Glossary of Terms
RSS feed
The XML document podcast apps read. It contains show metadata and episode items.
Feed URL
The public address of the RSS feed, such as https://example.com/feed/my-show.
Podcast
The show-level record in Selfhost Podcasting. It stores the feed slug, title, description, artwork, categories, owner data, settings, integrations, and attached episodes.
Episode
An item inside a podcast feed. It has media, title, description, publish date, duration, and optional metadata.
Enclosure
The RSS element that points podcast apps to the media file. It includes URL, byte length, and MIME type.
Media URL
The direct audio or video file URL used in the enclosure. It may be a Media Library file, remote file, VideoPress-resolved URL, or S3 bucket URL.
Feed description
The episode copy used in the RSS feed and podcast apps. It is edited in Edit for Feed.
Website content
The WordPress post content for the episode page. It is edited separately in the block or classic editor through Edit for Website.
Feed Ready
The list-table status showing whether an episode has the required fields needed to appear correctly in a feed.
All Episodes
The global admin screen that lists episodes across every podcast and supported storage type.
Podcast preview
The HTML preview page generated by the plugin from the same podcast data. It is opened by adding shp_preview=1 to the feed URL.
Analytics prefix
A redirect prefix added before media URLs so a third-party analytics provider can measure downloads.
S3-compatible storage
Object storage using the S3 API, such as Cloudflare R2, Amazon S3, or Wasabi.
Background job
An asynchronous task used for uploads, delete cleanup, and missing duration repair.
Migration
The process of creating Selfhost Podcasting records from supported existing WordPress podcast plugins.
Feed takeover
Serving a migrated Selfhost podcast at the source plugin's original feed URL.
Private RSS
A Pro private feed URL that includes an access token for one listener.
Website-only listening
A Pro private delivery mode where authorized WordPress users listen on the site instead of receiving a podcast-app RSS URL.
Subscriber
A Pro access identity. It can be tied to a WordPress user or stored as a guest name/email.
Grant
A Pro access record from a manual action or commerce source.
Token
The private feed credential used to access a protected RSS feed or preview.