting" but it dies right away.


Any insight into what's going wrong here would be much appreciated. I've added MIME types to the server for MP3 files, about to change the main icon from PNG to JPEG on some random recommendation that sometimes iTunes doesn't like PNG files.


I've also tried:

taking the media link outside the audio player shortcode and just putting it in as href

using both http:// and https:// for the media link


I'm sure I've missed something basic here - but my experience with podcasting prior to this project was "I like to listen to them." So any suggestions appreciated.


Regards,

Hannah

Posted on Mar 7, 2015 9:30 AM

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Question marked as Best reply

Posted on Mar 7, 2015 9:52 AM

The problem lies with the media files rather than the feed. The URL given for your top media file is


http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/UnderTenFitness/~5/cn0Ui9M2FyI/2015-01-27-Psorias is-Natural-Remedies.mp3


This redirects to


https://www.undertenfitness.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/2015-01-27-Psoriasis- Natural-Remedies.mp3


The first URL works when you enter it in a browser, but on subscribing iTunes refuses to play it. These redirects using Feedproxy can cause problems, though they don't always, and frankly I would advise avoiding its use and providing a direct URL to the media file. Furthermore the URL for the actual file begins with https (secure connection) and this is also asking for trouble. Sometimes it works, but it's better avoided. Just removing the 's' so that it's http works with some servers but it appears not to hear. So you need to look into the matter of hosting your media files.

3 replies
Question marked as Best reply

Mar 7, 2015 9:52 AM in response to dbs_hannah

The problem lies with the media files rather than the feed. The URL given for your top media file is


http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/UnderTenFitness/~5/cn0Ui9M2FyI/2015-01-27-Psorias is-Natural-Remedies.mp3


This redirects to


https://www.undertenfitness.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/2015-01-27-Psoriasis- Natural-Remedies.mp3


The first URL works when you enter it in a browser, but on subscribing iTunes refuses to play it. These redirects using Feedproxy can cause problems, though they don't always, and frankly I would advise avoiding its use and providing a direct URL to the media file. Furthermore the URL for the actual file begins with https (secure connection) and this is also asking for trouble. Sometimes it works, but it's better avoided. Just removing the 's' so that it's http works with some servers but it appears not to hear. So you need to look into the matter of hosting your media files.

Mar 7, 2015 11:28 AM in response to Roger Wilmut1

Hi Roger,


Thank you much for chiming in. I will look into your recommendations. We continued troubleshooting the issue after posting this and found that there was a rewrite rule in .htaccess at the server level, from the plugin that handles securing premium, members-only content (MemberPress). This rewrite rule was preventing direct download access to the folder on the server where the media files were kept, to prevent premium content from being accessed directly instead of via the site pages and login system.


Changing some of these rewrite rules has helped iTunes get the access it needs, so I think we're actually all set to go. I came back to close the post accordingly, and saw your helpful suggestion.


I also discovered in the course of trying http vs https that in order for changes to take effect in the feed, I had to force feedburner to resync via the Troubleshootize tab.


Hopefullly we should be all set with the changes. Thank you very much for taking a look at this.

Regards,

Hannah

Podcast feed not working in iTunes

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