3.1. OXITEMS RSS System

OXITEMS is an RSS newsfeed system developed here at Oxford by OUCS. It allows users to add and maintain news items (announcements, news, events, podcasts etc.). These feeds can be subscribed to by digital media players allowing the end user to receive news updates, podcasts ect. without the need to visit the originating web site themselves.

The first step the author has to make is to upload the podcast to their web space, e.g. a college server, their users web space or to a course area on the WebLearn VLE. You cannot upload files to OXITEMS as it is not a filestore, nor are other RSS feeds; they merely link a news item in a newsfeed to an assocated file (called a enclosure) and contain textual information about this linked file. Once the location of the podcast is known, follow the instructions below:

Adding your podcast to OXITEMS

1. Go to the OXITEMS web site. Accessing the OXITEMS system requires authentication as a member of Oxford University through WebAuth.
   

   Figure 1. Part of the OXITEMS home page
2. In the side menu find the [Podcasting Newsfeed] section which is under the [Operations for Authors] menu.
   

   Figure 2. Location of Podcasting Newsfeed section
3. From the [Podcasting Newsfeed] menu, click on [Add a Media Item]
4. You will now see a list of the podcasting feeds that you are eligible to add new items to. If you do not see any lists you need to contact your IT officier to create one for you.
   

   Figure 3. List of feeds that you can access
5. Select the podcast feed you wish to add to and click the Add Item to Selected Newsfeed button.
6. You will now see the Add an Item screen. This is composed of various boxes where you need to add in information about your new podcast. This must include the URL (location on the web) of your podcast file. Complete the form as instructed. Explanations for each box are given along side them. When complete click the Preview the Items With the Above values button.
   

   Figure 4. Add form
7. You will now see a summary of your entries. If these are all correct, click the Now Add the Above Item to the Newsfeed button. If you need to make any changes to the form entries, click the Make Changes to the Values of the Above Item button instead. You will be returned to the form where you can make edits to your entries.
   

   Figure 5. Add Summary screen
8. Once you have submitted your item, OXITEMS will show you a new page showing all the items in the feed. Your new item should be at the top of this list. You will also be give the URL of the RSS feed into which you have added your podcast item.
   

   Figure 6. Added item screen

We always recommend the following short training session for anyone involved in podcasting at Oxford: http://www.oucs.ox.ac.uk/itlp/courses/detail/TIMV

3.2. Accessing your podcast feed

In order to check whether your podcast feed and files work on the web you need to subscribe to the feed and download the file(s) in question. These instructions relate to using iTunes to check the feed. If you do not have iTunes already, visit http://www.apple.com/itunes/ to download the program. Install this onto your computer. If you do not want to install iTunes onto your system, you can also check the url of the feed using modern web browsers such as Firefox and Opera. For instructions on using Firefox to add a Live Bookmark to the feed see: Subscribing to RSS Feeds. Alternatively there are other digital media players available that you can use instead. See the Links section for a selection of other players.

1. Open iTunes and click on [Advanced] found on the top most menu.
   

   Figure 7. Opening the Advanced options
2. From the dropdown menu select [Subscribe to podcast] option. A new dialogue box will appear.
   

   Figure 8. URL Subscription box
3. Enter the address of your podcast feed i.e the URL given to you via OXITEMS. Click on OK
4. iTunes will now access the RSS feed and list any items it finds in the main iTunes podcast screen.
   

   Figure 9. Podcast shown in iTunes
5. Each item in the feed can now be downloaded either individually by clicking the Get button by each one, or by clicking on Get All next to the name of the feed itself.
6. Click the Get button next to your new item. iTunes will access and download the file to your machine.
7. Once your file is downloaded, the podcast title will change to black text and the Get button will disappear. You will now be able to play the podcast in iTunes.