What's new?

There are now two methods for listening to our podcasts - streaming and downloading. The easiest method is streaming the audio using the little Flash player displayed on the page. Simply click play and listen.

I can't see a Flash player on the page

Your web browser must have the Adobe Flash plug-in installed in order to display the player. Most browsers come with it pre-installed but if your browser isn't displaying the Flash player then you can enable Flash by downloading it from the Adobe website.

OK, I can see the Flash player. What now?

Click the play button and enjoy! The player will stretch open and a small coloured line will appear from left to right - this is the mp3 file loading. Grab your headphones or turn your speakers on as the audio will begin straight away.

You can alter the volume level by clicking and dragging the bars on the left-hand side. Move through the audio file by clicking within the central box where the scrolling text appears. Hit the pause button and the box will shrink; hit play again and it will pick up from where you left it.

Can I still download your podcasts?

Yes. Click the Download button and a 'Save as' dialog box will appear. Select where you want to save the mp3 file to and hit 'Save'. You can then listen from your computer's hard drive using any media player (try Windows Media Player, iTunes, WinAmp or VLC) or transfer the files to your MP3 player and listen on the move.

What does subscribe mean?

Glad you asked. You can stay up-to-date with brand new podcasts by subscribing to our audio feed. Whenever we upload a new podcast, the feed automatically updates. All subscribers to the feed can then download the new podcast.

Click the subscribe button alongside any audio file and four extra buttons will pop up:

• RSS                        

Select this and all our podcasts will appear as a list in your browser. If using Internet Explorer or Firefox, simply click 'Subscribe to this podcast'. The feed will then be saved as a bookmark for you. For more info see the Internet Explorer or Firefox help pages.

• iTunes                 

Choose this and the browser will launch the iTunes media player. If you haven't got iTunes installed on your computer you will be prompted to install it. If already installed, iTunes will load.

If you get an error message then simply click the iTunes button again, our podcast page will appear and you can then subscribe to the feed. See the iTunes help pages for more info.

• Yahoo!  

If you've got a Yahoo! account you can select this button and it will direct you to the MyYahoo! page where you can subscribe to our audio feed.

• Google                

If you've got a Google account this will direct you to Google where you can add our audio feed to iGoogle or Google Reader.

Learn more about our audio feeds here.

I'm streaming via the Flash player but I can't hear anything. What am I doing wrong?

It could be something simple like the sound is turned down on your computer or your speakers/headphones may not be connected properly. It may also be that you don't have a soundcard installed on your computer.

I've only got a slow dial-up connection, does this matter?

We've added information about the file size of each podcast next to the Flash player so you know how much you'll be downloading. If you're on a slow connection, it may take a little longer for the Flash player to load the files or for you to download them.

Do your podcasts have DRM (Digital Right Management) in them?

No, there are no nasty things like DRM in our podcasts. You can use them on any media player, across all platforms that can handle mp3 files.

Is there any legal information I should know about?

Yes, the multimedia files available through our Audio & Video section are distributed under Creative Commons license 3.0. For details of how this differs from the standard permissions for TheSite.org materials please see our detailed information on multimedia files. Please note that this applies only to the audio and video content created by TheSite.org. Some video content on the site isn't made by us and these videos clearly state that a different legal policy applies.

What file format are TheSite.org's podcasts?

Mp3. The bit rate may differ but we aim for 128k stereo to keep the file size down.

I've got a Mac - do I have to do something different?

No - Mac or PC, it'll work the same for both.

What hardware do I need?

You need a computer connected to the internet to either stream or download the mp3 files. To listen, your computer needs a sound card and either speakers or headphones.

You still haven't answered my question

There's no pleasing some people. Luckily we're nice enough to have set up a special discussion forum just for you.