I was asked how exactly we use Archive.org to host our podcast files. So, here’s a little peek at how I get this show to your eagerly awaiting ears. I’ll use one of the live play episodes as an example. It’s really simple once you see how it works. First off, log into Archive and upload the finished MP3. Remember, once it has been uploaded, there’s no removing it, so check it over before you send it to the site. I’ve been bitten by this before by being in too much of a rush. While it’s uploading, it gives you several fields to fill out. A short description (which will be the URL on Archive), a long description, the creator/artist, keywords, and you select a license for the material. I usually select the Creative Commons that allows distribution but not for sale. Feel free to share it, but don’t sell our work. That’s all that comes down to. Once it’s done with the upload and all your info is complete, it will generate a page for your new file. Here is the page for the first episode of my MAPS game. You can see all the info I gave it when I uploaded the file. The web site There are two pieces that I use once this is complete. On the lower right, is the direct link to the MP3 file. It’s listed under “VBR MP3”, Just right-click and save the link to your clipboard. Then I put that into my PowerPress. This gets it ready to go out on the feed. The second part is based on the bandwidth speed limits of Archive.org. PowerPress has its own built in player that will allow a visitor to just hit a play button and it will stream. That doesn’t work very well from Archive, though. So, I use Archive.org’s own player. If you look at the page where I got the MP3 from, you’ll see a player at the top right. Click on the Greek building icon in the player, then highlight and copy the embed code it gives you. I paste that code to the Text tab of my show notes page, and it looks like this: Since the player is coming from Archive.org, it streams just fine. And now the show is forever available to the world. Just keep in mind that it is forever, though. I have no option to remove any of the files I’ve put up there, so if I ever wanted to limit access to old episodes behind a pay wall, it’s a no-go. That was never my intention, though, so I’m fine with it. Even if this site vanished, anyone can browse Archive.org and find all our stuff.]]>