Meeting recordings
So why did we change from the way we were listing meeting recordings?
It was not really an option. We have recordings 6 days a week dating back to 2012 and lately we have added a second meeting 5 days a week. Our volunteers were overwhelmed with the job of converting and adding recordings to the website in the manual process that we were using. Additionally we were having requests for better ways to search the massive lists to find recordings. Our old directory you had to manually search through 5 years of files that were separated by years to find what you were looking for.
What are the benefits of the new system?
- Improved backend maintenance – The lists are now created automatically as apposed to manually as before so uploading a file takes much less time.
- New search capabilities – Now you can search for anything (speaker name, share code, topic, chapters, etc. accross all years (that have been converted to the new system) for 7am, 10am, special editions, and convention recordings. To search click on the magnifying glass on the upper right corner of the listings.
- Really Simple Syndication (RSS) – Fancy term for Podcast. Are you tired of going to the www.avision4you.info website to see if there is a new recording posted there? If there were just a way to have your phone, tablet, or PC to let you know when a new file has been added as well as let you listen to it without having to go to the website. Well there is. RSS lets you connect your favorite podcast app to the website and notify you of new files as well as download or stream files directly from the website. That little orange sound wave looking symbol in the upper left corner of the listing pages is for setting up RSS. More information on how to setup below.
- Sorting – The default sorting of lists is by the filename which includes the date. This is why the dates are listed as XXXX-XX-XX, YEAR-MONTH-DAY. This is the only way the dates will sort correctly. However if you would like to sort by a different column, say page number or speaker, etc. All you have to do is click on the column header. This will resort the entire list by that column.
How do I setup a Podcast app to listen to the recordings from my Apple device?
- On Apple devices, the recordings when listening to the recording from the website, do not allow fast forward or reverse – This is due to a well known problem Apple has where they think the stream is of a live event instead of a recording. A workaround for this is to use the podcasts app on the device. Instructions are listed below.
- The web player on the page is difficult to use and obscures other parts of the list like the dates in the filenames, etc. – This is an issue with the software and we can only fix this with new software. You can search for dates and download files to listen as a workaround until this is resolved.
How to setup RSS (Podcasts) on an Apple device. This is provided as-is and we at AV4U are not providing support of apps on devices but this was one that a lot of members asked for, helped create, and test so we are adding it here to help. Thanks for all who were involved.
- Go to https://www.avision4you.info from web browser like safari or chrome
- Click on “Special Editions” menu option
- There is a little orange wireless symbol under the title “Special Editions”. Hold your finger on the symbol for a couple of seconds then release. When the menu pop up comes up, press “Copy”.
- Open up the IPhone’s “Podcasts” app. This app is installed by default on Apple devices. You may find it in a group called “Extras”. Once inside the app there should be a plus sign in the upper left corner. Tap on the plus sign. Then choose add podcast. Then in the podcast pop up there is a field to add the address for the podcast. Hold you finger on the field area for a couple of seconds and then release. Paste the copied link into address field and tap on subscribe.
- You should see “A Vision for You Special Edition” podcast in you podcast list. Select it.
- click “feed” and there should be a gigantic list of episodes.
- to find a particular episode, go to “My Podcasts”. In the search bar at the top of the page, type in what you’re looking for, like “Harlan” and relevant episodes will appear!
