Glossary

The glossary defines terms you’ll encounter as you read Using iTunes U Public Site Manager.

• All Courses feature box  

  A box in your provider page containing links to all the courses added to your site.



• administrator  

  A user who has administrative authority for networks, servers, databases, or other information technology assets. Administrators can manage, create, edit, and customize many aspects of an iTunes U Public Site Manager site. Administrators can add, hide, and delete content, create and customize pages, and then publish content live for users in the iTunes U area in the iTunes Store. Administrators can also define one or more additional administrators and contributors to help create, edit, and manage a site and content. See also contributor.



• Apple ID  

  A unique user name that allows you to sign in with administrative access to your site. All administrative access is integrated with an Apple ID.

  If you have an existing account at Apple (iTunes Store, MobileMe, Apple Store, AppleCare, ADC), you can use the same account information. You can create a new account or reset your password at http://appleid.apple.com.



• artist  

  See provider.



• Audit URL  

  The URL for a course page. You can use the URL to view the course before publishing.



• box  

  A general term for any of the following user interface elements: What’s New box, Top Downloads box, custom feature box, and so on.



• categories list  

  An area in your iTunes Store provider page containing links to category pages. iTunes U Public Site Manager automatically populates the categories list with predefined categories, based on data from your collections.



• category page  

  A page in the iTunes Store that displays groupings of collections you associated with a particular predefined category. You can assign predefined categories to your site’s items, allowing your content to be displayed within category pages and therefore providing users a subject-based navigation method for discovering your content. After you associate a category with at least one item in your site, and the category is the majority for the items within a collection, you can customize the category page.



• channel  

  A part of an RSS document. See also RSS feed.



• collection  

  A group of audio, video, PDF, or ePub files meant for download by subscribers, or by those viewing a specific page. Users can download individual items or subscribe to collections so items are automatically downloaded as they become available. Collection items are downloaded to your computer and you can copy them to an iPod, iPhone, or iPad.

  iTunes U Public Site Manager defines collections as new, edited, hidden, deleted, or live. A new collection is a collection recently added to your site, but not yet published to your users. An edited collection is a collection marked to go live with updates (for example, a previously published or hidden page with new unpublished changes). A hidden collection is a page temporarily blocked from your users. A deleted collection is a page marked for deletion. A live collection is a collection you previously published to your users, and has not been modified.



• collection page  

  A page in the iTunes Store that the public uses to access items (for example, audio items and video items) available for download. iTunes U Public Site Manager creates and populates collection page information based on RSS feeds hosted on your servers or on Apple’s servers. Whether your collection page is associated with a provider-hosted or Apple-hosted feed, the RSS feed is the single source of data for your collection page.



• configurable pages  

  Pages in iTunes U Public Site Manager used to configure, edit, and customize page design and layout. Any of the following: configurable provider page, configurable category page, and configurable tag page.



• contributor  

  A user who has contributor access to an iTunes U Public Site Manager site. Contributor access is limited to adding courses and adding and editing the set of collections defined by a site administrator or added by the contributor. More than one contributor can sign in at the same time to add and edit content in an iTunes U Public Site Manager site. See also administrator.



• course  

  A series of educational lectures, lessons, interviews, and so on, in a particular subject. Courses consist of info (including an overview, outline, and instructor profile), posts (including assignments), and materials (for example, audio and video items). Instructors can create and prepare content for a course by recording lectures, developing assignments, creating videos and podcasts, uploading keynote presentations or other documents and handouts, and much more.



• course page  

  A page in iTunes U that administrators, instructors, staff, and students use to access items (for example, audio tracks and video tracks) in a course. Instructors create course pages using iTunes U Course Manager. See also course.



• description area  

  A location, or zone, in your provider page, used to introduce your site to your users and describe your site’s purpose, content, and so on.



• enclosure  

  A value in the reports manager to indicate the number of times a user subscribes to a collection or course and an individual item (audio, video, PDF) is downloaded as it becomes available as part of a subscription.



• episode  

  See item.



• ePub file  

  An electronic publication file (ePub). A digital version of a printed publication, created according to the ePub format. The ePub format is a free, open eBook standard developed and maintained by the International Digital Publishing Forum (IDPF), a nonprofit standards organization.



• feed editor  

  An editing tool in iTunes U Public Site Manager used to edit RSS feeds hosted on Apple’s servers. Use the feed editor to add and edit channel and item details and upload content.



• globally unique identifier (GUID)  

  A unique, case sensitive, reference number for each item in a collection. A GUID can be the source URL, the RSS feed title, a serial number, or any other unique number. For example, <guid>http://cupertinouniversity.edu-dz/collection1.mp3</guid>. GUIDs only need to be unique within each RSS feed.



• GUID  

  See globally unique identifier (GUID).



• item  

  Each individual, downloadable audio, video, PDF, or ePub file used within a collection page. iTunes U Public Site Manager displays items in an item list within a page, as a link in a box or list, and so on.



• iTunes ID  

  A canonical identifier for a collection in your site. In iTunes U Public Site Manager, the last set of numbers in a collection page URL link.



• iTunes U Course Manager  

  iTunes U Course Manager is a web-based tool for instructors affiliated with educational institutions who want to create, edit, design, distribute, and teach all-digital courses.



• Languages list  

  An area in an iTunes U Public Site Manager page containing links to language pages. The Languages list appears when you add it to your provider page and your site contains courses or collections in more than one language.



• list  

  A general term for any of the following user interface elements: Quick Links list, Categories list, Top Collections list, tag list, URL list, Languages list, and so on.



• metadata  

  Supplemental information about a media file type. For example, an audio file contains audio information. The name of the person that created the file, the length of the file, the title of the file, description, and so on, are all examples of metadata a file might contain.



• page path  

  A user interface element within an iTunes U Public Site Manager page that allows the user to see where the current page is in relation to the site’s top-level, or main page. The path controls the navigation between pages. You can configure page names and affect what appears in the page path.



• podcast  

  See collection.



• provider  

  A university, museum, public media organization, or other cultural institution creating, designing, managing, and providing content for an iTunes U Public Site Manager site.



• provider page  

  A page in the iTunes Store that the public uses to access collection, tag, category, and See All pages and items in your site. Your top-level, or main page used to welcome your users to your site.



• RSS feed  

  A standardized web feed format used to publish frequently updated content, such as collections. For performance and usability, limit the number of items in a feed. Apple recommends an upper limit of 50 items in a collection. If a collection has a large number of items, your content is less likely to be featured in iTunes U and can be more difficult for users to search and browse, thus making your content less discoverable.



• See All page  

  A page in the iTunes Store displaying all the collections, courses, or items featured in the specific feature box.



• site  

  A set of interconnected pages, including a main provider page, prepared and maintained as a collection of information by a person, group, or organization. For iTunes U Public Site Manager, a set of pages and associated content that make up a provider's presence in the iTunes Store.



• tag  

  A keyword associated with one or more collections.



• tag list  

  An area in an iTunes U Public Site Manager page containing links to tag pages. You specify which tags appear within the tag list.



• tag page  

  A page in iTunes U Public Site Manager that displays groupings of collections you tagged with a particular tag. You can tag your site’s collections, allowing your content to be displayed within tag pages and therefore providing users a navigation method for discovering your content in addition to the predefined iTunes U categories. After you tag at least one collection in your site, and add the tag to a tag list to your provider page, you can customize the tag page.



• Top Collections list  

  A list in your provider page containing links to the top collection downloads by subscription for your site. iTunes U Public Site Manager begins collecting download data as soon as your site is active. About a half a day after the first collection is download from your site, iTunes U Public Site Manager has enough data to determine the most downloaded collections and display the top collections in the Top Collections list. Click “more” at the bottom of the Top Collections list to display a See All page containing all your top collections. The iTunes U Public Site Manager ranking is based on your user’s download activity and the top collections are specific to your user's iTunes Store locale.



• Top Courses list  

  A list in your provider page containing links to the top course downloads by subscription for your site. iTunes U Public Site Manager begins collecting download data as soon as your site is active. About a half a day after the first course is download from your site, iTunes U Public Site Manager has enough data to determine the most downloaded courses and display the top courses in the Top Courses list. Click “more” at the bottom of the Top Courses list to display a See All page containing all your top courses. The iTunes U Public Site Manager ranking is based on your user’s download activity and the top courses are specific to your user's iTunes Store locale.



• Top Downloads feature box  

  A box in your provider page containing links to the top collection, course, or item downloads for your site. iTunes U Public Site Manager begins collecting download data as soon as your site is active. About a half a day after the first item is download from your site, iTunes U Public Site Manager has enough data to determine the most downloaded items and display the top downloads in the Top Downloads feature box. The iTunes U Public Site Manager ranking is based on your user’s download activity and the top downloads are specific to your user's iTunes Store locale.



• URL list  

  An area in an iTunes U Public Site Manager page containing hypertext links to additional content, supporting documents, and content considered external to the primary content. You can link to content both internal and external to your site.



• visitor  

  A unique user to your site. iTunes U Public Site Manager tracks visitor on a per day basis.