Feed updates and Downloads

Why does DoggCatcher fail to download valid media files when I'm behind an authenticated proxy?

Submitted by eric on Tue, 08/09/2011 - 20:10

On some networks, users need to authenticate from a browser on their device to allow the device to connect to the internet. If DoggCatcher tries to download a media file prior to the authentication and the authentication proxy does not return a proper response code indicating that it was unable to provide the file, DoggCatcher will save whatever the proxy responds with. In this case, there really isn't any way for DoggCatcher to easily distinguish between a real media file and a bogus HTML response.

Why do I get a 'connection refused' error message with some feeds (including IGN)

Submitted by eric on Sat, 02/05/2011 - 01:08

This can be cause by ad blocker software.

See this post - http://www.doggcatcher.com/node/1067#comment-4950

Why is my feed not sorted by date even though I have set the sort order feed option?

Submitted by eric on Sun, 12/26/2010 - 22:26

Some feeds have dates for the items that are not in the proper format so they can be parsed. You can tell this is happening by pressing on the feed. You should see a date on each item. If there is no date displayed, then the date is not in the proper format required.

Why does DoggCatcher download media files that have been downloaded before?

Submitted by eric on Thu, 08/19/2010 - 18:56

DoggCatcher will only auto-download the media for new items. So DoggCatcher thinks that the item is new.

Sometimes, feed publishers change the title of the items. By default, DoggCatcher uses the item title to determine uniqueness for an item. So if an item changes its title, DoggCatcher will remove the old item (deleting the media) and add the new item. In this case the media will be downloaded again.

You can tell this is happening if you have items that are marked as done and then after a feed update, they then re-appear new.

Can I add a YouTube feed to DoggCatcher?

Submitted by eric on Mon, 08/16/2010 - 18:01

You can add a YouTube many different types of feed from YouTube. To add a YouTube feed, add a feed as RSS URL. You can learn about how to create YouTube urls here.

Why can't I see older items for a particular feed?

Submitted by eric on Tue, 08/10/2010 - 18:22

Some feeds only keep a certain number of items published.

The first thing to do is to check what items are available in the feed by pasting the feed URL into a browser. Try to find the item that you are looking for.

If it's not there, then the publisher has removed that item from the feed.

If it is there but it is not available in DoggCatcher, let me know and I'll look into it.

Why does the feed that I just added not look like I expect?

Submitted by eric on Thu, 08/05/2010 - 21:51

Identify the feed URL for the feed in question and paste the feed URL into a browser. This URL is what DoggCatcher will load to display the feed.

Feed description
You should see a description of the feed at the top.

Number of items
If you expect to see a particular item in DoggCatcher but it is missing, verify that it is in the feed. Some feeds only publish items going back so far while some feeds only publish one item.

Audio files
There should be links to audio files next to each item.

Does DoggCatcher support feeds that require a username and password?

Submitted by eric on Sat, 07/31/2010 - 10:45

Yes, DoggCatcher supports feeds that require authentication. The feed must support standard http authentication (most do).

Does DoggCatcher support feed x

Submitted by eric on Wed, 07/21/2010 - 20:07

DoggCatcher supports feeds in RSS format, which is the most common format used for podcasts.

There are more details here is the RSS url section about how to obtain a feed URL which is how you tell DoggCatcher the 'address' of the podcast.

DoggCatcher does not support Atom or ITunes format, although Atom support will be added in the future.

Why do I get an error when trying to add a feed with an RSS url

Submitted by eric on Tue, 06/29/2010 - 18:22

Some feeds include invalid characters or are in an improper form. This can sometimes cause the feed parser to fail.

You can verify that your feed is in the proper form here - Feed Validator

Getting help
If you are unable to resolve the issue, please post in the support forum. Please include the RSS URL and a detailed description of what you are experiencing.

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