# Episodes Guides for creating and editing episodes and using the episode editor. ## Creating episodes An **episode** belongs to a show and is built from a sequence of **segments** (recorded or uploaded clips, or inserts from your library). ### Who can create episodes Only users with **manager** or **owner** role on the show can create new episodes. **View** and **editor** roles see the option disabled. ### Add a new episode 1. Open the **show** and go to the **Episodes** section. 2. Click **New episode**. 3. Enter at least the **title** (and optionally description, season/episode numbers, and other metadata). 4. Save or continue. Open the episode to edit it. Episodes in the list are grouped into **Draft**, **Scheduled**, and **Published**. Closing major edit dialogs prompts if there are unsaved changes (Keep editing / Discard). ### Next steps - **[Episode editor overview](#episode-editor-overview)** - Build the episode from segments, trim, and render. - **[Publishing and status](#publishing-and-status)** - Set draft/scheduled/published, optional expiration, and publish to your feed. - **[Segments](Segments.md)** - Recording, uploading, library inserts, chapters/soundbites, and building the final episode. ## Episode editor overview The **episode editor** is where you build an episode from a list of **segments**. You can reorder them, trim, split, remove silence, add transcripts, set chapters and soundbites, then generate the final audio file. ### Main areas - **Segment list** - The ordered list of segments that will be concatenated into the final episode. Each segment is either recorded for this episode, uploaded as a file, or inserted from your [library](Library.md). - **Waveform / segment editor** - Visual representation used for trimming, markers, and positioning. See [Segments](Segments.md). - **Show Notes** - Collapsible panel for planning call topics: add topics with optional duration (5–30 min), mark items as discussed, drag to reorder, and choose whether guests can see notes (**Share with guests** by default, or Host only). Collapsed by default. When shared, guests on a [group call](Group-calls.md) can open **See Show Notes**. (Listener-facing attachments are [Episode Files](#episode-files), not this checklist.) - **Scheduled meeting** - When WebRTC is enabled, schedule a future group call from the episode summary: reserve a join code and link, invite guests, then **Start Meeting** in the join window. Separate from ad-hoc **Start Group Call**. See [Group calls: Scheduled meetings](Group-calls.md#scheduled-meetings). - **Final Episode box** - Collapsible publishing panel and action tiles for build, download, Archive / Backup (when Archive Settings are configured), chapters, soundbites, transcript, and (when allowed) video. See [Publishing and status](#publishing-and-status) and [Episode archive and backup](Episode-archive-and-backup.md). - **More tab** - Episode Podcast 2.0 fields, cast assignment, delete episode (owner/admin), and related metadata. See [Podcasts: Podcast 2.0](Podcasts.md#podcast-20-and-page-customizations). ### Workflow 1. **Add segments** - Record new sections, upload audio, or insert from the library. See [Segments](Segments.md). 2. **Reorder** - Drag segments to change order. 3. **Edit** - Trim, split, remove silence, EQ, or apply noise suppression as needed. 4. **Optional** - Generate transcripts (Whisper), use LLM helpers, add chapter/soundbite markers, create a [poll](#polls). 5. **Build final episode** - Click **Build Final Episode** (label becomes **Final Episode** once audio exists). See [Making the final episode](Segments.md#making-the-final-episode). The editor supports real-time collaboration: other users with access see segment, call, and render updates live. ### Cast Assign **hosts** and **guests** from the show cast on the episode. Episode cast can appear on the public feed. Members with a private email are included when HarborFM sends [guest episode review](#guest-episode-review) preview emails (if they were not already on the meeting invite list). See [Podcasts: Cast](Podcasts.md#cast-hosts-and-guests). ### Video generation When the instance allows video generation (`ALLOW_VIDEO_GENERATION` and FFmpeg) and your account has **canGenerateVideo**, you can generate a video from final episode audio and a background image (episode artwork or optional uploaded video cover). Configure spectrum/waveform style, resolution (480p/720p/1080p), and orientation (landscape, portrait, or square). Status updates via polling and the episode WebSocket. Download and playback are available on the public feed when generated. ### See also - [Creating episodes](#creating-episodes) - [Segments](Segments.md) - All segment-related tasks - [Library](Library.md) - Reusable intros, bumpers, etc. - [Group calls](Group-calls.md) - Scheduled meetings, remote guest recording, Show Notes for guests, and meeting emails - [Guest episode review](#guest-episode-review) - Preview emails for hosts, invitees, and episode cast ## Polls Create a **listener poll** per episode from the episode editor (Polls dialog): multiple choice, yes/no, and short answer. Settings include enable, start/end, require email, public results, and one-vote-per-IP. Votes persist across rebuilds. On the [public episode page](Public-feeds-and-embed.md#episode-polls), listeners see a collapsible poll card. Creator results show counts for choice questions, plus paginated short answers and submitted emails (when email is required). ## Publishing and status Episodes can have a **status** (draft, scheduled, published) that controls whether they appear in the public RSS feed and when. ### Episode status - **Draft** - Not included in the public feed; visible only to you and collaborators in the app. - **Scheduled** - Set a publish date/time; the episode is not live for listeners until that time (unless **Show Scheduled Episodes** is on; see below). - **Published** - Included in the public RSS feed so subscribers and directories see the episode. ### Unlisted On Overview, Publishing, and Build Final Episode Publishing (when status is scheduled or published), you can mark an episode **Unlisted**. Anyone with the link can open the episode page and listen when it is released, but the episode stays off the public feed list, RSS, and sitemap. Switching back to **draft** clears Unlisted. When changing status from draft/scheduled to published, `publish_at` is set to now if it was empty. **Publish** and **Scheduled** stay disabled in the publishing panel until a **final build** exists. If the show has **Show Scheduled Episodes** enabled (see [Podcasts: Show settings](Podcasts.md#show-settings-and-artwork)), scheduled or future-dated published episodes appear on the public feed and episode pages as **Premiering [date]** until the release time; audio and waveforms are not served until then. ### Expiration Optional **Expires at** (datetime) in the publishing panel. When that time has passed, the episode is omitted from the public feed list, public RSS, sitemap, and public audio/video URLs. It stays in the studio (status does not change). If both **Publish at** and **Expires at** are set, Expires at must be after Publish at. By default, expired episodes are also omitted from subscriber/private feeds. Turn on **Keep expired episodes for subscribers** in Edit Show Details to leave them available on private feeds only (see [Podcasts: Show settings](Podcasts.md#show-settings-and-artwork)). ### Subscriber Only The **Subscriber Only** toggle on an episode omits it from the public RSS and (when the show does not list subscriber episodes publicly) from the public episode list; it still appears in tokenized subscriber feeds. Optional **Subscriber only from** and **Subscriber only until** datetimes refine when that gating is active: - No dates: always subscriber-only while the toggle is on (previous behavior). - Start only: public until that time, then subscriber-only. - End only: subscriber-only until that time, then public again. - Both: subscriber-only only while inside the window. The toggle is not cleared when the window ends; public surfaces simply stop treating the episode as gated. If both dates are set, start must be before end. ### Episode Files On the Final Episode card, **Episode Files** (requires **Can Upload Episode Files**) opens a dialog to attach files and links for listeners. Uploaded files are stored under the episode, named with a UUID on disk, and count toward the show owner's storage limit (freed on delete). Allowed types include common images (JPEG, PNG, GIF, WebP, HEIC), PDF, Office (docx/xlsx/pptx), ZIP, and plain text; uploads are checked by magic bytes. On the public episode page, Episode Files appear in a collapsed-by-default card between the description and Support The Show. Images open in a lightbox; YouTube and Vimeo links embed; other links and files download or open externally. This is separate from **Show Notes** in the episode editor, which is a private talking-points checklist for hosts and guests during production. ### Guest episode review When an episode first becomes preview-eligible (**draft** to **scheduled**, or **draft** to **published** and **unlisted**), and the episode has a [scheduled meeting](Group-calls.md#scheduled-meetings), HarborFM emails a one-time **review preview** link to: - The meeting host (account email) - Guests invited by email on that meeting - Episode cast members who have a private email and were not already on that list Recipients can open the link to preview audio (including scheduled episodes that are not public yet), **approve**, or leave **feedback**. The host is notified on response. Listed **published** episodes redirect preview links to the normal public episode URL. Reverting to **draft** revokes outstanding review tokens. Meta edits after the first notify do not send again. Email must be configured on the instance. See [Admin: Email](Admin-and-settings.md#integrations). ### Publishing workflow 1. Build your episode in the [episode editor](#episode-editor-overview) and click **Build Final Episode** so the final audio file exists. 2. Use the **Final Episode** publishing panel to set status to published (or scheduled). Optionally mark **Unlisted** if you want a link-only release. 3. If you use **Podcast Delivery** (export), deploy from the show's delivery settings so the updated RSS and audio are pushed to S3, FTP, or your other targets. See [Export and delivery](Export-and-delivery.md). Listeners see new episodes when they refresh the feed; if you use a CDN or external host, they may need to wait for cache or sync. ### Delete episode Owner/admin only: red **Delete Episode** at the bottom of the More tab. Confirm in the dialog; the episode is removed and you return to the episodes list. ### See also - [Episode editor overview](#episode-editor-overview) - [Making the final episode](Segments.md#making-the-final-episode) - [Export and delivery](Export-and-delivery.md) - [Public feeds](Public-feeds-and-embed.md#public-feeds)