Saving you time on the back end stuff so you can concentrate more on the creation and marketing of your show is just one of the ways Captivate helps you, the serious indie podcaster.
This is why we make it easy for you to manage your podcast settings, dynamic content defaults, and research & planning options all from one spot in your dashboard!
Podcast Settings
Your podcast RSS feed is the source of information that each and every podcast app in the world contacts to gather information and episodes of your podcast from.
Your podcast show settings are what tells your show's RSS feed what to do and how to behave in the podcast apps.
When you create a podcast using Captivate you are guided through these settings.
If you import a podcast into Captivate from another podcast host, your podcast show settings are pulled in from your current feed so all is as you'd expect it.
Are you new to Captivate? Every podcaster gets a 7 day free trial when they sign up with us, alternatively check out our features to see that we offer (hint: so much more than just hosting)
To edit your podcast show settings at any time, simply click Podcast Settings in the top menu of your Captivate dashboard.
Within your Podcast Settings, there are eight sub-sections:
A list of each and every show setting found within the Podcast Settings section:
Cover art
Podcast cover art: your show’s cover art that will be used to promote your show and by default used for each episode you publish (which can be overridden on a per-episode basis).
Podcast details
Podcast name: the name of your podcast.
Subtitle/short description: a short description that is used in some podcast search results.
Show summary/long description: the main description in podcast apps. Max. 4,000 characters, hyperlinks are allowed. Use this to really sell your show to potential listeners, why should a new listener try your show?
Directory settings
Categories: the categories within the podcast apps that your show will appear in. The first being your main podcast category.
Is your podcast released in seasons?: the podcast directories will display your shows in the order that you choose: Episodic (the default format with episodes displayed newest-to-oldest) or Serial (now the episodes are displayed oldest-to-newest, and grouped in the seasons they're set).
Does your podcast include explicit language?: if your podcast is going to include adult language, it is vital to set this to "Yes" to avoid being removed from the podcast directories. If you only use adult language in some episodes, you can mark each episode as explicit individually when publishing that episode. Default is "No".
In Apple Podcasts and other directories, show this number of episodes: tell the podcast directories how many episodes of this show to display in their listings. Sometimes, podcast feeds can be a bit on the big side so this is set to 500 by default and we recommend leaving it at that, for now.
Additional settings
What timezone is this show in?: you have the flexibility to publish your episodes within your own timezone. Default is "(UTC -5:00) Eastern Time, (US & Canada)". Note. your analytics are set to the UTC time zone. This is standard across the Captivate platform along with many of the other podcast hosts. This time zone cannot be changed at this time.
Default publish time: a neat little feature within Captivate that is used to set a default time in the time-picker during episode publishing for when you publish shows at the same time, every time. Not used in your RSS feed but cool as a cucumber.
Show language: choose what language your show is in, so podcast apps like Apple Podcasts, Spotify, etc, can help display you more prominently in that country, as well as their global audience.
Author name: the name of the podcast creator. Don't spam this with the names of other people or you could be removed from Apple Podcasts. Seriously.
Author email: the email address of the podcast creator. This appears in the public RSS feed, FYI.
Website link: the link for your website. This is important for Google Podcasts so make sure to use the URL of your podcast's website. This can either be your Captivate Site, if you use it, or your self-hosted site.
Copyright: you can use the default copyright for who owns your podcast, or override and change it to a more customized one.
Is this a private show: as it suggests, this is where you choose if your podcast will appear on the various podcast apps, or if it is a private podcast. Learn more about using private podcasts here.
Privacy Settings
Ever get an email from a company you’ve never heard of asking you to claim your podcast on their platform? That’s usually done by scraping your public RSS feed to get your email address - naughty naughty! So we’ve added the option to hide your email from your public RSS feed.
This is set to hide by default - you can also unhide for 24 hours, useful if you need to confirm your podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, etc.
Access Type
Is this a public or private show: as it suggests, this is where you choose if your podcast will appear on the various podcast apps, or if it is a private podcast. Learn more about using private podcasts here.
Third-party prefixes
Captivate integrates with several third-party options, like Chartable, Podcorn, Podsights, AdBarker, and more. Use these to track your podcast's chart position, audience demographics, dynamic ads, and more.
Full transparency mode: this only comes into effect if you use a third-party prefix, and automatically lets your listeners know what tools you use, and where they can find their privacy policies. It is recommended that you turn this on.
RSS feed
Feed URL: the unique URL for your podcast RSS feed, this is the feed that you will submit to Apple Podcasts, Spotify etc within the Distribute section of your Captivate dashboard. You can copy this to your clipboard by clicking Copy or clicking Copy Feed URL in the blue show header of your Captivate dashboard.
Want the latest episode only feed?: check this to reveal a special, unique RSS feed that only includes the latest episode of your podcast - ideal for Alexa Flash Briefings, etc.
AMIE & DAX
If you want to set default pre-roll and post-roll ads or dynamic content for your podcast episodes, this is where you’ll set that up.
Choose to add up to three pre-rolls and three post-rolls automatically any time you create a new episode.
Look out for some DAX-specific features coming soon.
Research & Planning
If you use our awesome Research and Planning features, this section lets you set up some nifty options to optimize both the back and front end.
Show used research links by default. This lets you decide whether to show used research links in your dashboard or hide them once used. Perfect for keeping your dashboard tidy when you have lots of links in use.
Custom show notes header. If you use Research Links in your show notes, you can add your own text here as a header title for that section, to make it more in your own voice/style.
RSS Enhancements
Powered by the Podcasting 2.0 initiative, RSS Enhancements add more interactivity to your RSS feed to help you market and grow your podcast.
Podcasters, industry professionals, and those interested in podcasting can suggest new features for inclusion and, when reviewed, those new features may be put into production and, generally, can be added to RSS feeds through your hosting company.
Hosting platforms like Captivate support Podcasting 2.0 features as they become mature enough to impact podcasters like you.
Many Podcasting 2.0 features rely upon symbiotic support from other places, for example, listening apps (who will “see” these new features in your RSS feed and act accordingly), in order to be useful.
The good news is that many apps are showing their support for Podcasting 2.0 and the future is bright!
Look out for more settings to be added here down the line!
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