This how-to is based on the old how-to I made for the old PodGuides.net site.
Some things are obsolete. An up to date how-to will follow shortly. Patience.
However... the basic principles do stay the same, so this might still be an interesting read.
Welcome to this PodGuide Tutorial.
Let us show you how easy it is to create a PodGuide all by yourself. No, no, please don't go running away now... it really is quite easy! Stop! Hey wait! Give it a try will you!?
First, think of a good subject for your PodGuide. This can go from interesting places in your hometown to cool pubs or even the occasional museum visit. Don't copy existing audio tours, those things have copyright!
Once you've found a subject, you can make a map of your tour with all the stopovers marked with a numbered dot (beginning with no.2 since no.1 always is the intro track). Each stopover means that there's a track to be played at that location.
Now that your map is made (as a jpg or PDF) you can start collecting data on what you'll be telling at those stopovers you've marked on the map.
OK, you've got a map and you know what to say at each stopover. Now let's head out with our recording gear. This can be an iPod with a microphone adaptor, or anything with recording capabilities actually.
At each stopover, you record the things you want to say. You also make a picture of the subject you're talking about. This way, people can easily find what they should be looking at.
After you've got everything recorded, you can start editing the tracks in an audio application of your choice. Make sure to add a spoken reference to the track number so that iPod Shuffle users or other mp3 players without image-showing-capabilities know which track they're playing.
When all your tracks are prepared, add them to iTunes (or another conversion app) and convert them to mp3 files. Be sure to remove the original tracks (wav,aif,...) from the iTunes Library afterwards.
Add the appropriate pictures to the ID3 tags of each track. This way, iPod Photo (or other mp3 players who can show artwork included in ID3 tags) owners can see the artwork while they're playing the tracks. People who don't own an MP3 player that has this capabilitiy will have to print the accompanying PDF that PodGuides.net will be providing with each uploaded PodGuide.
Fill in the mp3 tags of each track. Try to fill in as many tags as you possibly can. This simplifies retrieving the tracks for all users. iTunes is a good (free) application that lets you do this very easily.
Create a folder with the name of your PodGuide. Put your PodGuide map in that folder. Then create a folder called 'MP3' in the same PodGuide folder. That folder is where you put all your mp3 files.
Zip the whole package and submit it to PodGuides.net
Editorial note: Some steps from this howto were left out. These steps were about PodGuide Generator. An app I made (Windows, Mac, Linux compatible). PodGuide Generator allows you to package all the mp3's, the map and all the pictures into one neat folder, all ready to zip and upload. This app let to some confusion, and people thought this app was obligatory to be able to create podguides. It's not.
For those who are interested:
PodGuide generator for Windows
PodGuide generator for OS X
PodGuide generator for Linux
For those who are interested in the sourcecode for this app (Realbasic) feel free to contact me via the contact form.