As I contemplated creating some audio posts for my class next semester, I realized that I'd like to have an independent tool to create and manage the RSS feeds. Dan Bricklin's ListGarden seemed like the perfect solution but for one problem: When I looked, I realized it didn't do enclosures.

I actually finished the first draft of my last chapter (for my Digital Identity book) yesterday and so, as a reward before I started editing, I decided that a little recreational hacking would be fun. I grabbed the latest source for ListGarden (1.02) and modified it to use enclosures. I think I've been pretty true to Dan's coding style and usage. Here's the patch file for ListGarden.pm in version 1.02.

After I was done, I used the patched tool to produce this little test feed. I didn't have any MP3s that I'd produced, so I borrowed Adam Curry's introduction to iPodder. I hope he doesn't mind. I was able to add the feed to iPodder and have it download the enclosure and stick it in iTunes.

The tool uses an HTTP HEAD request to get the content type and length for any valid URL you enter as an enclosure to make it easy to use. If you put in your own type and length, they're left just as you specify them for situations where the server doesn't return the right information. As a result, you also need the LWP::UserAgent and HTTP::Request libraries installed in addition to those that Dan uses.

I'll send the changes to Dan. Maybe he'll incorporate them into the next version of ListGarden, but until then enjoy the patch. If you run into problems, feel free to contact me. I don't promise to fix any problems, but I might. :-)