You can create as many show notes Templates as you like for each of your podcasts and each of those templates will be available for you to use when you publish a new episode.
You can also set one of your show notes Templates as the default Template for each of your podcasts. When you create a new episode, that Template will be already loaded into the publishing screen for you.
Remember, show notes Templates aren’t dynamic: if you change a Template, it doesn’t change the text within the episodes that have already used that Template.
How to create a show notes Template:
Click “Show Notes” in the left menu from your Captivate dashboard
You’ll be taken to the “Templates” tab where you can create, edit and delete show notes templates
Click “Add New Show Notes Template”
Add a Template label/title for your reference, for example “Interview show notes template”
Begin typing your show notes Template (here are some tips on how to write great show notes) and remember that you can:
insert Blocks and Shortcodes; and
use an existing show notes Template as a starting point for this new one
If you’d like to make this show notes Template the default for new episodes, check “Set as default”
Click “Create Show Notes Template”
You’ll be returned to the Templates list.
How to edit a show notes Template:
Click the pencil “edit” icon from the Templates list that corresponds to the Template that you’d like to edit
Make your changes (including whether or not you want to set this Template as the default for new episodes)
Click “Update Show Notes Template”
You’ll be returned to the Templates list.
How to delete a show notes Template:
Click the red trashcan icon from the Templates list that corresponds to the Template that you’d like to delete
Read the message that pops up to tell you what will happen when you delete this Template
Click “Yes, delete Show Notes Template”
You’ll be returned to the Templates list.
What’s the difference between Blocks and Shortcodes?
Think of Shortcodes as singular content elements and Blocks as a mixture of content that can be repeated elsewhere.
You may have three overall Show Notes Templates, for:
Solo episodes
Interview episodes
Seasonal bonus episodes
Each Show Notes Template may have different content to suit each particular type of episode, which is not uncommon.
However, you may have two different types of “footer” content: one for seasonal bonus episodes and one that you use in solo or interview shows.
In this instance, you would create two Blocks and use one inside your seasonal bonus episodes Template and the other in both your solo and interview Template.
However, regardless of which type of episode you publish, you want to include the [hiatus-message] Shortcode within your show notes because you want any listener, listening to any episode to see the notice that new episodes will resume on a certain date.
By using a Shortcode for this message, you can include it in both Blocks and all three Templates but, when you need to change the hiatus message, you only need to update it in one place for it to update every episode in your library automatically.