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benecaster_feed_episode_data

Filter Free

Filters the data array for one episode before its <item> is rendered. Every key reaches the tag it names — the plain RSS elements, the itunes: tags and <content:encoded> are all rendered from the array this filter returns. The most granular per-episode customisation point in the feed, and — with $tier_slug — the way to give the public feed a teaser while paid feeds carry the full show notes.

Fires once per episode, per tier, per feed compilation. On a cold cache for a large show that is many calls, so keep callbacks lightweight.

Key Type Renders as
title string <title> and <itunes:title>
link string <link> — the episode page URL
description string <description> — plain text: the Podcatcher Description, or the stripped show notes, plus any episode credit
summary string <itunes:summary> — the Podcatcher Description only; omitted when empty
content_encoded string (HTML) <content:encoded> — the show notes with the tier gate resolved, plus any credit; an empty string omits the tag
pub_date string (RFC 2822) <pubDate>
guid string <guid isPermaLink="false">
enclosure_url string <enclosure url> — omitted, with the whole tag, when empty
enclosure_size int <enclosure length> (bytes)
enclosure_type string <enclosure type> — see below; audio/mpeg when empty
duration string <itunes:duration> — already the tier’s own variant duration when it has one
explicit bool <itunes:explicit>
artwork string URL <itunes:image href>
author string <itunes:author>
episode_number int <itunes:episode> — omitted when 0
season int|null <itunes:season> — only when the show has seasons turned on
episode_type string <itunes:episodeType> — full, trailer or bonus; any other value renders full

description and summary are two keys on purpose. They hold different values by default, so changing one does not move the other. Change both for a teaser that every app shows.

enclosure_type arrives already filled in when the enclosure is the episode’s video file. A blank or audio/… stored format is replaced by one taken from the video URL’s extension (video/mp4 for an .mp4, video/x-m4v for an .m4v, video/quicktime for a .mov), or video/mp4 when the extension is not one Benecaster knows. A detected video format is kept as it is. So a callback sees the type the feed will carry.

podcast: tags (<podcast:season>, <podcast:episode>, <podcast:transcript> and the rest) are not in this array — they have their own authoritative filter, benecaster_feed_podcast_episode_tags.

Parameters

Name Type Default Description
$data array — Episode data array. See the description for every key and the tag it renders.
$episode_id int — ID of the episode
$show_id int — ID of the show
$tier_slug string — Tier slug for this feed compilation pass (`public` for the public feed)

Returns: array

Examples

Teaser show notes on the public feed only

add_filter( 'benecaster_feed_episode_data', function ( array $data, int $episode_id, int $show_id, string $tier_slug ): array {
    if ( 'public' === $tier_slug ) {
        $teaser = wp_trim_words( $data['description'], 40 ) . ' Full notes for supporters.';
        $data['description']     = $teaser;
        $data['summary']         = $teaser;
        $data['content_encoded'] = '<p>' . esc_html( $teaser ) . '</p>';
    }
    return $data;
}, 10, 4 );

Override episode title from post meta

add_filter( 'benecaster_feed_episode_data', function ( array $data, int $episode_id ): array {
    // Moves both <title> and <itunes:title>.
    $seo_title = get_post_meta( $episode_id, '_my_rss_seo_title', true );
    if ( $seo_title ) {
        $data['title'] = $seo_title;
    }
    return $data;
}, 10, 2 );

Append sponsor message to description

add_filter( 'benecaster_feed_episode_data', function ( array $data ): array {
    $sponsor = get_option( 'my_feed_sponsor_message' );
    if ( $sponsor ) {
        $data['description'] .= "\n\n" . $sponsor;
    }
    return $data;
} );

Notes

**Prefer this filter over benecaster_feed_item_xml and benecaster_feed_xml.** Changing structured data before rendering is safer than editing the XML string. To add an element this array has no key for, use benecaster_rss_extra_item_tags.

enclosure_url is also reachable through benecaster_feed_enclosure_url, which runs earlier; this array receives its result.

$tier_slug is a trailing argument; a callback registered for three arguments is unaffected. The itunes: keys and content_encoded reach their tags.

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