i will warn you all though that if you manually sync music the music
library playlist is not mentioned therefore not all content can be
synced manually
On 22 Nov 2008, at 13:38, Esther wrote:
Hi All,
Thanks, Scott, for saving me from typing up a reply to Will. I was
in the middle of saying that the present iPods already let him
automatically manage podcasts (or any other content on his iPod).
For podcasts, there's a separate sync category with selections like
"all unplayed episodes" or "two most recent episodes", etc. and
that's present on every iPod. Those sync selections (for podcasts)
are separate from whatever gets synced as checked playlist under
music, movies, etc. What makes these conditions particular powerful
is that the iPod will dynamically update. That means it can apply
these rules based on how you listen to tracks on the iPod. "Played"
content includes tracks that are played through on your iPod.
In addition to the sync rules for podcasts, which are specified
separately from your music, etc. you can also handle podcasts (and
other tracks) as elements of smart playlists, which can be checked
to sync with iTunes. When you sync to smart playlists, the rules
that govern the smart playlist determine what is on that playlist --
these could be rules like rating above 3 stars, genre is rock,
artist is <your selected artist>, tracks not played in the last 2
months, etc. Furthermore, smart playlists can be built up of other
smart playlists and regular playlists to cover different
categories. Maybe you want one set of rules that say you only want
frequently played and highly rated tracks but you want to apply them
playlists that you set up for specific artists or categories. These
can also be built with limit conditions so that the total playing
time is less than 2 hours, or the space used by a smart playlist is
less than 500 MB, etc.
Just some examples. I've added a few comments to Scott's post below
(flagged with "Esther")
Cheers,
Esther
On Nov 22, 2008, at 1:10 AM, Scott Howell wrote:
Will, it's quite possible the feature you wish is already present.
Now I'll be honest and say that I must be doing something wrong
because I haven't quite gotten it to work correctly.
Esther: These rules are correct, but they apply to automatic
management of podcasts in iTunes (on your computer). They work in
combination with rules for automatic management of podcasts on your
iPod. In iTunes, you can set things up so that episodes are
automatically deleted once they have been "played". This means
"played" either in iTunes on your computer or on your iPod if you
have your iPod set up to sync content. (Syncing can only be
performed between an iPod and one iTunes account, and updates iTunes
database information on both the device and on the iTunes account on
your computer.)
So, let me explain. You can have a podcast configured so that as an
episode is completed, it can be essentially marked for deletion.
So, when you sync your iPod again, the completed podcasts episodes
are removed. How this is done is:
1. Choose the podcast you wish to configure from the list. Do not
do this from the iPod, but just from within iTunes.
2. Interact with the podcast you wish to affect. Interact with the
top-level not the individual episodes.
3. Press VO+shift+m to bring up the contextual menu.
4. locate the "Allow autodelete" and press enter.
What is confusing is if you go back and check this, you see an item
now that says do not allow autodelete, but the allow autodelete
item has gone away. My assumption is and I still have to test is
that this should configure things so that the podcasts are removed.
Esther: Correct. If you have iTunes set up to automatically download
episodes in your podcast subscription, "Allow Auto Delete" is a
setting that lets iTunes automatically manage deletion of podcasts
(on the hard drive of your Computer). For podcasts, any episode that
you manually download is flagged "Do Not Auto Delete". But this can
include episodes you grabbed for listening because they appeared
before you started your subscription or cases where an extra episode
was released between the interval of the last automatic podcast feed
check. If you use a setting like "Keep all unplayed episodes" or
"Keep last 5 episodes" to manage your podcast subscription, iTunes
will only be able to delete "played" or "old" episodes that allow
auto deletion. iTunes can't tell whether these are episodes you
manually downloaded because you specially want to keep them. So you
can use the contextual menu to mark the, "Allow Auto Delete". If
you want to allow iTunes to automatically manage deletion of all
episodes in the podcast, change this setting in the contextual menu
at the folder level so it will apply to all episodes.
What is really interesting is that you must completely finish the
podcast, in other words, advance to the end of the podcast. Other
than removing it by hand, there is no way i am aware of to just
mark it to be removed on the next sync.
Esther: For this part you are speaking about managing podcasts on
the iPod. I assume you have the box for "all unplayed episodes"
checked for the iPod podcasts. In this case, yes, "played" podcasts
mean that you actually played the last few seconds of the podcast
(even if you fast-forwarded through the center). If "played" meant
"started playing", then podcasts that you just started listening to
would be removed, and this would be extremely annoying! But there
is another way to handle this, and that would be to put the
podcasts into smart playlists that get synced. Podcasts can be
handled either way: using the conditions for general podcast
syncing, or by including them in playlists just like regular music
tracks. For instance, you could have your news program podcasts
checked under the podcast tab setting. Then you could have a podcast
series that was an audiobook that is unchecked on the podcast tab,
but which you put into a smart playlist. That smart playlist could
be one of the checked playlists to sync under the Music tab for the
iPod. It would also show up on the iPod. It's behavior would be
regulated by the smart playlist rules.
HTH
Cheers,
Esther
Now if I'm incorrect in my understanding and your thinking more of
a feature that will let you mark the podcast regardless of where
you are in the episode to be removed upon next sync, then please
send a note to Apple via the iTunes feedback option under the
iTunes menu from the menu bar.
Good idea.
On Nov 22, 2008, at 3:23 AM, Will Lomas wrote:
Hi to all
I am obtaining my new nano today so excited :)
I do however, have a suggestion.
If one has loads of podcasts, it is going to be cumbersome to have
to remember what you have listened too when next syncing the nano
i.e. which ones to delete off the mac if you don't wish to hear
them. I therefore have a suggestion.
Wouldn't it be good if one could delete a podcast after listening
to it from the nano itself? then one could say when next syncing
you have x amount of podcasts marked for deletion. erase off
IPod only radio button or, IPod and mac
One could then if they wish check a checkbox to say do the
selected action each time i sync i.e. it will tell you which
podcasts off the nano are marked for deletion and then you can
confirm them automatically to be deleted
Do people think this could be a relevant feature of the nano and
or i tunes?
regards will
Scott Howell
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
