Introducing PodForge – A Lightweight Podcast Website Generator

🎙️ What is PodForge?

PodForge is a lightweight, static podcast website generator designed to make hosting and managing a podcast fast, easy, and efficient. Instead of relying on databases or complex CMS setups, PodForge takes a simple YAML-based configuration and episode metadata, then generates:

✅ A static index.php that serves as the podcast homepage

✅ A fully compliant podcast RSS feed (podcast.xml)

✅ A Twtxt feed (twtxt.txt) for microblogging announcements

✅ A general RSS feed (rss.xml) for use in news aggregators

This makes PodForge an ideal solution for self-hosted podcasts, requiring minimal setup while keeping everything under your control.

🔨 Why Build PodForge?

Managing a podcast should be as simple as writing a blog. Instead of dealing with databases, bloated CMS solutions, or third-party services, PodForge aims to:

🔹 Be completely self-hosted – no external dependencies

🔹 Use static generation – ultra-fast performance & easy deployment

🔹 Keep episode metadata simple – just YAML files

🔹 Stay flexible & extendable – support custom themes & formats

The development process has just started, but the core features are already in place. With a simple generate.php script, PodForge takes your episode metadata and outputs a complete, ready-to-use podcast site.

🚧 Current Development Status

So far, we have implemented:

✅ A fully static index.php, dynamically rendering episodes & pages

✅ SEO-friendly episode URLs (/episode/xxx) via .htaccess

✅ A fully compliant podcast RSS feed (podcast.xml)

✅ A microblogging Twtxt feed (twtxt.txt)

✅ A general RSS feed (rss.xml)

Next steps:

➡️ Admin panel for easier episode management

➡️ Markdown support for episode descriptions

➡️ Customizable themes

💡 Get Involved

Since PodForge is open source, contributions, feedback, and ideas are always welcome! Whether you’re a podcaster, developer, or just someone who loves building cool things, feel free to join the discussion and help shape the project.

Stay tuned for more updates as we build PodForge into a powerful yet simple podcasting solution! 🎧🔥

🔗 Follow the Project

📂 Repo

📢 Updates on this blog

#PHP #Podcasting #SelfHosted #OpenSource