Content Management

Content Management

This guide covers day-to-day content management in Sanity Studio, including creating episodes, managing guests, and organizing content.

Accessing Sanity Studio

Local Development

npm run dev:sanity

Visit http://localhost:3333

Production

Deploy Studio for team access:

cd sanity
npx sanity deploy

Visit https://your-podcast.sanity.studio

Managing Episodes

Creating an Episode

1. Open Sanity Studio
2. Click “Episode” in sidebar
3. Click “Create new Episode” (+ button)
4. Fill in required fields:

Required Fields:

• Title: Episode title (e.g., “The Future of Ethereum”)
• Slug: Auto-generates from title (or customize)
• Episode Number: Sequential number (1, 2, 3, …)
• Publish Date: When episode was/will be published
• Description: Episode description (used in SEO, episode lists)

Optional but Recommended:

• Duration: Episode length (e.g., “1:23:45” or “45:30”)
• Cover Image: Upload episode cover art
• Hosts: Select host(s) from list
• Guests: Select guest(s) from list
• Spotify Link: Full Spotify episode URL
• Apple Podcast Link: Apple Podcasts episode URL
• YouTube Link: YouTube video URL

Advanced:

• Show Notes: Rich text content (formatted notes, links, timestamps)
• Transcript: Full episode transcript
• Featured: Toggle ON to feature in carousel
• Audio URL: Direct MP3 URL (for transcription services)

5. Click “Publish”

Slug Best Practices

Use descriptive slugs:

• ✅ “the-future-of-ethereum”
• ✅ “vitalik-buterin-interview”
• ❌ “episode-1” (not descriptive)
• ❌ “ep42” (too short)

Editing an Episode

1. Click “Episode” in sidebar
2. Find episode in list
3. Click to open
4. Make changes
5. Click “Publish” to save

Draft vs Published:

• Draft: Changes not visible on website
• Published: Live on website after next build

Deleting an Episode

1. Open episode
2. Click ”…” menu (top right)
3. Click “Delete”
4. Confirm deletion

Permanent

Deletion is permanent. Episode will be removed from website on next build.

Featuring Episodes

Mark important episodes to appear in homepage carousel:

1. Open episode
2. Scroll to “Featured Episode” toggle
3. Toggle ON
4. Click “Publish”

Featured episodes appear in FeaturedEpisodesCarousel component.

Episode Ordering

Episodes are ordered by:

• Episode Number (descending by default)
• Newest episodes appear first
• Archive page respects this order

Custom sorting in Sanity Studio:

• Click sort dropdown
• Choose “Episode Number, Old” for ascending order

Managing Guests

Creating a Guest

1. Click “Guest” in sidebar
2. Click “Create new Guest”
3. Fill in fields:

Required:

• Name: Guest full name
• Slug: Auto-generated from name

Recommended:

• Bio: Guest biography (2-3 sentences)
• Photo: Guest photo (square recommended, 400x400px+)

Optional:

• Twitter: Twitter/X handle (without @ symbol)
• Website: Personal or company website
• LinkedIn: LinkedIn profile URL

4. Click “Publish”

Linking Guests to Episodes

Method 1: From Episode

1. Open episode
2. Scroll to “Guests” field
3. Click “Add item”
4. Select guest from list
5. Click “Publish”

Method 2: Bulk Linking

1. Create all guests first
2. Create episode
3. Add multiple guests at once

Guest Photo Best Practices

Recommended dimensions:

• Minimum: 400x400px
• Recommended: 800x800px
• Format: JPG or PNG
• Aspect ratio: Square (1:1)

Upload process:

1. Click “Photo” field
2. Drag and drop image or click to upload
3. Adjust hotspot (focal point)
4. Click “Upload”

Guest Profiles

Each guest automatically gets a profile page at /guest/[slug] showing:

• Guest photo and bio
• Social links
• All episodes featuring the guest

Managing Hosts

Same process as guests, but for regular hosts:

1. Create Host document
2. Add host to episodes via “Hosts” field
3. Hosts typically appear on all episodes

Typical setup:

Host: Rex Kirshner
↓
Added to all 69 episodes

Managing Podcast Metadata

The Podcast document contains show-level information.

Initial Setup

1. Click “Podcast” in sidebar
2. Click “Create new Podcast” (if not exists)
3. Fill in fields:

Required:

• Name: Podcast name
• Is Active: ON if releasing episodes, OFF if concluded

Recommended:

• Tagline: Short tagline (shown in header, meta tags)
• Description: Full podcast description
• Logo: Podcast logo (square, 1400x1400px recommended)

Platform Links:

• Spotify Show ID: From Spotify URL
• Spotify URL: Show page URL
• Apple Podcasts URL: Show page URL
• YouTube URL: Channel URL
• RSS URL: Podcast RSS feed URL

Social:

• Twitter URL: Podcast Twitter profile
• Discord URL: Community Discord server

Newsletter:

• Enable Newsletter Signup: Toggle ON to show newsletter forms
• ConvertKit API Key: API secret from ConvertKit
• ConvertKit Form ID: Form ID from ConvertKit

4. Click “Publish”

Only One Podcast Document

Create only one Podcast document. The framework queries for *[_type == "podcast"][0].

Updating Podcast Info

Edit the Podcast document anytime:

1. Click “Podcast” in sidebar
2. Click existing document
3. Make changes
4. Click “Publish”

Changes appear after next build/refresh.

Content Workflow

Recommended Workflow

For Active Podcasts:

1. Record episode → Get audio file
2. Upload to Spotify/Apple → Get platform links
3. Create Guest in Sanity (if new guest)
4. Create Episode in Sanity:
   • Add title, number, date
   • Add description
   • Upload cover image
   • Add platform links
   • Link host and guests
5. Write Show Notes → Add to Episode
6. Mark as Featured (optional)
7. Publish Episode
8. Build & Deploy Website → Episode appears

For Concluded Podcasts:

Same workflow, but set isActive: false in Podcast document.

Bulk Operations

Import from RSS Feed

Import existing episodes from your podcast host:

# Set RSS feed URL in .env
echo 'RSS_FEED_URL="https://feeds.transistor.fm/your-show"' >> .env

# Import all episodes (first time)
npm run import:episodes

# Or use the command directly with options
podcast-framework import-rss --feed https://feeds.transistor.fm/your-show --verbose

# Preview import without making changes
podcast-framework import-rss --dry-run

# Update existing episodes
podcast-framework import-rss --update

# Skip image downloads
podcast-framework import-rss --skip-images

What it does:

• ✅ Fetches RSS feed from your podcast host
• ✅ Parses episode metadata (title, number, date, duration, description)
• ✅ Downloads and uploads cover images to Sanity
• ✅ Creates Episode documents with audio URLs
• ✅ Detects and skips existing episodes (using RSS GUID)
• ✅ Works with incremental imports (safe to run multiple times)

Supported Podcast Hosts:

• Transistor - Full support for https://feeds.transistor.fm/ feeds
• More hosts coming soon (easily extensible)

After Import:

• Episodes are created with basic metadata
• Manually add guests and hosts in Sanity Studio
• Manually add platform links (Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube)
• Review and update descriptions as needed

Upload Guest Photos

Batch upload photos:

public/guests/vitalik-buterin.jpg

# 1. Add photos to public/guests/
# public/guests/danny-ryan.jpg

# 2. Run upload script
npm run upload:photos

What it does:

• Finds all guests in Sanity
• Matches photos by slug
• Uploads and links photos
• Updates guest documents

Export Data

Export all content for backup:

cd sanity
npx sanity dataset export production backup.tar.gz

Import Data

Restore from backup:

cd sanity
npx sanity dataset import backup.tar.gz production

Destructive

Import replaces existing data. Use with caution!

Content Best Practices

1. Consistent Episode Numbering

Episode 1, 2, 3, ... (sequential)
✅ Makes chronology clear
✅ Easy to reference
❌ Don't skip numbers

2. SEO-Friendly Descriptions

✅ "In this episode, we explore Ethereum scaling solutions with Vitalik Buterin..."
❌ "Great episode! Listen now!"

• Be specific and descriptive
• Include guest names
• Include key topics
• 150-300 characters ideal

3. High-Quality Images

Cover Images:

• 3000x3000px recommended
• Square aspect ratio
• JPG or PNG format
• Under 2MB file size

Guest Photos:

• 800x800px minimum
• Square aspect ratio
• Professional headshots
• Consistent style across guests

4. Complete Platform Links

Add all platform links:

✅ Spotify URL
✅ Apple Podcasts URL
✅ YouTube URL (if video)
✅ RSS Feed URL

More links = better distribution!

5. Rich Show Notes

Use block content for formatted show notes:

✅ Use headings for structure
✅ Add timestamps (00:15:30 - Topic discussion)
✅ Include links to resources
✅ Format with bold/italic for emphasis
❌ Don't paste plain text

Content Organization

Filtering

Filter episodes in Studio:

1. Click “Episode” in sidebar
2. Use search bar to find episodes
3. Use filter dropdown to filter by:
   • Featured
   • Has transcript
   • Date range

Sorting

Sort by:

• Episode Number (default)
• Publish Date
• Last Modified

Searching

Global search:

1. Press Cmd+K (Mac) or Ctrl+K (Windows/Linux)
2. Type search query
3. Results show across all document types

Document Status

Draft

Changes not yet published:

📝 Draft badge visible
↓
Make changes, click "Publish" when ready

Published

Live content:

✅ Published badge
↓
Changes require new "Publish" click

Changed

Published document with unpublished changes:

⚠️ Changes badge
↓
Click "Publish" to make changes live

Keyboard Shortcuts

Global

• Cmd/Ctrl + K - Global search
• Cmd/Ctrl + S - Save changes
• Cmd/Ctrl + Shift + P - Publish
• Esc - Close dialog/panel

In Editor

• Cmd/Ctrl + B - Bold text
• Cmd/Ctrl + I - Italic text
• Cmd/Ctrl + K - Add link

Troubleshooting

Can’t find “Publish” button

Check top-right corner:

[Cancel] [Publish]  ← Top right of editor

Changes not appearing on website

1. Check document is Published (not just saved)
2. Rebuild website:

   npm run build

3. Clear browser cache
4. Check build logs for errors

Image not uploading

Check file size:

• Maximum: ~50MB per file
• Recommended: Under 5MB

Compress large images before upload.

Reference not showing

Check referenced document exists and is published:

1. Click reference field
2. If empty list, create referenced document first
3. Example: Create Guest before adding to Episode

Related

• Schemas - Understand schema structure
• Setup - Initial configuration
• Sanity Helpers - Fetch content in code

Next Steps

• Theme Configuration - Customize visual theme
• Homepage Configuration - Configure homepage
• About Page Configuration - Configure about page