Getting Your RSS Feed Ready to Import
Before importing your podcast to Yellowball, it’s a good idea to double-check a few things in your existing RSS feed. This helps make sure the import goes smoothly and nothing important gets left behind.
✅ A Quick Pre-Import Checklist
Your Email Needs to Be Public
When you import a show, Yellowball sends a confirmation link to the email address in your RSS feed. If your host hides your email, you won’t be able to complete the import.
Most platforms have a setting to toggle this on. Just make sure your email is visible in your feed (under the <itunes:email> tag if you're looking at the raw XML).
🔒 Your Feed Can’t Be Locked
Some podcast hosts — including Yellowball — add a tag to your RSS feed that prevents other platforms from importing it without your consent. If you see an error like “feed is locked”, you’ll need to disable this setting before proceeding.
Check your host’s settings for options like “Feed Lock,” “Import Protection,” or similar.
We have step-by-step instructions for popular providers:
If your provider isn’t listed yet, open a support ticket — we’ll help you figure it out.
📧 Your Feed Needs a Contact Email
To verify feed ownership, some hosting providers — including Yellowball — require a valid email address to be present in your RSS feed.
If it’s missing, you may see an error like “email required for verification” during import.
Check your host’s settings for options like “Email Verification,” “Add Email to Feed,” or similar.
We have step-by-step instructions for popular providers:
Not sure how to add your email? Open a support ticket — we're happy to help.
All Episodes Should Be Included
Some podcast hosts only include your latest episodes (like the last 100) in your feed by default. That means older episodes won’t make it over.
Look for a setting like “include all episodes in feed” and make sure it's enabled before importing.
Disable Dynamic Ads (Optional)
If your host adds dynamic ads, pre-rolls, or intros automatically, those will get copied over when you import — just like any other audio. If you don’t want that, it's best to turn those off temporarily.
Double-Check Episode Dates
Each episode should have a valid publish date (not in the future). If dates are missing or broken, directories may ignore the episode even after import.
🔍 Tools You Can Use
- Podbase – great for checking if your feed is healthy
Still Not Sure?
If something looks off or you’re not sure what to check, feel free to open a support ticket or send me an email. I’m happy to take a quick look with you.