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Jason Caldwell wrote:Thanks for the heads up on this thread.

I can certainly understand the frustration. I don't have time to do a full video at the moment, but I will certainly consider that for the future. For now, I'll just do a quick tutorial in this thread.

Please let me know if any of you have trouble.

1. Upload your feed itself ( i.e. your XML file ), along with all MP3 and other media files into the /plugins/s2member-files/ directory so that everything is guarded from public access. Or, if you'd prefer to use Amazon S3 storage, that's fine too. s2Member comes preintegrated with Amazon S3.

The most important thing with iTunes, is that your feed itself MUST also be password protected ( e.g. also uploaded to the /s2member-files/ directory ), otherwise the iTunes software client will NOT be capable of downloading protected files once it connects to and updates your Podcast feed. When your feed is protected ( as it must be for this to work ), the iTunes software will automatically prompt you to enter a Username/Password, thanks to s2Member's Remote Header Authorization ( i.e. s2member_file_remote=1 ).

2. Now formulate the link to your XML feed for iTunes. Yours might look something like this:

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http://jason.websharks-inc.net/?s2member_file_remote=1&s2member_file_download=itunes.xml

3. Now formulate the links to all media that you're protecting as well.
A protected file being served with Remote Header Authorization might look like this:

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http://jason.websharks-inc.net/?s2member_file_remote=1&s2member_file_download=kalimba.mp3

( be sure that your link ends with .mp3, otherwise ITunes will not recognize it as an MP3 file )

4. Review the example file that I've posted (below) as a guideline.
You can test my Test Podcast yourself, using the instructions provided here:
http://www.apple.com/itunes/podcasts/specs.html#testing

The Podcast feed URL for this test is:

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http://jason.websharks-inc.net/?s2member_file_remote=1&s2member_file_download=itunes.xml

( includes one MP3 file with song: Kalimba )

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<?xml version = "1.0" encoding = "UTF-8"?>
<rss xmlns:itunes = "http://www.itunes.com/dtds/podcast-1.0.dtd" version = "2.0">
    <channel>
        <language>en-us</language>
        <title>Jason's Test Podcast</title>
        <link>http://jason.websharks-inc.net/</link>
        <itunes:author>Jason Caldwell</itunes:author>
        <itunes:subtitle>Demonstrates s2Member's Remote Header Authorization</itunes:subtitle>
        <itunes:summary>Demonstrates s2Member's Remote Header Authorization</itunes:summary>
        <description>Demonstrates s2Member's Remote Header Authorization</description>
        <itunes:owner>
            <itunes:name>Jason Caldwell</itunes:name>
            <itunes:email>websharks-group@googlegroups.com</itunes:email>
        </itunes:owner>
        <itunes:image href = "http://jason.websharks-inc.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/itunes-icon.png" />
        <itunes:category text = "Technology">
            <itunes:category text = "Gadgets" />
        </itunes:category>
        <item>
            <title>Test MP3 File</title>
            <itunes:author>Unknown</itunes:author>
            <itunes:subtitle>Kalimba</itunes:subtitle>
            <itunes:summary>Track that comes with Windows 7.</itunes:summary>
            <itunes:image href = "http://jason.websharks-inc.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/itunes-icon.png" />
            <enclosure url = "http://jason.websharks-inc.net/?s2member_file_remote=1&amp;s2member_file_download=kalimba.mp3" length = "8409550" type = "audio/mpeg" />
            <guid>http://jason.websharks-inc.net/?s2member_file_remote=1&amp;s2member_file_download=kalimba.mp3</guid>
            <pubDate>Wed, 1 Jul 2011 01:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
            <itunes:duration>5:48</itunes:duration>
            <itunes:keywords>testing,s2member</itunes:keywords>
        </item>
    </channel>
</rss>

* Be sure that links containing ampersands ( & ) are converted to HTML entities inside your XML file ( i.e. & becomes & ). See: http://www.apple.com/itunes/podcasts/sp ... onmistakes

Jason Caldwell wrote:I don't have time to do a full video at the moment, but I will certainly consider that for the future.

Jason Caldwell wrote:I hear ya! More videos will be forth coming very soon.

Jason Caldwell wrote:I'll post a link to this forum walk-through for the benefit of other readers.
viewtopic.php?f=4&t=837&p=28558#p28558

Regarding a workaround for protected podcasts via iTunes...
I would suggest creating a free version of your podcast, which you could have listed at iTunes. If they don't list protected feeds, I'm not sure what other option you would have at this point. Perhaps you can offer something for free, as a way to introduce yourself via this marketing channel.