At Captivate, our goal is to make the whole podcasting experience as fun and as smooth as possible. But we know sometimes things can go a little awry, which is where our awesome support team comes in.
Questions about troubleshooting your account when you have an issue? We've got you covered!
I need help - what do I do?
If there's something you need help with on your Captivate account, our support team is available through the chat feature at the bottom right of your Captivate dashboard.
Is it a live chat? Do I get to speak to a real person?
While you may receive an automated response while we look to identify your issue, our support team are all real people. 😁 We also cover different timezones so you're not waiting on an email reply - you can see our support hours here.
How long until my issue is fixed?
It really comes down to the complexity of the issue. If we need to involve our tech team, for example, there may be follow up questions to help resolve the issue. But we'll be working hard to get you back up and running ASAP!
My latest episode isn't showing on my RSS feed, what should I do?
Every time you publish a new episode, your Captivate RSS feed is updated immediately. If your episode isn't showing, let us know via chat support and we can check for you.
My Single Promotional Link isn't showing - help!
This may be a quick caching fix. Head over to the Promotion section in your Captivate dashboard, go to My Links section and then Single Promotional Link tab and click Save Changes. Head back to your browser tab and do a hard refresh.
I can't view my Captivate Sites - is this the same as my Single Promotional Link?
Your Captivate Site is different from your Single Subscription Link. However, you can use a similar process to check if this is a caching fix that's required.
Log in to your Captivate dashboard.
Click on Captivate Sites in the left hand menu.
Scroll down to the bottom of the page.
Click Save Changes.
Click on the browser tab you have your site open on, and carry out a hard refresh.
Hard refresh - what's that, and how do I do it?
When using websites and visiting web pages, the browser stores a copy of the website on your computer. This is a cache, and helps web pages load quicker for you the next time you visit.
However, this can also mean you are looking at an older version of a web page, so you need to clear your browser cache to display the new information, like the saved updates to your Captivate Site and/or Single Subscription Link when troubleshooting why they're not displaying.
To carry out a hard refresh depends on what browser you're using:
Chrome and Windows: Hold down Ctrl and click Reload, or Hold down Ctrl and press F5.
Chrome and Mac: Hold down Shift and click Reload, or Hold down Command, Shift, and click the R key.
Firefox and Windows: Hold down Ctrl, Shift, and the R key, or Hold down Ctrl and press F5.
Firefox and Mac: Hold down Command, Shift, and the R key, or Hold down Shift and press Reload.
Safari: Hold down the Option and Command keys and then press the E key
Internet Explorer: Hold down Ctrl and press F5, or hold down Ctrl and click Refresh.
Why isn't my audio file uploading?
When you upload an audio file to Captivate, we make sure it's in the mp3 format ready to distribute to the various podcast apps. So, even if you have an m4a or mp4 file, we'll convert that for you. If your file isn't uploading, check the following details:
Was it edited as a wav file then the suffix changes from wav to mp3?
What bitrate was it formatted in? The default is 96kbps mono for standard talking, and 128kbps for stereo music and sound effects. While we support higher bitrates, this can affect upload time.
What file size are you trying to upload? The larger the file size, the longer it can take to upload.
If you've checked these and you're still having issues, hop on over to our support chat so we can take a look for you. 😁
What is a bitrate and why does it need to be fixed when uploading audio?
A bitrate is how data is stored and transferred for your podcast audio. The higher the bitrate, the higher that audio quality - but the higher the file size too, which can sometimes lead to upload delays, or playback issues on podcast apps. The most common bitrates used are 96kbps (kilobytes per second), 128kbps, 192kbps, 256kbps, and 320kbps.
A fixed, or constant, bitrate means it adheres to a consistent transfer of data, which reduces potential issues on upload and playback, down to the way the audio is changing frequently with a variable bitrate.
To remain on the safe side, we recommend uploading at a fixed bit rate - so, 128kbps as opposed to 112.865kbps - 114.675kbps - and using one of the more popular bitrates above.
Help - I accidentally deleted an audio file from my media library!
We may be able to retrieve it - hop into support chat and we'll take a look for you.
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