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Podcast App - RSS import creates duplicate episodes
Hello!
Working with a client, we used the "Import RSS" feature of the Podcast App. I had previously imported 51 episodes in one go this way, but wanted to pull in the latest episode that was not part of the initial import. I expected that only the new episode would be imported, and it was, but all previously imported episodes were imported, too.
I've saved some files and screenshots that demonstrate before and after states and the behavior I witnessed.
Here is a screenshot showing my initially imported episodes. (Episode titles blurred due to some some gut instinct.)
Here is a screenshot of my episode list after a second import. Oddly, the duplicate episodes are dovetailed into the initially imported episodes and share the same "Show Number". The only non-duplicated episode is the one new episode, #52. It may be worth mentioning that after that initial import I cleaned up the titles of each episode in Perch, as episodes were inconsistently named in the RSS feed. That’s why the episodes sharing the same show number have titles of different lengths, they really are the same episode. Could changing the titles confuse the RSS importer into thinking existing episodes don't actually exist?
After the second import, a cache file which appears to be related to the RSS import was detected as changed by Git. I compared before and after states of that cache file in a diff app, and some things do appear to be different, but the info for the previously imported episodes only differ by a single character. If it's any help, I've uploaded those cache files, too, if you’d care to see for yourself.
I hope this is just a bug! I note that episodes can only be added manually if a user has the role of admin. I’d rather not have to make my client an admin in order for new episodes to be added and the import is really nice when it works! Nicely prefilling a bunch of stuff that doesn't happen automatically, otherwise, like duration.
And, for good measure, my environment details.
Perch: 2.8.10, PHP: 5.5.26, MySQL: mysqlnd 5.0.11-dev - 20120503 - $Id: 15d5c781cfcad91193dceae1d2cdd127674ddb3e $, with PDO
Server OS: Darwin, cgi-fcgi
Installed apps: content (2.8.10), assets (2.8.10), categories (2.8.10), perch_blog (4.6), perch_podcasts (1.1), perch_twitter (3.5.1)
App runtimes: <?php $apps_list = array( 'content', 'categories', 'perch_blog', 'perch_podcasts', 'perch_twitter' );
PERCH_LOGINPATH: /perch
PERCH_PATH: /Users/abby/Sites/_clients/fwc/fwc-2015/perch
PERCH_CORE: /Users/abby/Sites/_clients/fwc/fwc-2015/perch/core
PERCH_RESFILEPATH: /Users/abby/Sites/_clients/fwc/fwc-2015/perch/resources
Image manipulation: GD
PHP limits: Max upload 32M, Max POST 32M, Memory: 128M, Total max file upload: 32M
Resource folder writeable: Yes
SCRIPT_NAME: /perch/core/settings/diagnostics/index.php
REQUEST_URI: /perch/core/settings/diagnostics/
DOCUMENT_ROOT: /Users/abby/Sites/_clients/fwc/fwc-2015
HTTP_HOST: fwc-2015.dev.192.168.0.103.xip.io
I’m embarassed for the really ugly ms- markup embedded in that cache file. It was before my time, really! o_O
Oops. And I posted that Diagnostics snippet before I updated Perch to see if maybe that had anything to do with anything. (Behavior is the same with 2.8.11). Here is an updated snippet:
So you're saying that if you import the data twice, you get twice the data? If so, that's just how it works. The functionality is intended for backfilling when moving an existing podcast to the platform. Once you've done the import, new episodes should be added via the app.
I was wondering about that! I didn't find that fact clearly stated anywhere, so wasn't sure.
So, the expected use case is to import legacy podcasts, then add all future podcasts to a CDN somewhere, let Perch create the RSS feed, then provide that RSS feed to iTunes (and to other folks who roll that way?).
My client is using Libsyn right now to syndicate, presumably to save on storage and bandwidth. I notice that AWS is pre-filled in the show file location settings. Is that where you would recommend podcast files be stored?
Thanks!
We don't make any recommendation - that's just the example because it's what we use.
Understood. I confess to some blatant angling for recommendations there. :D
Given the intended use case, I'll make some feature requests in a separate support thread. Thanks a bunch, I'll mark this as resolved!