About Track Preferences
iTunes U allows the site administrator to control the information field preferences for all content distributed through your institution’s iTunes U site. By controlling the information field preferences, the site administrator can ensure that the fields are used consistently for all the content. The site administrator can also specify the location where tracks are downloaded, as well as a site preference to turn podcasting on or off for Course pages.
For example, the site administrator could specify that the Album field always contains the course title and that the Genre field always contains the institution name. The site administrator can also set up iTunes U so that all content from the institution’s iTunes U site appears in an institution playlist.
Any data the site administrator defines for track preferences overwrites information you previously defined for the fields. The site administrator can overwrite a track’s Album, Artwork, Genre, Comment, and Artist fields. To see if your site administrator has specified data for these fields, upload a file to iTunes U and then download that same file. In iTunes, locate the file and see if the information in the fields has changed. If a site administrator has set a preference to download content to a specific playlist, that playlist appears in the Source list of iTunes when you download content from iTunes U.
Note: If the site administrator specifies to override comment data with upload information, instructors and course managers cannot use the Comments field to communicate with their students. Any comments the instructor, course manager, or student might write about content they have uploaded are overwritten with information about when the track was uploaded to iTunes U.
The content you upload into iTunes U can include information fields, such as Name or Artist. Information fields help students locate and organize their iTunes U content after they download it to their computers, iPod music players, iPhone, and Apple TV. For more information on these fields, see Creating Content for iPod + iTunes located at http://www.apple.com/support/itunes_u.
Before you upload content to your iTunes U site, use iTunes to add or edit track information to provide helpful details and extra information for students and others (Control-click the track, choose Get Info from the shortcut menu, click the Info tab, and then add or edit the track information fields).
If you use helpful and specific information, students can find the content more quickly and easily. iTunes U can display the following fields for each track:
Field | Suggested use |
|---|---|
Name | Track title, for example, Easter Island and Darwin or Digital Storytelling |
Time | Track length |
Artist | Instructor or Speaker name |
Album | Course title, Department, or Group/Person who created the content |
Comment | Additional information, such as assignment details or upload information |
Genre | Broad category, for example, by subject, by organization (such as institution name), or by type (such as podcast) |
Disc Number | Order in which a disc appears in a multi-disc CD set |
Track Number | Order in which a track appears on a CD |
Year | The year a track was recorded |
The information for each track appears in columns within the Course page. You can change which columns iTunes U displays on your computer. Choose View > View Options and select the columns you want to appear. Information in track fields other than those listed above is saved when you upload and download a file, but iTunes U does not display the information in the Course page tracklist area.
Note: For non-encrypted PDF files, iTunes U maps PDF fields to iTunes U information fields. For example, iTunes U maps the PDF Author field to the iTunes U track Artist field and the PDF Subject field to the track Album field.
When a user downloads an object from iTunes U (for example, a track or podcast), depending on how the site administrator set up your site and defined your track preferences, along with which button the user clicks, iTunes copies the object to the iTunes library, Podcasts library, or Source list, such as the institution playlist. For more details, see the following table:
When you click this button | iTunes U takes this action |
|---|---|
Get (or Get Song or Get Movie) | Downloads the selected object into your iTunes library, as well as into your institution’s playlist, if specified by your site administrator. |
Get Track(s) | Downloads all objects in the selected Course page into your iTunes library, as well as into your institution’s playlist, if specified by your site administrator. |
Subscribe | Subscribes to the podcast and downloads the most recent episode into your iTunes Podcasts library. As new episodes become available, if you are connected to the Internet, the iTunes application automatically downloads the new episodes. Recently added episodes that have not been downloaded to iTunes appear dimmed. For more information on podcasts, see the iTunes online help. |
When a user double-clicks an object to preview content, iTunes U previews the entire track, not just 30 seconds. If users have trouble previewing an object, you can check the following items.
Available bandwidth. A video might not preview due to low bandwidth, as it takes several minutes to download enough content to begin playing a few frames of the video.
Video encoding. A video might not preview if the video was encoded in a way that requires more data to be downloaded before it can begin playing certain frames.
Video format. A video might not preview if the video is not flattened. Flatten all movies in iTunes U using the Self Contained option in QuickTime Pro.
Note: To download an object from an iTunes U page or group, users must have download access to the specific page or group.
© 2008 Apple Inc. All Rights Reserved. (Last updated: 2008-04-29)