Podcast Feed not accepted - complaining about link-tag

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Podcast Feed not accepted - complaining about link-tag

Hey,

When trying to submit a podcast to iTunes, its not accepted and the form complains about an unclosed link-tag on line 43. The link-tag is closed, however, so I am a bit confused. My feed source is:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>

<title>Division 3 Podcast</title>

<copyright>Woodam Chung</copyright>

<generator>Podcast for TYPO3</generator>

<itunes:subtitle>All about Forest Operations Engineering and Management</itunes:subtitle>

<itunes:author>Woodam Chung</itunes:author>

<itunes:owner>

<itunes:name>Woodam Chung</itunes:name>

<itunes:email>Woodam.Chung@oregonstate.edu</itunes:email>

</itunes:owner>

<itunes:image href="http://www.iufro.org/typo3conf/ext/podcast/Resources/Public/typo3temp/_processed _/csm_30000-podcast-logo_1ea2d45145.jpg" />

<description>The goal of the IUFRO Division 3 Podcast is to share research and practical experiences of individual research scientists, forest practitioners and students in the fields of forest operations engineering and management. We will also capture the knowledge of global leaders and experts on emerging research trends, on-going challenges and potential solutions in their fields. We hope that Podcast helps improve communication within Division 3, as well as enhance our visibility among larger forest science and professional communities.</description>

<item>

<title>Episode 1</title>

<summary>The first episode in the IUFRO (International Union of Forest Research Organizations) Division 3 Podcast Series. Hosted by Preston Green and Woodam Chung, Coordinator of Division3, with Woodam Chung as guest. 14:25 mins.</summary>

<guid>http://www.iufro.org/fileadmin/material/podcasts/30000-episode-1.mp3</guid>

</item>

</channel>

</rss>

Posted on Nov 12, 2015 12:58 AM

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Answer 1

Best reply

Roger Wilmut1

Level 10

131,146 points

Nov 17, 2015 2:47 AM in response to hmons

On the face of it I don't see any actual error: but it seems to refer to the 'link' tag within the 'item' tag and you can just remove that - it's not of any use there. You only need the first 'link' tag at the top of the feed.

When you have a problem please post the feed URL, not its contents. Though it may not apply in this case there are often problems which can't be diagnosed without actual access to the feed.

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Answer 2

hmons Author

Level 1

0 points

Nov 17, 2015 2:49 AM in response to Roger Wilmut1

Hey Roger,

Thank you for the advice - unfortunately this didn't change anything, in addition the form is now complaining that the feed image does not have the right proportions.

The Podcast URL is here:

http://www.iufro.org/science/divisions/division-3/30000/podcasts/?type=1289377&t x_podcast_display%5Bpodcast%5D=1&tx_podcast_display%5Baction%5D=show&cHash=0932e 64ca1ac2adc787f8cd30bdf3cc2

Any help pointing me in the right direction is greatly appreciated!

BR
Jakob

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Answer 3

Nov 18, 2015 7:59 AM in response to hmons

The URL in your 'itunes:image' tag is

http://www.iufro.org/typo3conf/ext/podcast/Resources/Public/typo3temp/_processed _/csm_30000-podcast-logo_1ea2d45145.jpg

and there is no file at that address.

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Answer 4

hmons Author

Level 1

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Nov 18, 2015 8:03 AM in response to Roger Wilmut1

You are right, I corrected that - but the podcast is still not accepted with a complaint about an unclosed link-tag. Any ideas?

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Answer 5

Nov 18, 2015 8:34 AM in response to hmons

I don't see anything wrong with the link tag (if it wasn't closed it would invalidate the rest of the feed), and the Feedvalidator Report doesn't complain about it. However it does highlight some problems which you should address:

Line 7:en-gb, not en_GB

Line 31: tag should be 'itunes:author' not just 'author'.

Lines 21 to 35: all these tags should be 'itunes:...' e.g. ><itunes:subtitle>, <itunes:summary> etc.

Line 37: the "length" attribute should be the file size in bytes, not the duration.

You have no 'itunes:category' tag and you should have one and choose a category and sub-category, otherwise the Store will choose one for you, certainly inappropriate. Please see http://www.apple.com/itunes/podcasts/specs.html#category for the construction of the tag, and scroll to the bottom of the page and choose your category and sub-category from the list there.

None of this explains the 'link' complaint. You should correct the items above in case they are throwing the Store and submit again: if it's rejected please quote the exact text of the error message.

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Answer 6

hmons Author

Level 1

0 points

Nov 24, 2015 12:56 AM in response to Roger Wilmut1

Hey Roger,

Thank you!

It seems that the two problems causing the rejection were the missing category and that the podcast plugin we use shrunk the image to 600x600px, which was too small for the itunes store. It is working fine now. Thank you!

BR
Jakob

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