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RSS Broadcasting from a Directory: Podcasting, VODcasting, and more!

What is DirCaster?

DirCaster is a PHP script that allows one to very easily start Podcasting MP3 files from their web host. This allows original content creators to easily provide a feed for the Juice Podcast Receiver, jPodder, and other "podcatching" software.  The feed is also fully iTunes compliant!

Simply drop the dircaster.php script (and accompanying files) into a directory on the web server and it will generate a valid RSS feed suitable for Juice Podcast Receiver, etc., based off the MP3 files (with appropriate ID3 tag information) in that directory. To broadcast a new MP3 file, simply upload it to the same directory that contains the DirCaster script and files.

DirCaster was originally written by Ryan King at www.shadydentist.com.  The ID3 class from is from frummel.  There is no license or warrantee expressed, implied, enclosed, etc.  The project has many contributors and more are welcome to join the effort!  Contact the current maintainer, Dr. Bill Bailey, at DrBill [AT] DirCaster.org for more information!  (Please replace the "[AT]" with an "@" sign.  This helps prevent spam to our e-mail address... thanks!)

Feed information is based on ID3 tags within the MP3 files that you post to the directory containing the DirCaster script.  The information can be added to your MP3 file using a tool like "MP3 Tag Tools," another great Open Source project!  Or, the excellent FREE tool called "MP3tag" located at: https://www.mp3tag.de/en/

The current version: 

DirCaster Version 1.0 - Updates below:
 Major update to DirCaster by Chris Arndt - arndtc@gmail.com - added these updates:
 Added README.md and documentation.
 Centered table to cleaned up the page layout.
 Update getID3() library by James Heinrich to v1.9.20 (2020-06-30)
 Updated index.php to use config_inc.php Updated index.php table to add duration Updated index.php layout and misc code cleanup Updated changlelog for HEAD to point to git log
 Fixed PHP7 errors

ALERT!  We now have enhanced DOCUMENTATION!

 NOTE: In the file override.php - check location for jquery! (Search file  for the term "jquery" and read note.)

The prior version:

DirCaster Version .09k - Swapped out getID3() library by James Heinrich to later version (as of  February 26, 2018) to fix metatag parsing errors

Earlier Versions:

DirCaster Version 0.9j - Added the capability to edit the override .txt files viaa web interface.   You may now go to: https://yourdomain.com/dircaster/override.php and edit  theoverride files (your URL will vary, of course.)  Be sure to set your  file attributes to allow writing.  Please read allnotes, and other  documentation to fully understand this new function.

DirCaster Version 0.9i - Added "The Cloud Option" - A method of allowing media files to be stored in another location than in the DirCaster directory, for instance, in a Cloud storage location, like Amazon S3.  This would also allow the use of Amazon Cloudfront to better distribute media world-wide. The override '.txt' tag [enclosureURL] DID NOT WORK in previous versions, it has been corrected in this new (.9i) version.  Added override '.txt' tag for PubDate, to allow conrol of the date when a media file is posted.  Format must be in an iTunes compatible string, such as:
Sat, 01 Sep 2012 18:37:48 -0700  NOTE:  If you downloaded 0.9i on the day of release, PLEASE re-download to get the latest, greatest version NOW!

DirCaster Version 0.9h - Fixed an issue that caused newer versions of PHP to break DirCaster's ability to display the description of a file from the later (new) version of getid3 (getid3-1.9.1-20110810) - also fixed a date issue. Please be sure that the timezone is specified in your php.ini, i.e. =
date.timezone = "America/New_York"

DirCaster Version 0.9g - Added logic to allow placing media files in a separate directory.  Numerous bug fixes. Thanks to Lars Hermerschmidt!

DirCaster Version 0.9f - Added logic to increase or decrease web server time by 1 hour. Can be used in case of bad web server times due to annual time shifts.

DirCaster Version 0.9e - Fixed a bug in displaying comments in the feed listing.

DirCaster Version 0.9d - Item duration code modified to handle media files with duration over 60 minutes.  Made the system more modular.

DirCaster Version 0.9c - Added in the ability to define a variable that allows for the use of  an enclosurePrefix for such systems as the Raw Voice Media Stats system (TechPodcasts, Blubrry.)  For more information on Blubrry Stats, see this link.

DirCaster V0.9b - Added in a guid change to allow for multiple files that had the same file date in the feed, and identifies them as "false" for permalinks.

DirCaster V0.9a - Added a test so that the ?ft=[filetype] would display ONLY files that  are listed in the "sftypes" list

DirCaster V0.9 - Revised item GUID tag to be more unique, Added channel keyword tag, Aligned XML tag indent. Looks better when reviewing raw XML. Added parameter to allow the selection of a single file type: dircaster.php?ft=[filetype]

DirCaster V0.8a added logic to obtain <item> overrides from a text file.  (See the override.1st file for details.)

The latest version can be downloaded at this link: DirCasterV1-0.zip