Podroll: Homework

Claire Waite Brown: 00:00:00

Welcome Back to Podcasting 2.0 in Practice. Hi, I have a confession to make. Not that many apps support the podroll feature, but give a big round of applause for TrueFans who do.

podrolll is more widely supported by hosting companies, although not at the point of publication this show's hosting company, Captivate.

However, I wanted to introduce you to its potential and if you like it or any of the other features I introduce in this series and your fave podcast app or your hosting company doesn't support it, I've recorded a future episode explaining how you can tell them you'd like it implemented. The episode's called Power to the People.

The more people that ask for features, the more likely the app or hosting company is to look into supporting them. Your first homework task is to locate a show's podroll on TrueFans, which you can do using this show.

Before I tell you what to do, I happen to know that the term podroll is not beloved by all and recommendations or something similar is a word that is being suggested as an alternative at the time of recording and taking screenshots for the chapters, podroll is the term in use.

If you are in the future and you see a similar term used by your listening app or hosting company, I'm sure you can make the necessary mental updates without my needing to make new audio and visual ones. Thank you for being clever enough to make substitutions in your mind so I don't have to make them with real words and images.

Okay, let's start on TrueFans on the podcast level screen, i.e. the screen that shows you all the details about the podcast as a whole rather than an individual episode.

Simply scroll along the tabs underneath the photo of the host, me, and maybe some other people as well, and click on the podroll tab. But Claire, you just told me that Captivate doesn't support the podroll feature yet. So how is it that Podcasting 2.0 in Practice has a podroll?

I hear you ask. Well spotted listener. This is because in TrueFans itself, creators can claim their shows and then add podcasts to their podroll.

First, make sure your email address is attached to your RSS feed. You can do this with your hosting company.

In Captivate, go to Podcast Settings, then Privacy, then unhide the email address and click Save. On Buzzsprout,

check by going to Podcast Info, then Email Verification, and in RSS.com, go to Settings, then Enable Email in my RSS. Back to TrueFans and to claiming your show. Find your show on the app. As you'll see in the chapter art, I'm using Conning the Con as an example.

This is the brilliant podcast from my friend and guest for the Traditional Monetization episode, Sarah Ferris, and I'm using her show since I've already claimed both of my own shows. Click on the symbol at top right of the show art or on the three dots and type in your email address.

Because this address is connected to your RSS feed, TrueFans can verify that this is in fact your podcast, so I can't claim Sarah's show as mine.

Now to inputting your podroll recommendations. You need to be on the website on a desktop rather than a mobile device, where you can click on the arrow next to your avatar and then on Creators Dashboard. While this screen is a box of delights, for now, click on the pencil and you'll be presented with another magical page of potential.

Click on the podroll tab and type in the name of the podcast you're looking for and it will appear, perhaps at the bottom of a list of your existing podroll recommendations. If you have them. Then of course click on Add to Podroll. You can do something similar in Spotify for Creators.

Click on your show, then Settings and scroll down to Host Recommendations. Here you can search for and add only two recommendations, so choose wisely.

Please note that by entering your recommendations directly with TrueFans or Spotify, they will only be visible in those places.

When you add your podroll recommendations with your hosting company, then any app that supports the 2.0 podroll feature in the future will be able to show these. This is the ideal, to input in one place, just like we do with Chapters, for example.

We just need to persuade more apps to support the feature, which is why you might want to listen to that future episode I mentioned earlier and take action. Nn Buzzsprout, click on the Podcast Info tab along the top of your dashboard, then podroll.

Then on the Add a Podcast tile, type in the podcast you are looking for and when it is found, click Add podcast. On RSS.com, click on the settings along the top of your dashboard, then scroll down to Podroll Recommendations, type in the podcast name and click on the show to to add it to your podroll. Visit

Claire Waite Brown: 00:06:28

creativityfound.co.uk/podcasting to find out more about my guests and access lots of useful podcast resources.

If you'd like to get in touch, you can send a boost, but if you haven't got to that lesson yet, feel free to reach out to me on my Instagram account @podcasting2.0inpractice.