BobWP

These are the SaaS products, plugins and hosting, gear and other stuff that I use and recommend on both OpenChannels.fm and here at BobWP. And yes, some links are affiliates, others not.

What keeps my sites humming

• Activity Pub – my way of getting connected to the Fediverse. Decentralization all the way!
• Akismet – I don’t like SPAM as much as the next person. This one has always helped.
• Block Visibility – one of those WordPress plugins that does one thing good.
• Castos (podcast hosting) – not sure when I started using them for our podcast hosting, but I have never regretted it.
• Gutenberg – I use it. I am still a fan.
• Hover (domains and emails) – it just works
• Jetpack – again has been on my WordPress sites as long as I can remember. And now they are À la carte
• Seriously Simple Podcasting – have used this free plugin as long as I have hosted my podcasts on Castos. And yes, it is freaking seriously simple.
• User Role Editor – one of my long-standing plugins
• WordPress – what can I say. Been using the CMS WordPress on all my sites since 2006
• WordPress.com (hosting for both sites + domains) – Never regretted putting both OpenChannels.fm and this site there.

Podcast Recording and Production

• Auphonic – A long-time tool I use at the very end of my production workflow for leveling out the audio. Best tool I have found to do this.
• Castmagic – An amazing AI tool for podcasters. Drop your audio in. Get a transcript and generate all kinds of content you can use to create your show notes, post content, social and other blog posts. Unlimited uses for repurposing.
• Descript – The tool I have used for editing the podcasts. Bit of a learning curve, but once you have it down, it’s sweet.
• Riverside.fm – I use this platform for all my remote recording of podcasts. Have found their quality in recordings is absolutely great.

Scheduling and Organization

• ClickUP – This is where I manage it all. I don’t use it in the regular way a team might, but have been able to fine-tune if for my podcasting, ideas and personal stuff.
• CoSchedule – This has been the one social sharing platform that I have found the most useful for several years.
• NetWireNews – The best and simplest RSS reader around. And it’s open source.
• reMarkable2 – I was fortunate enough to get one of these as swag at CloudFest 2024. Love it for note taking, ideas, doodling. Plus I don’t have all these little pieces of note paper scattered around.
• SavvyCal – Back and forth on calendars. No calendar is perfect for the kind of scheduling I need to do on our podcast, but after testing things, it’s the closest.
• BackBlaze – After that Mac caught fire so many years ago, well, I learned my lesson.

Podcasting gear

• Elgato Stream Deck – Short cuts. Tap a button. Leave Zoom. Boom. Good stuff.
• Elgato Wave XLR – recently moved to this interfaces simply for the reason is that it’s simpler.
• Elgato Prompter – I bought this not so much as a prompter, which it’s great for, but a screen where I can meet or record and actually look directly at the person or audience.
• Elgato Facecam – Been using this for years, and if you need a video camera, it will do the trick. Also works great with the Elgato Prompter.
• Elgato Keylights – I bought these when I was doing more video tutorials. But if you are looking for lights, they do a good job. I have three sizes, including a small one mounted on my Elgato Prompter.
• Elgato Wave Mic Arm Pro – Avoid that looming mic arm from above that others cannot unsee when you are on video or in a meeting.
• Rodecaster Duo Pro Interface – for my XLR Shure mic. Started with the Pro and moved to this one. Has a lot of features that will give the nerdy podcaster a thrill, and is perfect if you do in-studio podcasting with others.
• Rode Mic Arm – Your standard “above” mic arm that I use for my backup mic. It’s much sturdier and stronger than a lot of off brand mic arms.
• Shure Microphone SM7B – When I hit that upgrade with my microphone, I went for this high quality piece of tech. Certainly don’t regret it and it’s still the one I use.
• Rode Wireless Go II Mics and Transmitter – My goto for doing podcasts on the go. (no pun intended)

Podcasting gear in reserve or stashed away in my closet

• Rode Shotgun Mic NTG5 – Ideal if you need a shotgun mic on the go but you will need an XLR interface.
• Rodecaster Pro – Compared to the Duo Pro, you can have up to four mics on this one. One of the buttons went sideways for me after quite sometime, but I keep it as a backup.
• Rodecaster Duo Pro Interface – for my XLR Shure mic. Started with the Pro and moved to this one. Has a lot of features that will give the nerdy podcaster a thrill, and is perfect if you do in-studio podcasting with others.
• Rode PodMic – I have one of these set up for my “emergency mic” that I can easily switch over ot.
• Sennheiser MD 46 Microphone – I have two of these and have used them for on-site recordings at conferences and such. High quality XLR mics that I used with the Zoom PodTrak4. Not exactly super portable but damn good quality.
• Sony ZV-1 Vlog Camera – not quite there yet with vlogging, and not sure if I ever will be, but it’s a nice solid camera for those purposes.
• Zoom PodTrak P4 interface – My original on the go interface for the mics above. A nice piece of tech that has been around for sometime.

Other gear and services that I recommend that don’t fit above, have used in the past or simply something that may help you.

• BackBlaze – After that Mac caught fire so many years ago, well, I learned my lesson.
• Rode NT – USB Mini – this is such a great mic for those who are starting and a small footprint for your desk. I have given several of these away at conference raffles and to my podcasting friends.
• Scarlett 2i2 Audio Interface – when I got my first XLR microphone I used the Scarlett and is simple yet a solid piece of a podcasters stack.