Show Settings Reference

Show settings are found under Benecaster → Settings when a show is selected in the show switcher. The settings screen uses a two-column layout: a left navigation lists all settings sections, and the right area shows that section’s fields.

Settings apply to the currently selected show only. If you run multiple shows, each has its own configuration.

Settings Sections

The left navigation contains the following sections:

Section	What it controls
General	Show identity, author info, feed technical settings, iTunes category, publishing defaults, reference groups
Episode Types	Define episode types for this show, their display names, and their iTunes episode type mapping
Subscription	Which subscription plugin bridges to Benecaster, tier configuration
Visibility	Upload patron lists from Patreon or Supercast to see how your existing audience maps to Benecaster
Feeds	Per-tier feed settings
Feed Sync	RSS import from a previous hosting platform (Migration Wizard add-on)
Credits	Create and manage per-show credit templates that can be stamped onto episodes
Emails	Transactional email templates and from-name
Templates	Email template customization (Email Editor add-on)
Account	License status and account management
Add-ons	Add-on status, settings, and marketplace link
Tools	Import/export, diagnostics

The Save button appears on sections with editable fields.

General

Show Identity

Setting	Description
Show name	Title displayed in podcast apps and the RSS `<title>` channel element.
Subtitle	Optional tagline. Maps to `<itunes:subtitle>` in RSS.
Artwork URL	Square image, minimum 1400×1400px. Used in `<itunes:image>` at the channel level.
Short description	A plain-text summary of your show, 4,000 characters maximum. This is the primary source for the RSS channel `<description>` and `<itunes:summary>` elements. Also used in show listing cards and summary widgets on your site. A character count is displayed below the field and turns amber near the limit.
Description	Your full show description. Appears on episode pages and can contain rich HTML. When Short description is blank, Benecaster automatically generates a fallback by stripping tags from this content and truncating to 4,000 characters for RSS use.

Short description and RSS: Podcast directories display the channel <description> in search results and directory listings — keep it concise and representative. If you leave it blank, listeners will see a stripped version of your full description instead, which may be cut off at an awkward point.

Author

Setting	Description
Author name	Your name or show creator name. Maps to `<itunes:author>`.
Author email	Contact email for podcast directories.

Technical

Setting	Description
Language	Two-letter language code (e.g. `en`, `de`, `ja`). Maps to `<language>` in RSS.
Feed slug	URL path segment for this show’s RSS feeds. Used in every subscriber’s personal feed URL.
Copyright	Optional copyright notice. Maps to `<copyright>` in RSS.

The feed slug is part of every subscriber’s personal feed URL. Changing it after subscribers exist will break their feeds. Set this carefully before sharing feed URLs with anyone.

ITunes Settings

Setting	Description
Show type	Episodic (most shows) or Serial (story-based, order matters). Maps to `<itunes:type>`.
Explicit	Whether the show contains explicit content. Maps to `<itunes:explicit>`.
iTunes category	Primary category for Apple Podcasts and compatible directories.
iTunes subcategory	Optional subcategory — only shown when the selected primary category has subcategories.

Episodic vs. Serial: Most podcasts are Episodic — each episode stands alone and the most recent appears first. Serial is for story-based podcasts where listening order matters; some podcast apps present Serial shows differently, encouraging listeners to start from episode 1.

Advanced

Setting	Description
Seasons enabled	When on, a Season field appears on each episode editor. Season number maps to `<itunes:season>` in RSS.
Default release time	Default time used for scheduled episode publication. Episodes scheduled without a specific time use this value.
Block from directories	When on, adds `<itunes:block>yes</itunes:block>` to the RSS feed to request removal from Apple Podcasts and other directories. Use with caution — de-listing can be irreversible.
Mark as complete	Marks the show as complete in Apple Podcasts, signaling that no new episodes will be added.

Reference Groups

Reference groups are headings that organize links and resources in the References section of episode pages. Define groups here, then assign references to them from the episode editor.

The groups list shows all defined group names for this show in their current order. Drag rows to reorder — the display order here is the display order on episode pages.

To add a group, click Add group, type the name, and press Enter. To rename or delete a group, hover the row and use the Edit or Delete actions.

Groups can also be added inline without leaving the episode editor — choosing + Add new group… from a reference card’s Group dropdown creates the group immediately and selects it for that card.

Episode Types

Episode types label your episodes for podcast apps and the iTunes podcast specification. Benecaster provisions four default types when a show is created:

Type	iTunes mapping	Description
Full Episode	`full`	Standard episode — all regular content
Trailer	`trailer`	Preview clips and season teasers
Bonus	`bonus`	Supplemental content outside the main feed sequence
Sponsored	`full`	Sponsored content (reported as `full` to iTunes)

The Episode Types section lists all types configured for this show. Each row shows the label, the slug (short identifier used internally — set at creation and cannot be changed), the iTunes type mapping badge, and the number of episodes using that type.

Adding a type: Click Add episode type, enter a label, and choose the iTunes mapping (full, trailer, or bonus). The slug is generated automatically from the label and cannot be changed after creation.

Editing a type: Click Edit on any row to change the display label or iTunes mapping. The slug is read-only.

Deleting a type: Click Delete to open the delete dialog. Because deleting a type would leave existing episodes without a valid type, you must choose a replacement type before the delete is confirmed. All episodes using the deleted type are reassigned to the replacement automatically. Deletion is blocked when only one type remains.

Subscription

The Subscription tab is where you connect a membership plugin and map its levels to Benecaster feed tiers. It has two parts: the bridge picker at the top, and the tier mapping table below (visible once a bridge is connected).

Bridge Picker

The plugin list shows only the membership plugins that are currently installed and active on your site — not every plugin Benecaster supports. If MemberPress and WooCommerce Subscriptions are both active, both appear. If neither is installed, you’ll see the full list of supported plugins with links to their setup guides instead.

Selecting a plugin connects the bridge immediately — there is no separate Save button for this step. Benecaster begins listening for subscription events from the selected plugin as soon as you click it.

To disconnect the active bridge, use the Clear bridge selection link below the picker. Existing subscriber tokens are not revoked when you clear — subscribers retain feed access — but Benecaster stops receiving new subscription events from that plugin until a new bridge is selected.

Bridge picker in the Subscription tab

Tier Mapping

Once a bridge is connected, the tier mapping table appears below the bridge picker. The left column lists every subscription level (or plan, or product) from your membership plugin. The right column has a dropdown for each: assign it to a Benecaster tier, or set it to No access to explicitly exclude that level from feed access.

The Add tier field at the bottom of the right column lets you create a new Benecaster tier inline — type a name and press Enter. The new tier is immediately available in all dropdowns on this screen and in episode availability settings.

Click Save when your mapping is complete. The Save button atomically replaces all tier rows — unlinked tiers (tiers with no membership level currently mapped to them) are preserved.

Stale bridge warning: If you switch to a different membership plugin, an amber banner appears on this screen noting that your saved tier mappings reference the previous plugin. Re-save the mapping to clear the warning and sync with the new bridge.

Orphaned level notice: If a membership level that was previously mapped has since been deleted from your membership plugin, a blue info banner lists the affected levels. Their mappings will be removed automatically when you next save.

See Mapping Your Membership Tiers for guidance on common tier configurations and troubleshooting.

Supporter Wall (Phase 2)

The Supporter Wall section appears in the Subscription tab below the subscriber email settings. It controls the public display of opted-in subscribers on your site.

Setting	Description
Enable Supporter Wall for this show	Toggle the wall on or off. When off, the `[benecaster_supporter_wall]` shortcode renders nothing and the opt-in checkbox disappears from subscribers’ account pages
Display name format	Controls what name appears on each subscriber card: Display name (WordPress display name), Username, or First name only (a privacy-friendly option for subscribers who prefer not to expose their full display name)
Sort order	Controls the default order on the wall: Join date (oldest supporters first), Tier (highest tier first), or Alphabetical. Can be overridden per shortcode placement via the `order` attribute
Allow a “Why I support” message	Gated for a future batch — this toggle is not yet visible in the show editor. When enabled, subscribers will see a short text field on their account page where they can add a message that appears on their card

All four settings round-trip through PATCH /shows/{id} and take effect immediately on save.

See Supporter Wall for the full setup guide.

Visibility

The Visibility tab lets you upload your existing patron lists from Patreon or Supercast. This gives you a picture of how many of your current followers are on each platform before you start a full migration — without sending them anything or counting them against your Benecaster subscriber limit.

Each platform has its own panel. They work independently and can both be populated at the same time.

Patreon Panel

CSV upload — Export your patron list from Patreon’s creator dashboard as a CSV file, then upload it here. Benecaster reads the email column, deduplicates entries, and creates a shadow record for each address. Shadow records are stored internally with status = 'patreon_shadow' and are visible in your dashboard’s Patreon section as “unlinked” — they represent patrons who haven’t joined your Benecaster feed yet.

Manual count — If you can’t export a CSV (for example, if your Patreon tier is too low to access exports), enter your current patron count manually. This gives you a ballpark number on the dashboard without per-email records.

Re-uploading a CSV replaces the previous import entirely — it doesn’t merge or append. If you want to refresh your patron list, upload the new CSV and the old records are replaced.

Supercast Panel

Works identically to the Patreon panel. Upload a Supercast subscriber CSV or enter a count manually. Shadow records are stored with status = 'supercast_shadow'.

Shadow Records

Shadow records are kept indefinitely. They are:

Not counted against your Benecaster subscriber limit — they are visibility data, not active subscribers
Not sent any emails — shadow records have no user account and receive nothing from Benecaster
Preserved for migration — when you’re ready to do a full Patreon or Supercast migration using the Migration Wizard add-on, these records form the starting point for matching existing patrons to new Benecaster accounts

Clearing Records

Each panel has a Clear action that removes all shadow records for that platform. This is useful if you’ve completed the full migration and no longer need the patron list. Clearing does not affect any active Benecaster subscribers.

Tiers

Tiers are the access levels subscribers can have for your show. Each tier gets its own RSS feed URL and its own availability schedule. Tiers are configured via the subscription plugin’s membership levels and mapped in Settings → Subscription.

Each show’s tier list includes:

Field	Description
Internal slug	Short identifier used in URLs and availability rules (e.g. `free`, `premium`)
Display name	Human-readable label shown in the Benecaster admin
Feed URL	The public feed URL for this tier (tokenized feeds for subscriber tiers)
Is free	Whether this tier’s feed is public (no token required)
Subscriber count	Active subscribers currently on this tier

Deleting a Show

A show can be deleted from Benecaster → Shows via the show’s context menu. Deletion is permanent and cannot be undone.

When deleting via the REST API, pass "confirm": true in the request body. The DELETE endpoint rejects requests without this parameter as a safeguard against accidental deletion.

Deleting a show removes:

All episodes belonging to that show
All subscriber tokens for that show
All tier configuration for that show

Deleting a show does not cancel subscriptions in your membership plugin. If you remove a show, you’ll need to manage those memberships separately to stop billing subscribers.