MM3 Podcast feedback

[ewschone]

It seems that this might be the most appropriate place to post this, so here are my observations on MM3.

First of all let me say that it works well for me. I dont do a lot of special things with MM, just keep a library of all my mp3's and sometimes send a few to my Zen (V).

Installed MM3 and was very happy to see podcast support. I have still been using the old Juice program because i couldnt find anything better. Now MM seems to do a good job. One thing that is lacking though is an opml file import support. I know you can import a directory, but it only seems to accept http links, which is not what I am looking for. Juice can export my podcast list and all i want to do is import that.

When updating my podcasts it seems MM starts downloading each and every podcast file I want to download at once. Which clogs up my internet line. It would be better if you could specify the number of files MM should download at any one time (2 or 3 would be preferable).

Other than that, thanks for my new podcatcher .

[telliott]

Installed MM3 and was very happy to see podcast support. I have still been using the old Juice program because i couldnt find anything better. Now MM seems to do a good job. One thing that is lacking though is an opml file import support. I know you can import a directory, but it only seems to accept http links, which is not what I am looking for. Juice can export my podcast list and all i want to do is import that.

I agree. There should be a way to import an opml file from the local hard drive. I exported my iTunes podcast list to a file and had to upload it to a web server before I could add it.

Also, when subscribing to a podcast, why is "Custom settings" checked by default? Why do we have default settings if everything is customized? If I forget to uncheck it, changing default settings will have no affect.

Tim

[Guest]

Installed MM3 and was very happy to see podcast support. I have still been using the old Juice program because i couldnt find anything better. Now MM seems to do a good job.

I've been looking at the new 3.x features, but can't find any mention on the website of podcatcher or rss features. I own 2.5 Gold, but didn't buy the lifetime version, so I'll get to pay another $20 if I want to go to 3.x. I'd really like to know more about the podcatcher features. Podcatching is the only feature that would make me want to upgrade. The other new features, although cool, don't really matter to me personally.

[watson21]

One thing that is lacking though is an opml file import support.
When updating my podcasts it seems MM starts downloading each and every podcast file I want to download at once. Which clogs up my internet line. It would be better if you could specify the number of files MM should download at any one time (2 or 3 would be preferable).

Other than that, thanks for my new podcatcher .

If you have a large list of subscriptions, as I have, bulk importing is a necessity.
Both these issues make me hesitate to change over from iTunes just yet.

[steve_c]

I have just recently come over from iTunes and here is what I miss in podcasts:

• There is no quick way to see which subscriptions contain unlistened-to podcasts. A workaround is to create a smart playlist of them and sort by number of times played, 0 at the top
  MM seems to download only one at a time, so it is slower than iTunes. I can't see a list of what is pending for download either
  New subscriptions are not automatically synced with a connected iPod - one has to check off a box in a menu to get them to sync
  One can't pause certain downloads (e.g., if you don't want to wait for them, instead get them next time you open MM)
  I'd like more choices on how many to keep vs. auto-delete - IIRC it's a hop from 2 to 5 and I like 3

That's all I can think of right now

[curtish]

Is there a way to create folders under "Podcast Subscriptions" or categorize the podcasts?

I have various types of podcasts (news, talk shows, music mixes, etc.).

Rather than be sorted alphabetically, it would be nice to create folders for your podcasts so we can organize them more efficiently. Once you get a lot of podcasts, management becomes very difficult and it is hard to find what you would like to listen to.

Thanks,
Curtis

[Killjoy12]

Sorting into directories is a good suggestion. I'd like to see that as well.

[steve_c]

...When updating my podcasts...It would be better if you could specify the number of files MM should download at any one time (2 or 3 would be preferable)...

I would like this a lot. I subscribe to many podcasts. MM updates one at a time, and it can thus take hours to update all podcasts (which I like to do daily). iTunes allows several to download simulataneously. MM should be able to do the same. One can manually do the same by pressing the update key combination several times in a row to create several parallel downloads, so there's not a technical limitation.

[Ludek]

Thank you. Added to our to-do list as post MM 3.0 issues.

4393: Allow import OPML dirs from a local drive
4394: Update all podcasts : Add an option to download all podcasts simultaneously rather then sequentially

[Lowlander]

4394) A connection limit would probably a good idea if parallel imports are supported. ie Limit to X simultaneous podcast downloads.

[SJMK]

Hy,

Sorting the podcasts into different directories and a backup function for the podcasts would be a great thing. I hope this will be possible in the next time.

SJMK

[Owyn]

Sorting the podcasts into different directories

You can do this now with an appropriate Podcast Downloads folder option setting.

I use the destination mask "J:\Podcasts\<Album>\<Title>", where J: is a data partition on my system.