A Start to Finish Podcast How-To using FFPC

Here's the basics on how to setup a podcast using CCK/Views/Filefield and FileField Podcaster (FFPC from here on out):

1. Be aware this is a Drupal 6 compatible workflow only. Trying to do this on Drupal 5 will crash airplanes and set fire to innocent people's houses.
2. Install the required modules (some of these modules may require other modules...install those too). They include:
   • FFPC
   • CCK
   • Views 2 (you must be using Drupal 6 or higher and Views 2)
   • FileField (you must enable filefield_meta.module that is included with filefield as well)
   • getID3
   • jQuery Media or SWFTools
3. Once you install these modules and have them activated, create a new CCK content type called "podcast" or "audio" or whatever you want.
4. In this content type, in addition to the title and body, add a new field of type "file" (enabling filefield makes this possible) and set it up as you please.
5. Prepare your audio/video files and add in any ID3 information directly into the file (we hope a solution will be developed soon to allow you to edit your ID3 data right within the node creation...but as of now you must add this data into the file before upload)
6. Create a podcast episode by going to the Create Content screen (/node/add) and choosing your newly created content type. Give it a title (and a description if you please) and upload your audio (or video) file into the file field. Save your node.
7. In order for a player to display, you must setup the jQuery Media module to automatically detect the media and display a flash player. To see details on how to set all this up, watch this great screencast. (or maybe you want to use SWFTools and/or 1PixelOut Player instead!)
8. At this point you should have nodes that can play audio in a player on the site. But all this is precursor to actually making use of FFPC.
9. Now, let's setup FFPC!. Create a new node-type view in Views 2. In the Views interface on the left sidebar, select the dropdown to create a new View type. Instead of choosing 'page' or 'block' choose "Feed". Add that View type.
10. The only 4 things required by a FFPC view are:
    • Add a new field. For this field, under "Content" simply choose your filefield from your podcast CCK content type
    • Add the path. This is the URL of your podcast feed. Under path, simply add what URL you want to use
    • Change the "Style" of the View to "Podcast Feed"
    • Change the Row Style of the view to "Podcast Episode"
    • You can add anything else to filter your view as well such as content type, published, promoted, or any other filters you want...but they are not required
11. That's it. You now have a podcast feed at the URL you set in your view. Happy Podcasting!