Podcast Generator is an open-source Web-based podcast CMS that you can use to manage your podcasts. With Podcast Generator, you can easily upload your podcasts (be it audio or video), enter your episode information, publish it in your home page and have it automatically create podcast w3c-compliant feed, including iTunes specific tags.

Podcast Generator doesn’t require any database to work. As long as your Web server supports PHP, you will be able to run it.

The installation is extremely easy. Once you have uploaded the whole Podcast Generator folder to your web server, navigate to the Web URL in your browser and follow a simple 5-steps procedure to set up the software. The whole process will not take you more than 5 minutes.

Once you have set up the software and login to the Admin screen, you will be prompted to configure the details for  your podcast.

Uploading your podcast

When you upload a new episode of your podcast, you are required to fill in the podcast title and its description. Same as WordPress, you can categorize your podcast and sort them according to their category. Extra information that you can provide include podcast image, iTunes keywords/tags, Author’s name and email address.

As soon as your podcast is uploaded, the software will auto generate the podcast RSS feed and iTunes feed to allow your readers to subscribe.

Other features

Some of the other useful features found in Podcast Generator include:

Creating Categories

This is where you can manage your podcast categories.

Themes

At the moment, there are only two themes for you to choose from, buit you can easily create your own themes as long as you have some html and CSS knowledge. Unlike WordPress that have a complicated themes structure, Podcast Generator uses only an index.html and a stylesheet, so it is easy to customize it, or even create your own.

iTunes Settings

What good does it do if you run a podcast site that doesn’t support iTunes? In Podcast Generator, you will find lots of support for iTunes and plenty of options that you can configure.

Selecting the iTunes categories for your podcast. You can choose up to three different categories.

Using WordPress and Podcast Generator

Most of you could still be using WordPress and have no wish to migrate to another software. In this case, you can still install Podcast Generator in a separate folder (such as http://www.yoursite.com/podcast). Use it to manage your podcast, then promote the RSS/iTunes feeds in your WordPress blog. In this way, you won’t have to worry that the podcast plugin will break everytime you upgrade your blog.

Conclusion

If you are comparing Podcast Generator to WordPress, Podcast Generator is definitely not up to the marks, but if you are looking for a software to better manage your podcast and serves as an addon functionality to your existing site, then I am sure Podcast generator will easily do the job well.

Image credit: thevoyager

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With that all being said, what is a “webmaster” to do when content and a clean interface are really what they want? Should they create an HTML page in Dreamweaver and update content directly on the page every time one of their writers submits an article to them? Theoretically they could but that would make their life more difficult than it really has to be. Instead they should turn to a Content Management System, or CMS.

Content Management Systems basically keep the content separate from the interface of the website while maintaining a clean look and endless possibilities. The next question becomes, what are my options and what should I use? In reality, there are very, very many options, but only some of the options really matter for personal users.

When I look for a CMS for a personal blog or website I look at a few key things:

Functionality : What exactly can this CMS do for my website? What will it allow and not allow?

Price : If it’s for my personal website, it’d better be FREE! Also, be wary of how the software is licensed and how you are entitled to use the software.

Security : How fast are security vulnerabilities fixed? How many people contribute to bug fixes, etc.?

Extensibility: This goes along with functionality. Does the CMS offer plug-ins or extensions? That is, can I add functionality and expand my site if I wish to do so in the future?

This article is going to focus on two major Content Management Systems that, in my opinion, are the only two that matter or have something to offer for everyone. You can, of course, dispute this in the comments. Let us know what CMS you use or favor.

Wordpress

The first CMS to highlight is called WordPress (which is what Make Use Of runs on). WordPress was started in 2003 and is released as free, open-source software, meaning it is developed for and by the community. WordPress is a very functional, extensible, and easy to use blogging content management system. With WordPress you can create just about anything from a family photo journal to large scale news site.

At WordPress.org, you can find the open source software that you can run on your webhosting service. It takes a little bit of know how to set up but if you’re lucky, your webhost might have an auto-installer for it. For those of you that don’t have hosting or don’t want to get into the configuration and setup, WordPress.com gives you your own free WordPress blog. It is like a blogging social network of sorts. WordPress is very secure and reliable because of its large user base and development backing. It is extensible through thousands of plug-ins to use on your WordPress site. Your site can grow as you grow.

Drupal

The next CMS is Drupal. Drupal is an open source content management system framework which means you can build anything from a static two page site to a high traffic social network. With this huge pool of flexibility comes a much more advanced set up and configuration. It will take you longer to get your site ready but it may make more sense in the long run.

The latest version of Drupal 6.x, gives a very clean admin panel with status and error logs so you can track most errors and know when your installation is out of date. This applies to all of your modules (referred to as modules in the Drupal community), themes, and core. Drupal, like WordPress, is extremely extensible and secure. It also has a very large user base and developer base. Best of all, Drupal is my favorite price – free!

If you are developing a website or online platform, take into consideration WordPress’ ease of use and Drupal’s framework capacity. Check out their websites and real world examples, be sure they have themes or plug-ins that you do or may need later so you can be future-proof for whatever may happen in your website’s potential future. Good luck and may the best CMS win!

(By) Nick Volpe is a freelance blogger and web guru from techNETWORK.US,a provider of tech news, open source software, web development tools, useful tips, as well as podcasts, tech videos, and much more.

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