Switching from Seriously Simple Podcasting or PowerPress
If you’ve been managing your podcast with Seriously Simple Podcasting (SSP) or PowerPress and want to add paid subscriber tiers, Benecaster handles the transition with a built-in episode importer. Your existing episode catalogue converts automatically — you’re not starting from scratch.
This page covers what the transition involves, what the real pain points are, and how to cut over cleanly.
What Actually Changes
Episodes. SSP and PowerPress manage episodes in their own formats. Benecaster uses its own Episode post type. Benecaster’s setup wizard offers a one-time import that reads your existing episodes and creates them in Benecaster’s system — title, description, audio URL, episode number, season, artwork, and publish date all transfer automatically. After the import you fill in Benecaster-specific fields (mainly tier access and availability settings) in a review table before going live.
Your public podcast feed URL. SSP and PowerPress generate their own feed URLs. Benecaster generates a new one. Existing listeners who have your feed saved in their podcast app are unaffected during the transition — see The feed URL change below.
Where you create episodes going forward. Once you’ve cut over to Benecaster, all new episodes are created in Benecaster. You don’t split episode management between two plugins.
Your membership plugin. Nothing changes. Benecaster connects alongside your existing MemberPress, WooCommerce Subscriptions, Paid Memberships Pro, or Restrict Content Pro installation — it doesn’t replace it.
What Doesn’t Change
- Your audio files. They stay at Buzzsprout, Libsyn, Transistor, S3, or wherever they are. Benecaster points at the same URLs.
- Your existing listeners. Public podcast subscribers continue receiving episodes throughout the transition and after.
- Your membership plugin, subscribers, and billing.
- Your WordPress theme, pages, and content outside of podcast episode management.
The Import Process
Benecaster’s setup wizard detects SSP or PowerPress on activation and offers the import as a setup step. You can also trigger it later from Benecaster → Settings → Tools → Import Episodes.
The import reads your existing episode data and creates Benecaster Episode posts. After the import runs, a review table shows all imported episodes with any fields that need your attention:
| Episode | Audio | Tier Access | Available From |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ep 47 — The Deep Dive | ✓ | All Tiers ▾ | Immediately ▾ |
| Ep 46 — Q&A | ✓ | All Tiers ▾ | Immediately ▾ |
Tier Access defaults to All Tiers — every episode is available to all paying subscribers immediately, which is the right starting point for most shows. You can adjust individual episodes to restrict them to specific tiers or set availability dates before going live.
Shortcode flags. If your episode descriptions contain SSP or PowerPress shortcodes ([podcast_episode], [powerpress], [ss_podcast], etc.), the review table flags those episodes and suggests the equivalent Benecaster shortcode. Most can be replaced in one click; some may need a manual review depending on how the original shortcode was used.
The import is safe to re-run. It won’t create duplicate episodes — each imported episode is tracked by its source ID.
The Feed URL Change
This is the part that looks complicated but isn’t.
While SSP or PowerPress is still active, your existing public feed keeps working unchanged. Existing listeners in Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Pocket Casts, and every other podcast app continue receiving episodes with no interruption. You have time to set up Benecaster, run the import, and test thoroughly before cutting over.
When you’re ready to cut over, set up a 301 redirect from your old feed URL to Benecaster’s public feed URL. Most podcast apps follow 301 redirects automatically and update their stored URL — existing listeners transition silently without needing to do anything.
Your old SSP feed URL looks something like:
https://yoursite.com/feed/podcast/
Your Benecaster public feed URL will be displayed in Benecaster → Settings → Feeds.
How to set up the redirect depends on your host:
- Most managed hosts (WP Engine, Kinsta, Cloudways): add a redirect rule in the hosting control panel
- Apache: add a
Redirect 301rule in.htaccess(see example below) - Nginx: add a
return 301directive in your server block (see example below) - Redirection plugin: if you use a redirect plugin, add the rule there
Apache (.htaccess)
Add the following inside the <IfModule mod_rewrite.c> block, replacing the old path with your actual SSP/PowerPress feed path:
RewriteEngine On
RewriteRule ^feed/podcast/?$ https://yoursite.com/benecaster-feed/ [R=301,L]
Common SSP feed paths: /feed/podcast/, /feed/?post_type=podcast
Common PowerPress feed paths: /feed/podcast/, /feed/ (if PowerPress has a custom podcast-only feed)
Check your current feed path in SSP settings (Podcasting → Feed Details → Podcast RSS Feed Slug) or PowerPress settings before writing the rule.
Nginx
location ~ ^/feed/podcast/?$ {
return 301 https://yoursite.com/benecaster-feed/;
}
Reload Nginx after adding the rule (sudo systemctl reload nginx or equivalent for your host).
Testing the redirect
Visit your old feed URL in a browser — you should land on Benecaster’s feed. Use curl -I https://yoursite.com/feed/podcast/ to confirm the response is 301 Moved Permanently. If you see a 302 or 200, the redirect rule isn’t in place yet.
Spotify — Public Feed Vs. Private/Subscriber Feeds
Spotify does not follow 301 redirects for private or subscriber-only feeds. This matters if you ever give Spotify a token-protected feed URL (which Benecaster doesn’t recommend — Spotify should always receive your public feed). For the public feed, Spotify does follow 301s for episode delivery but does not automatically update its directory record.
Practically speaking: your Spotify listeners will continue receiving new episodes through the redirect. The podcast’s directory listing in Spotify, however, still shows your old feed URL until you update it manually.
To update it: go to Spotify for Podcasters, navigate to your show, and request a feed URL change. Spotify reviews these requests manually — allow a few days. In the meantime, your Spotify listeners receive new episodes normally via the redirect.
Per-App Notes
| App | Follows 301 automatically | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Apple Podcasts | Yes | Allow 24–48 hours; show record updates automatically |
| Spotify | Partially — episode delivery yes, directory record no | Update feed URL manually in Spotify for Podcasters |
| Overcast | Yes | |
| Pocket Casts | Yes | |
| Castro | Yes | |
| Podbean | Yes | |
| Amazon Music / Audible | Yes, but may take several days | Check after 3–5 days |
| iHeart Radio | No | Update feed URL in iHeart’s podcast portal |
| Google Podcasts | No longer active |
For apps not listed here: most modern podcast apps follow 301 redirects automatically. If a specific app loses the show or shows stale episodes after the redirect, update the feed URL manually in that app’s podcast directory portal.
Can I Keep SSP Running Alongside Benecaster?
Briefly, as a safety net — not long-term.
The problem is episode creation. Both plugins manage episodes separately. If you create a new episode in Benecaster, it appears in Benecaster’s feeds but not SSP’s. If you create it in SSP, the reverse. Running both means manually creating every episode twice, which isn’t a workable situation.
The practical window for co-existence is the transition period: import your episodes, test Benecaster’s feeds, set up the redirect, confirm everything looks right — then deactivate SSP. That process typically takes a few days to a week depending on how thoroughly you want to test.
If you’re using SSP-specific features that Benecaster doesn’t yet support, you may want to keep SSP active temporarily until Benecaster’s support catches up. Benecaster ships the core Podcasting 2.0 podcast: namespace — if you have questions about specific tag coverage, check the release notes before cutting over. In that case, be deliberate: pick one system to create new episodes in and don’t split your episode management.
Cutover Checklist
- [ ] Install and activate Benecaster, complete the setup wizard
- [ ] Connect your membership plugin bridge
- [ ] Run the episode import from Settings → Tools → Import Episodes (or during setup wizard)
- [ ] Review the import table — set tier access and availability as needed
- [ ] Replace any flagged shortcodes in episode descriptions
- [ ] Test Benecaster’s public feed in a podcast app
- [ ] Set up the 301 redirect from your old SSP/PowerPress feed URL to Benecaster’s public feed
- [ ] Verify existing listeners are receiving episodes via the redirect
- [ ] Update Spotify for Podcasters with the new feed URL
- [ ] Deactivate SSP or PowerPress
- [ ] Create all future episodes in Benecaster
What Transfers, What Doesn’t
| Field | Transfers? | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Episode title | ✓ | |
| Episode description | ✓ | Shortcodes flagged for review |
| Audio file URL | ✓ | Points to same hosted file |
| Episode number | ✓ | |
| Season number | ✓ | |
| Episode type (full/trailer/bonus) | ✓ | |
| Publish date | ✓ | |
| Episode artwork | ✓ | |
| Explicit flag | ✓ | |
| Tier access settings | — | Benecaster-specific — set in review table |
| Per-tier availability dates | — | Benecaster-specific — set in review table |
| SSP/PowerPress download stats | — | Historical stats stay in SSP/PowerPress |
| Blubrry statistics | — | Not transferred |
| SSP shortcodes in content | ⚠ | Flagged for replacement |
