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[JustinChase]

I'm trying to clean up some stuff, and Podcasts are in the spotlight today.

In looking at the "Downloaded podcasts" smartlist under Podcasts that comes with the default install of MC, I'm seeing some weirdness.  I reported this long ago, and nothing came of it.  Maybe this time will bear more fruit.

As you can see from the screenshot, I have an audio track showing up as a podcast, and i cannot make it go away.  the only thing I can surmise is that since there is an "episode URL" in the tag, it's considered a podcast.  Unfortunately, this is not a user editable field.  meaning 2 things; I didn't screw this up myself, I can't.  and also, i cannot fix it myself

It also shows a media subtype "TV show", which I didn't enter, nor did I think one could have subtypes for Audio files.  Weird!

I have a few other audio tracks that are in this list also, along with maybe a dozen TV shows.  (Frame Toby, Gettysburg and Morrocan Christmas are but a few, which are shown in the screenshot)

How do I clean this up?

[rjm]

grrrr... I really dislike that episode URL tag.

On several occasions I have wanted to change a podcast to a normal audio file that behaves like an audiobook. The only solution I could find was to use a 3rd party app to nuke all tags (since no one edits the episode URL tag) and then re-tag from scratch.

I think there should be an advanced switch that makes all tags user editable.

Another candidate for royal pain in the posterior is Removable.

[glynor]

Audio files can certainly have a [Media Sub Type].  There are a bunch of them in the sub types list that are for audio files, including Podcast and Audiobook, among others.

You can change the [Media Sub Type] if it is wrong, in all cases.

I don't have the Downloaded Podcasts populated at all on my system (because I use my mobile devices directly for podcasts), but if it isn't filtering out other [Media Sub Types] than I'd say it is broken.  And it sure appears to be from your screenshot.  It should filter out any file where [Media Sub Type] is not Podcast.

As far as fixing those files... Have you checked the files themselves to see if they actually have a URL tag embedded in their tags?  Not MC's Library, but the files themselves?  I'm wondering if that's where those errant URLs are coming from.  If so, you can probably remove the tag in question with another tagging tool, and then do an Update Library (from Tags) and fix them.

I think there should be an advanced switch that makes all tags user editable.

Another candidate for royal pain in the posterior is Removable.

Agreed.

[rjm]

It's been a while since I experimented in this area but podcasts are "special". The URL fields seem to define them and override Media Sub Type.

[bwaldron]

From past experience with this type of editing task (in reverse -- I was trying to get old episodes back into my library to be treated as podcasts), I believe that the "Episode URL" field in JRiver corresponds to the PODCASTID tag, and I was able to edit it with MP3Tag.

As far as fixing those files... Have you checked the files themselves to see if they actually have a URL tag embedded in their tags?  Not MC's Library, but the files themselves?  I'm wondering if that's where those errant URLs are coming from.  If so, you can probably remove the tag in question with another tagging tool, and then do an Update Library (from Tags) and fix them.

[glynor]

It's been a while since I experimented in this area but podcasts are "special". The URL fields seem to define them and override Media Sub Type.

I think only in regards to that special Downloaded Podcasts list.

When I used to use MC for Podcasts, I never actually used that list.  I had views for them under Audio and Video and in Theater View and whatnot.

[rjm]

I think only in regards to that special Downloaded Podcasts list.

When I used to use MC for Podcasts, I never actually used that list.  I had views for them under Audio and Video and in Theater View and whatnot.

yes, you are right

[JustinChase]

Yes, it only seems to show up in that view, not in the regular podcast listings.  however, I still need/want a way to remove the URL to get them out of there.

BTW, I have no idea how they got there in the first place.

I'd also like a way to add a URL to force manually downloaded episodes back in line with the rest of them.  Or a way to search further back, so just download it the 'regular' way, and save me the trouble of finding then tagging the older episodes.

Also, what's the difference between "Orphan" and "Not in feed"?  I have a close to even split between these 2 "Episode Status(es)".  The rest of the tags seem pretty much all the same, just this status.

[bwaldron]

To force a file to show up as a podcast throughout Media Center, you set Media Subtype to Podcast and add/edit the PODCASTID tag (this is Episode URL field in JRiver). You need to use a third-party tag editor to do the latter, as the field isn't editable in Media Center -- I use MP3Tag. You may also want (need?) to set PODCASTURL (the URL for the Podcast XML file) to have it show up with the other episodes; I can't recall if I had to do that.

To stop a file from being treated as a Podcast, do the opposite  

As far as going "further back" to see older episodes, I think this is a matter of what the podcast provider has kept in their feed; Media Center seems (for me) to show all available episodes from the podcasts I subscribe to.