Creating a feed
iTunes uses RSS 2.0 plus additional iTunes and iTunes U elements. This section covers the additional iTunes U elements needed to create a properly configured RSS feed for iTunes U Public Site Manager.
When creating an RSS feed for use with iTunes U, begin by following the guidelines outlined in Making a Podcast at http://www.apple.com/itunes/podcasts/specs.html and keep the following in mind:
If you create a feed using port numbers other than the default port 80 (for example, in the feed URL, or in image or enclosure URLs), use port 8080.
Be sure every item has a globally unique identifier (GUID) that never changes. When you add items to an RSS feed, iTunes U Public Site Manager compares GUIDs to determine which items are new and updates collection data with the new information from the RSS feed as needed. If the GUID for an item is not unique, iTunes U Public Site Manager returns an error for the RSS feed. If you omit the GUID for an item, iTunes U Public Site Manager uses the RSS feed title. If you omit the GUID for an item, and there is no RSS feed title, iTunes U Public Site Manager returns an error for the RSS feed. iTunes U Public Site Manager does not keep a GUID history. If you change the GUID for an item, even if you change it back, information such as item rank is lost.
For provider-hosted content, to optimize your server bandwidth and performance:
Enable byte-range serving. Enabling byte-range requests for streaming and resumption of downloads on your web server allows you to send portions of content at a time and can improve the performance of the content caching system iTunes U Public Site Manager uses.
Verify your server includes and supports: Last-Modified or ETAG headers, partial GET, HEAD requests, If-Modified-Since GET, and If-None-Match GET.
In addition, you’ll need the following iTunes U - specific elements:
<itunesu:category itunesu:code=" ">
The category element allows you to assign your site’s content to predefined iTunes U categories, helping iTunes Store users browse content of interest to them within your site. Sites approved for inclusion in the iTunes U area in the iTunes Store can categorize content by subject, thus providing users a subject-based navigation method for discovering content. If you do not categorize your items, users might have a hard time finding your information in the iTunes U area in the iTunes Store.
Within your feed, to indicate you are including iTunes U category elements in the iTunes U namespace, you must add the additional xmlns:itunesu attribute with a value of "http://www.itunesu.com/feed" to the root <rss> element. For example:
<rss xmlns:itunes="http://www.itunes.com/dtds/podcast-1.0.dtd" xmlns:itunesu="http://www.itunesu.com/feed" version="2.0">
Then, for example, to convey the category called “Economics” for an item, include the <itunesu:category itunesu:code="100100" /> element within the <item> element. For example:
<item> |
... |
<itunesu:category itunesu:code="100100" /> |
<enclosure url="http://example.com/podcasts/myeconomics101,_lecture_1.mp4" /> |
... |
</item> |
Notes:
If iTunes U discovers more than one instance of the <itunesu:category> element in an <item> element, iTunes U only uses the first instance to categorize the item.
If iTunes U does not find an instance of <itunesu:category>, or the first instance is invalid, iTunes U assumes that there is no category data for the item and removes any previously cached category data for the item. An <itunesu:category> element is considered invalid if it does not contain an <itunesu:code> attribute or it contains a category code that does not map to a predefined iTunes U category. For a list of categories and codes, see “Category codes.”
<itunes:order>
The order element allows you to specify the display order of items in your collection.
You can use this element to override the default ordering in the iTunes Store. Specify the number value in which you want the item to appear in the iTunes Store. For example, if you want the <item> to appear as the first item in the collection, you specify “1” in the <itunes:order> element.
For example:
<item> |
... |
<itunes:order>2</itunes:order> |
... |
</item> |
Notes:
If iTunes U does not find an <itunes: order> element, it displays items based on the most recent publication date (newest at top). If iTunes U does not find a publication date, it displays items by the date the items were added to your iTunes U site (newest at top).
Ordering within a collection is based on the current page item list sort order. To see the items in a page in the same order specified in the feed, users must sort the item list in the page in ascending order using the Track Number column.
<itunes:isClosedCaptioned>
The closed captioned element allows you to specify whether or not an item contains closed captioning information.
You can specify the following values: YES, NO. If you specify YES, iTunes U Public Site Manager displays the Closed Captioning icon throughout the user interface and the iTunes Store. If you do not specify a value, or do not include the closed captioned element, iTunes U Public Site Manager cannot determine if your item contains closed captioning information and does not display the Closed Captioning icon.
For example:
<item> |
... |
<itunes:isClosedCaptioned>YES</itunes:isClosedCaptioned> |
... |
</item> |
<itunes:image href=" ">
The image element allows you to specify artwork for individual items.
To specify artwork for each item within a feed, specify an image URL (for example, http://example.com/example.jpg) in the href attribute.
For example:
<item> |
... |
<itunes:image href="http://example.com/example.jpg" /> |
... |
</item> |
Notes:
iTunes U supports images in JPEG and PNG formats, with appropriate file extensions (.jpg, .png). Images should be at least 600 x 600 pixels. Apple recommends creating square, 1400 x 1400 pixel JPEG images.
If iTunes U does not find an <itunes:image> element, it displays the contents of the RSS image tag.
When updating an item’s image, be sure to use a different filename. iTunes U might not update the image if it checks your feed and the new image URL is exactly the same as the current image URL.
<itunes:complete>
The complete element allows you to specify whether or not you intend to add additional content to your collection.
Specifying "yes" in the <itunes:complete> element indicates that you will not add any more items to the collection. If the <itunes:complete> element is present and has any other value (for example, “no”), there is no effect on the collection.
For example:
<channel> |
... |
<itunes:complete>yes</itunes:complete> |
... |
</channel> |
<enclosure url=" " type=" ">
The enclosure element allows you to include a Portable Document Format (PDF) or electronic publication (ePub) file in an RSS feed.
For example:
<item> |
... |
<enclosure url="enclosure url="http://example.com/podcasts/RSS-Basic.epub" type="application/epub+zip" length="220869"/> |
... |
</item> |
For example:
<item> |
... |
<enclosure url="enclosure url="http://example.com/podcasts/RSS-Basic.pdf" type="application/pdf" length="220869"/> |
... |
</item> |
<link>
The link element allows you to include a website URL in a provider-hosted feed.
When you include the link element in your RSS feed, iTunes U Public Site Manager displays the Website link in your collection page.
For example:
<channel> |
... |
<link>http://cupertinouniversity.edu-dz</link> |
... |
</channel> |
Related Topics
© 2013 Apple Inc. All Rights Reserved. (Last updated: 2013-04-01)