Resetting a Subscriber’s Feed URL

Resetting a token gives a subscriber a new private feed URL and stops the old one working immediately. It is the answer when a feed URL has got out: shared, posted somewhere, or in the hands of someone who shouldn’t have it.

It is not the answer when a subscriber has simply lost their URL. They can see and copy it on their account page, and you can send it to them with Email link on their detail panel. Neither changes anything, so their podcast app keeps working. Try those first.

What a Reset Costs the Subscriber

A reset is not a refresh. After it:

1. The old URL stops returning episodes straight away. The subscriber’s app gets no error; the show just goes quiet.
2. The subscriber has to remove the podcast from their app and add it again with the new URL. Most apps have no way to change the URL of a podcast you already follow.
3. Their app treats the re-added podcast as a new subscription. How far through each episode they had got is lost, and episodes they had downloaded have to be downloaded again.

Their membership tier and access are unchanged. Only the URL, and their app setup, are affected.

Tell the subscriber this before you reset, and give them the new URL straight away.

When to Reset

The subscriber shared their feed URL. Anyone with the URL can hear everything the subscriber can. A reset gives the subscriber a new URL that only they have, and the shared one stops working.

The subscriber thinks their URL has been exposed. For example, it was in a screenshot or a forwarded email. A reset locks out anyone else who may have it.

Not when the URL is lost. Use Email link, or send the subscriber to their account page. See Troubleshooting Token Reset Requests for other common situations.

What Reset Does

When a token is reset:

1. A new 64-character token is generated
2. The old token is immediately and permanently invalidated
3. If you choose Reset and send email, the subscriber is emailed their new feed URL and app links. The email also explains why, since they didn’t ask for it: under Why did this happen? it says the show replaces a feed link when it may have been seen by someone it wasn’t meant for, that their subscription hasn’t changed, and who to contact (your Author Email, or the site admin address if that’s blank). It doesn’t suggest their account was compromised or that they did anything wrong, because you might reset as a precaution or for many subscribers at once.
4. Any podcast app still using the old URL stops receiving episodes on its next check

Admin-Initiated Reset

Go to Benecaster → Subscribers and open the subscriber’s detail panel. The Feed URL row has two buttons: Email link, which sends the subscriber the URL they already have, and Reset.

Clicking Reset opens the Reset feed token? dialog, which states what the reset costs the subscriber and points you to Email link if the URL was only mislaid. It offers three choices:

• Cancel: closes without making changes
• Reset only: generates a new token without sending an email. Use this when you’ll pass the new URL on yourself.
• Reset and send email: generates a new token and queues the reset email, with the new feed URL and podcast app links. It is disabled when the show’s Feed URL reset email is switched off (Show Settings → Subscription → Welcome and Feed URL Emails), so only Reset only is available and you send the new URL yourself.

Both options show you the new URL once, right after the reset: a block with the full working URL and a Copy new feed URL button, worded to say whether an email was queued. Copy it straight away if you need it. It disappears as soon as you close the panel or open another subscriber’s, and nothing can bring it back.

Bulk Token Reset

To reset tokens for several subscribers at once, go to Benecaster → Subscribers, check the rows you want to reset, and select Reset tokens from the bulk action bar. The confirmation dialog offers the same choices as a single reset: Reset and send email or Reset only, plus Cancel. Every subscriber you select pays the cost described above, and the dialog says so before you confirm. For a subscriber who has only mislaid their URL, use Email link on their own detail panel instead; there is no bulk version of it.

If the current show’s Feed URL reset email is switched off, a warning explains that none of the selected subscribers will be emailed even if you choose Reset and send email. Unlike the single-subscriber panel, the button stays clickable, and the server emails nobody. A bulk reset never shows the new URLs; reset a subscriber from their own detail panel if you need to see or copy theirs.

After the reset, a result banner stays on screen until you dismiss it: “Reset N subscribers · emailed M” (or “· no emails sent” for Reset only), plus a line saying how many subscribers were not emailed and still need their new URL from you, and how many could not be reset, when either applies.

Maximum per bulk operation: 200 subscribers.

If every feed URL on a show may have leaked, for example in a copy of your database, contact Benecaster support, who can reset every link on the show at once and help you tell your subscribers.

Subscriber-Initiated Reset

With the subscriber account page set up (the [benecaster_account] shortcode), subscribers can reset their own link. They click Reset my feed link, read the warning about what it costs, and confirm with Confirm reset — the old link stops working and your app loses your place. The new URL appears on the page straight away, with the Copy button, QR code and app buttons. No email is sent.

The reset option is hidden while a show’s feed is not active, because a new link would not work either.

After the Reset

Once the subscriber has their new URL:

1. They remove the podcast from their app
2. They add it again with the new URL. Most apps have an “Add by URL” or “Add RSS feed” option, or they can use the app buttons in the email or on their account page
3. The app downloads the feed and starts updating again

See Adding Your Feed to a Podcast App for step-by-step instructions for Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Pocket Casts and other apps.