- Can I get RSS feeds into Pando? How do I subscribe to a Channel?
- How do I unsubscribe from a Channel?
- Can I set up My Channels to automatically download files, or to stop automatically downloading files?
- Why does the Channels tab have a number next to it? And why does the Pando icon in the system tray have a star?
- Why did some of my Channel Packages get deleted from my computer without me telling Pando to delete them? How do I stop Pando from automatically deleting a Channel Package that I want to keep?
- What is the Pando Channel Directory?
Can I get RSS feeds into Pando? How do I subscribe to a Channel?
Yes. Subscribe to any RSS feed that posts .pando files and Pando will update your Received list every 6 hours or each time you start Pando. It shouldn’t even slow down your launch time.
- Browse the Pando Channel Directory to find one (or more!) Channels you might like. (A link is also provided if you select the +channel button.).
- When you find one you want to add, click the Subscribe with Pando button, which will open the Add Channels window in Pando.
- Pando is set to download the Channels’ new Packages onto your computer automatically. If you'd rather Pando just show you the available files in your Channels tab so you can choose which ones to download, uncheck the box next to "Auto-download."
- By default, Pando makes way for new Packages by automatically deleting old ones. You can decide how many old Packages to keep, or uncheck the box next to "Auto-delete" to disable this feature. ( More info on this stuff here!)
- Ready? Click subscribe*.
* If you haven’t filled out your profile yet (see Pando options), you’ll be asked for some demographic information (gender, country, etc.—you know the drill). You’ll only have to do this once.
Another way:
If you have a specific Channel you want to add, you can:
- Click the options menu on the upper right part of the window.
- Select Channels.
- Click + Add Channels in the upper right part of the Options window. A new window will open.
- Enter the URL of a Channel in the text box (note: you can usually right-click an RSS icon on a site, choose “Copy Link Location,” then paste the link into the text box). Click the test button to make sure the feed will work. If the link is a valid link but doesn’t currently have any .pando files, you can still subscribe to it and Pando will check it regularly for .pando files
- Then pick up with step 3 above.
How do I unsubscribe from a Channel?
- Click the options menu on the upper right part of the window.
- Select Channels.
- Find the unwanted Channel in the list. Select it. Click the Off button to stop Pando from checking for new files. The Channel will remain in this list. Or, click Delete to stop Pando from checking for new files and remove the Channel from the list.
Can I set up My Channels to automatically download files, or to stop automatically downloading files?
By default, Pando will check the Channel (every 6 hours or whenever you login to Pando) for any new Packages and automatically download them. If you'd rather Pando just show you the available files in your Channels tab so you can choose which ones to download, follow these steps:
- Click the options menu on the upper right part of the window.
- Select Channels.
- Select an active RSS Channel from the list. Uncheck the box next to Auto- download packages published to this Channel.
- Repeat for each active Channel.
Why does the Channels tab have a number next to it? And why does the Pando icon in the system tray have a star?
This means that you have new Channel Packages -- or "episodes" -- that have been downloaded but not yet opened. Click on the tab to check them out!
Why did some of my Channel Packages get deleted from my computer without me telling Pando to delete them? How do I stop Pando from automatically deleting a Channel Package that I want to keep?
If you subscribe to several different Channels, and each of these Channels produces shiny new Packages pretty often, you may find your hard drive starting to fill up. And often you will only want to watch or listen to these files once. So Pando is set up by default to delete older Channel Packages automatically to make room for new ones. The way that it works is this:
- Packages come in for each Channel you subscribe to. They are lovely, shiny, and new.
- Once the Channel hits the magic number of downloaded Packages -- say, three, which is the default -- the oldest downloaded file for that Channel is deleted to make way for the new one. So you'll still only have three downloaded Packages total for that Channel.
- You can make individual Packages exempt from this rule: From the Channels tab in Pando’s main window, click to highlight the episode you like, and press the keep button. A little blue pushpin appears, signaling that the file will not be deleted. It won't even count toward the "magic number" that triggers a file to be deleted.
- Auto-deletion only occurs to old Packages listed in the Channels tab. Your Packages in Sent and Received, no matter their age, aren’t treated this way.
To change the auto-delete settings for each Channel:
- Click the options menu on the upper right part of the window.
- Select Channels.
- Select an active RSS Channel from the list. To turn off auto-delete completely for that Channel, uncheck the box next to Auto-delete oldest package... . To adjust the threshold at which older Packages start getting deleted, change the default (3) to whatever number you like.
- Repeat for each active Channel.
If there is a specific Package you would like to keep, just remember to select it in the Channels tab and click on the keep button.
What is the Pando Channel Directory?
The Pando Channel Directory is a collection of RSS feeds that we already know are publishing .pando files -- they're all ready to go with delivering hi-res video and audio episodes right to your computer. All you have to do is click the Subscribe with Pando button next to the channel you're interested in. (If you need more help in adding a channel from the Channel Directory, click here for more detailed instructions.)
