FAQ

Why has crowdCaster been created?

Crowdcaster is a social enterprise first launched in 2015 by Online Radio Broadcasting Limited, and relaunched in renewed format in 2019. The mission of Crowdcaster is “Giving People a Voice” through this social broadcasting platform.

The application is centred around three functions – Discover, Record, Connect

  • Discover – discover popular audio across the platform – voices and sounds you’ll love
  • Record – Record your audio instantly or upload an audio file - preview and publish - find your voice!
  • Connect - with people and organisations who interest you from around the world – follow them, or create communities with Crowds, and share content with people you like.

The application is available on web and on mobile. The platform believes in the power of the spoken word, as a positive force in:

  • social welfare and health
  • creativity and education
  • communities and raising awareness of causes and has been created to deliver positive outcomes in society.

ARE YOU INVITING FEEDBACK FROM USERS?

Yes, so please do not hesitate to contact us with your suggestions through the Contact Form.


WHEN WILL THE NEW FEATURES BE AVAILABLE?

The Crowdcaster Team will notify people and organisations through its mailing list, and its social networks, about new features as they are released.


SIGN UP, LOGIN, AND YOUR PROFILE

WHAT INFORMATION IS NEEDED TO SIGN UP?

All you need is an email account and password, and to accept the Terms of Use which are available on the application. You can also sign up using your Google, Facebook or Twitter profile. On first sign up you will be directed to your Settings page to:

  • Upload a photograph, banner image and background colour
  • Other details about how you wish to be identified on the application. This information can be updated at any time by going to Settings.

WHEN WILL CROWDCASTER SEND ME EMAILS?

You will receive one email when signing up to confirm your email account. Users will receive a “Weekly DIgest” email summarising the trending content on the application during that week.

Users may unsubscribe from the Weekly Digest from their Settings page.


DISCOVER

WHAT IS THE “DISCOVER” PAGE?

This is where you can explore:

  • Audio - the latest popular audio from around the Crowdcaster platform, selected from all formats, and trending Casts, Crowdcasts, Podcasts, and Playlists
  • Crowds – public and private community spaces for sharing audio
  • User voices – broadcasters from around the world whose content is the most popular on the application.

WHAT IS A CAST?

A Cast is an audio format of up to a maximum 140 seconds in length – making it snackable, short form audio - which is succinct and ear-catching!


WHAT IS A CROWDCAST?

A Crowdcast is an audio format of unlimited length shared within a Crowd, which is a community space for sharing audio.


WHAT IS A PODCAST?

A Podcast is an audio format which is generally of unlimited length on a titled theme from the same broadcaster, and published in a regular episodic series. Podcasts are often shared on more than one platform via RSS feeds – and this facility is available for broadcasters of podcasts that they have created [as part of the Premium Account].


WHY DOES CROWDCASTER HAVE DIFFERENT AUDIO FORMATS?

The Application is designed to make it easy for people to begin broadcasting in short, long or podcast formats, and the Crowds function allows people to share audio within a community which may be public or private. Private communities are only visible to the members of that community (eg a family or learning group).


WHAT DOES “MOST POPULAR” MEAN?

The most popular content on the platform is selected by:

  • Number of plays
  • Number of favourites

WHAT OTHER NAVIGATION IS AVAILABLE FROM THE DISCOVER PAGE?

On the top menu from left, there is a side menu showing:

  • Profile, Notifications, Settings
  • Discover
  • Library
  • Crowds and
  • Terms
  • Go Premium
  • Sign out

On the top menu there is also a tab to return to the landing page, access to the Player and more navigation shortcuts to Discover, Crowds, Podcasts, Search and another access to your Profile.


WHAT IS THE SEARCH FUNCTIONALITY?

Type a letter in the search box and the search results will automatically appear based on the letters you have selected. These results are grouped in:

  • Casts
  • Crowdcasts
  • Podcasts
  • Playlists
  • Crowds
  • Users

“View all” in each case will extend the search results to include all the search results in that category for that search item in a single view.


ADVANCED SEARCH

If you want to refine your search further, you can add additional information to the search box in the search results.


WHAT IS “YOUR STREAM”?

This is the audio content (Casts, Crowdcasts, Podcasts and Playlists) of all the Users you follow.


RECORD

HOW DO I ACCESS THE RECORD FUNCTION?

You can access this from anywhere on the application by pressing the microphone symbol in the lower right of your screen.


HOW DO I PUBLISH AUDIO

The Record facility allows audio content to be published on the platform, by recording live in the application, or by uploading an audio file - the audio files supported are:

  • Ogg.vorbis
  • Mp3
  • M4a

There are four simple steps in the Record sequence under which you:

  • Select which audio format you wish to use (Cast, Crowdcast or Podcast), and then you proceed to record or upload audio
  • Preview the audio
  • Complete the “Details” form at the end of the publishing process
  • Publish the audio online.

The more content you include which identifies the audio content, including hashtags, the easier it will be for you and your followers to search for and find the audio later. If you are short of time at the moment you wish to publish the audio, the minimum “Details” content required in the form is the “Title”, and you can go back to it later after publication to add additional information if you wish by selecting that audio content from your Library, and going to Edit. If you do not upload an image file for the audio, the application will auto-generate an avatar from your Username.


WHAT IS THE “INSTANT PUBLISH” FACILITY ON MOBILE?

On mobile there is an “Instant Publish” facility which allows you to publish audio without any preview of adding Details, in which case the audio will be published with your profile picture and time stamp, which you can go back to later after publication and Edit if you wish.


HOW DO I LISTEN TO THE AUDIO I HAVE PUBLISHED?

After publication, you will automatically be redirected to your Profile, where the most recent audio published will appear at the top of the list.

When you select the PLAY icon on any audio, the audio will immediately play without leaving the Profile page, and the progress bar at the bottom of the page will show the time elapsed and time remaining.

If you select the PLUS icon, the audio will be added to the Player without playing, and the “+” icon will become “x” to show that it is in the Player. If you select the “x” icon again, the audio will be removed from the Player.


HOW DO I ACCESS THE PLAYER?

You can access the Player by selecting “Expand Player” on the top menu bar, which opens up the full Player experience.

The main features of the Player are:

  • All the audio loaded in the Player will play in sequence. If you wish to change the sequence, you can drag and drop audio to the correct position in the Player. The uploaded image from the Details form will show for the audio which is playing, which will be updated automatically when the next audio is played. [Full screen optionality to come].

  • For the audio which is playing, you can select other functions – Download, Share and Respond.

You can leave the Player experience at any time by selecting Minimise at the top of the Player, after which you will be returned to the page you were at before.


CONNECT

In order to Connect with other Crowdcaster Users your Profile is the starting point – where under Settings you can provide as much or as little detail as you like. [Move Settings to second in RH menu].


WHAT IS INCLUDED IN PROFILE?

Your Profile shows:

  • All the information you have uploaded in Settings
  • Your published audio content
  • Other Users you are following and who is following you
  • Your Playlists, Favourites, Crowds and Podcasts
  • Recommended Users who publish similar content.

WHAT IS THE “LIBRARY” FUNCTION?

This is where you can see and control all the content you have created on Crowdcaster – Casts, Crowdcasts, Episodes (Podcasts), and Playlists.

Selected audio can be filtered by All, Published, Drafts and Trash – and audio files may be moved between these filter categories if, for example you want to publish, unpublish or delete audio from the existing categories.

You can listen to all your audio content you have created, whatever category it is in. Other Users can only fid and listen to the audio you have published.


CAN I EDIT CONTENT I HAVE CREATED?

Yes by selecting EDIT from the content commands.


MOBILE

ANDROID AND IOS

The application will be available on mobile in the Android and iOS formats – with some layout adjustments the functionality of the mobile applications follows the above.