Added explanatory sample files.

append.py

@@ -237,6 +237,10 @@ def __main(feed_file):
     config = dict()
     try:
         for line in f:
+            if line.startswith('#'):
+                continue
+            if len(line.strip()) == 0:
+                continue
             (name, value) = line.split('=')
             config[name] = value.rstrip()
     finally:

sample.conf

@@ -0,0 +1,39 @@
+# assemble common values for tags/comments
+# ${date} comes from encode.bash and is available when this file is sourced
+# right now, the scripts don't support per episode title, that
+# would be a trivial hack but would require yet another interactive argument
+title="Name of Your Cast ${date}"
+artist="Your Name"
+# ${HOME} is available in pretty much every *nix shell environment
+cover="${HOME}/path/to/pictures/cover.jpg"
+album="Name of Your Vast"
+genre="Podcast"
+# ${post_date} is set up by encode.bash before sourcing this file
+# it assumes the date as part of the URL, as is comming with WordPress
+# right now the format is YYYYY/MM/DD, could be made configurable
+url="http://www.example.org/${post_date}/${slug}/"
+# either link to a CC license or to a copyright statement on your web site
+copyright="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/us"
+#copyright="http://www.example.org/copyright"
+# generic comment safe for all episodes, if you want different comments
+# per type of show, you could just use multiple .conf files
+# any value can refer to earlier values in this file, as the example
+# here uses ${url} definied a few lines prior
+comment="Weekly news cast.  Email to feedback@example.org.  Show notes and license information for this episode at ${url}."
+
+# this should be consistent with the .feed file you'll use
+# the prefix will be concatenated with the date in YYYY-MM-DD format
+file_prefix=your_cast_
+# maximum is 320, higher means bigger files but better sound
+mp3_bitrate=128
+# arbitrary values for AAC which is a variable bit rate format
+# maximum is 500
+aac_quality=200
+# currently encode.bash uses sed and grep to extract time offsets
+# from files in the directory specified below
+# this needs to be more configurable, including simply disabling
+aac_notes_path=${HOME}/path/to/formatted/notes
+# Ogg Vorbis is also variable bit rate so quality loosely
+# governs the trade off between sound quality and file size
+# maximum is 10
+ogg_quality=5

sample.feed

@@ -0,0 +1,26 @@
+# this URL will be used to find the first new episode
+# not in the feed files generated by append.py
+# it was developed based on my practice of using PodPress
+# just for its Flash player and publishing my own feed files
+# to drive actual subscription
+url=http://www.example.org/category/podcast/feed/
+# prefix that will be concatenated with the file type
+# when generating each alternate feed
+file_prefix=your_cast_
+# leave blank to skip, otherwise some text to append to episode titles
+title_suffix= (Comment Line 202-555-1212)
+author=Your Name
+# should match file_prefix from the associated .conf file
+# will be used in re-formulating enclosures for different file types
+enclosure_prefix=your_file_
+
+# these next two values are based on my own practices, seeing
+# that many podcast clients strip implicit links to the source site
+
+# text to find and before which the more_info value will be inserted
+# in general, this is the first bit of the last paragraph in a source post
+info_lede=View the <a
+# text to insert before the info lead, to provide a bare link that makes more
+# sense in a non-HTML block of text like some podcast clients derive from the feed
+# most notably iTunes
+more_info=More news, commentary, and alternate feeds available at http://www.example.org/.