Gerrit has just posted version 1.2 of the Podlove Web Player, our Mediaelement.js-based web player that is optimized for podcast episode playback. Right now, the player is still only available as a plugin for WordPress, but will be made independent from WordPress in the near future. You can download and install the plugin via the Wordpress plugin directory.

The new release features some nice and important novelties. The player has improved compatibility with browsers and makes playback of individual chapters easier for users. It also comes with an optional extended player interface that features podcast title, sub-title and summaries and presents a cover image to the user. This will hopefully develop into an embeddable player in the future.

The player also has support to be automatically enabled for existing "enclosure" custom fields that is used by WordPress (and other podcast plugins). It also presents Opus audio files to browsers that support it. So if you want to beef up your old podcast with a brand new player this might be the easiest path so far.

The beta version of the Podlove Podcast Publisher is coming soon. When it is released, you will see full support for the new features of the Podlove Web Player, making podcasting with WordPress even easier.

Here is an example of the new look:

[podloveaudio title="NEWZ035 This Is What Adults Do" subtitle="Tim and  Mark report about Columbia, Hurricane Sandy, Vote Stealing in the US, Antarctica, Chile and Mark's upcoming travel." summary="This week's Newz has the added bonus of Tim reporting from Bogota, with an update about things he has seen and things going on in Colombia. Then its time for Hurricane Sandy aftermath stories courtesy of Mark's family and friends in NJ. Vote stealing is explored and UN observers will be back in the US next week.  No agreement reached on protecting a chunk of the Antarctic, while a NYTimes piece tells the story of China's largest professional exodus in a decade. The Arab Artists trip begins now, updates coming on the next edition of Newz of the World." poster="http://meta.metaebene.me/media/newz/newz-icon-600x600.jpg"  mp3="http://meta.metaebene.me/media/newz/newz035-this-is-what-adults-do.mp3" mp4="http://meta.metaebene.me/media/newz/newz035-this-is-what-adults-do.m4a" ogg="http://meta.metaebene.me/media/newz/newz035-this-is-what-adults-do.oga" opus="http://meta.metaebene.me/media/newz/newz035-this-is-what-adults-do.opus" chapters="http://meta.metaebene.me/media/newz/newz035-this-is-what-adults-do.chapters.txt" permalink="http://metaebene.me/newzoftheworld/newz035" autop="false"]