Episode Page Layout and Blocks

Each episode in Benecaster has a public WordPress page at its permalink. The layout of that page is controlled by the Episode Page system — a set of configurable blocks that render below (and optionally above) the main episode content.

---

Episode Page Blocks

Blocks are sections that render on an episode page in addition to your episode content. Benecaster provides eight built-in blocks. Add-ons can register additional blocks.

Copy link puts the episode’s web address on the visitor’s clipboard, and its label changes to Copied! for two seconds to confirm. It copies the address only, never the share text. Browsers allow this only on a secure page, so on a site served over plain http:// the button does nothing; serve the site over HTTPS.

Before and After Groups

Blocks are divided into two groups based on where they render relative to your episode content:

• Before group — renders above the episode content area
• After group — renders below the episode content area

Each block has a fixed default position (before or after). That position can be changed in the admin panel, but blocks within each position group always appear together.

---

Configuring Episode Page Blocks

Open Benecaster → Settings, select your show, and choose Templates from the left navigation. The Episode Page Blocks section appears there.

The panel shows all registered blocks in two columns — Before and After. Each row has:

• A toggle to enable or disable that block sitewide for this show
• An expand arrow to open the block’s configuration panel (when the block has configurable options)

Changes take effect immediately on episode pages when you save.

Add-on Blocks

Blocks that require an inactive add-on appear as greyed-out rows with an Install add-on link. These blocks don’t render until the add-on is installed and active. Enabling the toggle on an inactive add-on block has no effect until the add-on is active.

Built-in blocks require no add-on.

---

Who Can Play the Episode

The player follows the episode’s tier availability dates, the same dates that control your feeds. Everyone, signed in or not, can play the episode once the date for the tier whose slug is public has passed. Before that, only signed-in listeners whose own tier’s date has passed, or who hold a buy-up the episode requires, can play it. An episode with no availability dates is locked for everyone. Anyone else sees the page’s locked state instead of the player. See Setting Tier Availability.

Starting Playback from a Link

Add ?bc_autoplay=1 to an episode page’s address to have its player start on its own when the page opens. Most browsers block sound that starts without a click, especially on a first visit, so when the browser refuses, a Click to play button appears above the player instead. Playback is never muted to get round the block. A video never starts this way when Primary media is Video, and neither does a video preview.

It works for audio and video files only, not for an embedded player from another site, and never on a locked page. Developers can switch it off with the benecaster_episode_autoplay_enabled filter.

---

Download and Transcript Links

Two optional links can appear directly under the player. They are part of the episode page itself, not blocks, so they have no toggle in the Episode Page Blocks panel.

Both links are shown only to visitors who can access the episode, under the same tier, release-date and buy-up rules as the player. A locked visitor sees neither.

Both files live at your podcast host or transcript host. The links do not protect the files beyond what the player already does: anyone who can reach the episode can reach the file, and a copied URL works for whoever has it. The transcript link opens the transcript file; the page does not display the transcript text.

With the Transcription Service add-on, a transcript it made follows its own Transcript visibility instead. People that lets read the transcript get it in a Transcript section below the show notes, and the Read the transcript link does not appear beside it. People it excludes get neither, even when they can play the episode. A transcript link you entered yourself keeps showing under the rules above. See Transcription Overview.

Developers can narrow either link with the benecaster_show_episode_download and benecaster_show_episode_transcript filters, and restyle them through the episode/download and episode/transcript parts in Template Overrides.

---

Social Links

Social links are the profiles you want to display on your show’s episode pages — Twitter/X, Instagram, YouTube, and so on. They appear via the Social Links block and the [benecaster_social_links] shortcode.

Configuring Social Links

Go to Benecaster → Shows → [Your Show] → Details and scroll to Social Links.

The panel lists known platforms:

Enter the URL for each platform you want to display and leave the rest blank. Platforms with blank URLs are not shown in the rendered output.

To add a platform not in the list, use the + Add custom platform row and enter a name and a URL. A custom platform shows a chain-link icon; a theme can draw its own with the benecaster_platform_icon_svg filter.

Click Save Social Links when done.

---

Platform Links

Platform links are the “listen on” badges for podcast apps that carry your show — Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pocket Casts, and others. They appear via the Platform Links block and the [benecaster_platform_links] shortcode.

Configuring Platform Links

Go to Benecaster → Shows → [Your Show] → Details and scroll to Platform Links.

The panel lists eight built-in platforms:

Your show’s own RSS feed is added to the links automatically, so there is no field for it here.

Enter the URL for each platform where your show is available and leave the rest blank. Platforms with blank URLs are omitted from the rendered output.

To add a platform not in the list, use the + Add custom platform row and enter a name and a URL. A custom platform shows a chain-link icon in the icon style; a theme can draw its own with the benecaster_platform_icon_svg filter.

Click Save Platform Links when done.

The [benecaster_platform_links] shortcode also adds your show’s public feed at the end, as an RSS Feed link, so listeners whose app isn’t listed can still subscribe. If you add an rss platform of your own (for example a feed host or a tracking redirect), yours is used instead. A show with no platforms set up shows just that one link; add rss="false" to the shortcode to leave it out.

Platform display order: The links render in the order entries appear in this panel. Drag rows to reorder them. The platforms filter attribute on [benecaster_platform_links] acts as an allow-list — it doesn’t change the order.

---

Related Episodes

The Related Episodes block shows a list of episodes from the same show. Choose which episodes it lists in Shows → Settings → Templates → Episode Page Blocks: press the gear on the Related Episodes row, then pick from Which episodes to list.

When a choice finds nothing, the latest episodes are listed instead. Add-ons can add their own choices, which appear in the same list once the add-on is active. If you saved a choice whose add-on has since been removed, it shows as <name> (not available) and the block lists the latest episodes.

An episode the visitor can’t play is marked with a lock. The block is drawn by the same code as the [benecaster_related_episodes] shortcode, so it looks the same and the same filters apply to both.

---

Episode Navigation

The Episode Navigation block renders Previous / Next links based on publication order. The default navigation links to the immediately adjacent episodes.

To narrow navigation to episodes within a season, the [benecaster_episode_nav] shortcode accepts a scope="season" attribute. The Episode Page block does not yet expose a scope setting — use the shortcode in a template override for season-scoped navigation.

---

References

The references you add on an episode’s References tab appear in a References section on the episode page, grouped under your reference group headings. Each link goes out exactly as you typed it — Benecaster adds nothing to the address, so an affiliate or signed link reaches its destination unchanged, and nothing about your site travels with the click. The exception is a reference you track with the Outlinks add-on: its link goes through your site’s /go/ address, which counts the click and then sends the listener on.

If your theme overrides benecaster/episode/references.php, it renders from its own copy of that file. Refresh the override from the plugin’s current template so it matches. See Template Overrides.

Shortcodes

All Episode Page blocks can also be placed anywhere on a page using shortcodes. Shortcodes give you more placement flexibility than the block system — for example, placing episode navigation at the top of the content area or embedding share buttons in a sidebar.

See Shortcodes Reference for full attribute documentation on [benecaster_episode_nav], [benecaster_related_episodes], [benecaster_episode_share], [benecaster_social_links], [benecaster_rss_link], and [benecaster_platform_links].