Many of you are starting to try out the workflow for creating a Direct Publisher channel. The core requirement is that you have a well formed MRSS or JSON feed that lists all your content.
To start the channel creation flow, go to https://developer.roku.com/publish/channel-tutorial/channel-tutorial-index and follow the steps.
In addition, you can use this sample feed to preview a channel: https://api.myjson.com/bins/4tu28
Hope this helps!
Check the Link, it doesn’t work when copied into my browser.
tcb256
My apologies - try the link again. Thanks!
We are trying the Roku Direct Publishing and we wanted to know if you have an example “feed URL” for “HTTP Live Stream (HLS) Video format”?
I have only found example feed URLs for only video files.
I’ll second that request!
tcb
yes please, we also need. have simple channel w single 24/7 live HLS stream.
Same. C’mon Roku dev team!
I need one for 24/7 radio stream so I can convert my channel. And, how / where to save JSON file and get URL.. How to add it it to amazon server?.. Need help on it and 9 more channels…ugh
Have mercy… 
“RokuChrisT” wrote:
Many of you are starting to try out the workflow for creating a Direct Publisher channel. The core requirement is that you have a well formed MRSS or JSON feed that lists all your content.To start the channel creation flow, go to https://developer.roku.com/publish/channel-tutorial/channel-tutorial-index and follow the steps.
In addition, you can use this sample feed to preview a channel: https://api.myjson.com/bins/4tu28
Hope this helps!
Hi RokuChrisT:
I have to apologize in advance because I’m angry and frustrated at how much information is missing regarding using direct publisher. It says in several places that it takes only minutes to create a new channel without having to write ANY CODE. REALLY?? A direct publisher feed JSON file isn’t code? If this was possible without having to write any code, there would be a web-based fill-out form where you simply enter in title, credits, link to media, etc., and the web-based function would return to you a complete JSON file. But NO WHERE is there any mention of having to set up folders on remote servers, such as Amazon S3, and having links to those folders, and permissions, et. al, before you can actually create a channel. The channel creation flow you reference here is virtually useless because it doesn’t provide ANY INFORMATION on how to create a JSON file. It doesn’t EVEN say that you have to cut and paste each of those sections together, or any information on the best way to do that or that you have to create that file and then host in on a server somewhere, and… the list of omissions goes on. I’ve been using the instanttvchannel.com service for a couple of years now, and wanted to move away from them and the monthly expense for just hosting my script, but they at least provide a fill-in-the form function that not only creates the proper file, but also packages it and all I have to do is upload it to ROKU.
Again, I’m sorry for being so angry, but to me, the emperor has no clothes, especially when it comes to the claim that no code-writing is involved. Am I just missing it, or is there really a major component missing here on how to create a JSON file… AND, having to go into a text file and enter URL paths and file names, and uploading those files to a remote server isn’t considered coding? The documentation, in my opinion, is severely lacking in all respects, and is misleading in the “you can create a channel in 15 minutes” verbiage. Sure, you can create a channel by copying and pasting the provided JSON file, and uploading the provided art placeholders, but that’s not creating a channel. The channel creation came when the JSON file was written in the first place as that is really the “channel”.
Again, apologies for the rant, but I have many channels to create, and it appears that I’m going to have to pay an outside service to create files, unless there’s a hidden instruction file on the developer site somewhere that has a step by step of how to create a JSON file in the first place, with the instructions required for how to link to an Amazon S3 server, for example. The beginning and end are there for channel creation, but the missing link for me is the most crucial: creating feed files.
Any help you can provide is of course much appreciated. I’d like to hear from other developers who may be sharing my frustration.
Thanks,
Ken
Ken,
I too was thouroughly confused when I first started. I know a bit about web design and code, but JSON was unfamiliar to me. I seemed way in over my head. However, I disagree with part of your sentiments, as just “replacing links” was really all I was looking for. I don’t find that actual “coding”, but all I was asking for was a sample template.
What’s not mentioned in the tutorial is that all you need to do is copy the mumbo jumbo text/code from their sample feed: https://api.myjson.com/bins/4tu28 and paste it into a JSON validator like here: http://jsonlint.com/ and it nicely formats your code for you. All you then need to do is replace the names, descriptions, IDs, and mostly the video link URL. Just getting a URL should be pretty easy, I can’t see how Roku could find it video any other method.
After all, let’s not make it too simple. Gotta hope Roku can seperate the wheat from the chaff, otherwise it’ll turn into YT.
Thank you Pasnow.
So I can add all of the info for the channel into one json file and put it on my server and then use the url to that one file, correct? I don’t need to make a json for each category, genre etc? What about saving the JSON…“encoding” should it be the utf-8?
And Ken, I too have been feeling frustrated. I wanted to learn what to do but couldn’t find the missing pieces.
Hi RokuChrisT,
I’m trying to get my feed status updated, but, it’s been several hours (overnight) and the status has not changed from:
“Please come back to this page in a few minutes to see the new feed status.”
I’m not using JSON. I’ve tried to build an MRSS feed (xml file) from the MRSS Feed Specification[/url:21w2z0u5], but, I don’t get any feed status. I could not find an example for MRSS feeds. I’m using the MRSS because my videos are typically less than 20 minutes, and, are not shows/movies. Can you point me to a working example of an MRSS feed?
Yes, all the categories and video urls, etc., are in one file. Here is my channel with three categories using the TV Specials object. See the categories/playlist at the bottom of the file.
http://hproku.s3.amazonaws.com/JSON/content-feed.json
hpdean,
Thank you! Big help. I can make one file and then put the .JSON file on my AWS server and then use the url to the file..do I have it right?
Whew, I believe it’s beginning to make sense.
When you save the information in the JSON as a .json file, in the save panel on computer are you using the utf-8 setting?
Thank you for the help.
I do mine in dreamweaver, so I dont have to choose one of those but I am sure that will work. Also, remember when you upload your file to AWS, switch back to the old console and change your metadata to content-type and then type in “applicatiom.json”
hpdean,
I’ve been using Cloudberry to access the aws. It has made the process for the other channels I made a lot easier. Not sure how to do the metadata change you mentioned..Do you mean on the server or in the json file itself? I’ll have to look into that part.
EDIT: Just looked up info for changing content-type using cloudberry and they have a tutorial in case it helps anyone else. I have not attemped it yet but looks like a good tutorial.
https://www.cloudberrylab.com/blog/how-to-add-custom-content-types-with-cloudberry-s3-explorer/
Thanks again for helping hpdean.
I would try just pasting it into Notepad if you don’t have any coding software. Eclipse or Notepad++, free software should work as well. Anyway one novice coding thing to look out for, if you copy & paste video sections to make more, please note that the last video in the list cannot have a comma after the last }] bracket. All others will end }], meaning more to follow, so they need the comma. However I ran into “Invalid JSON” on my first due to still having a comma in the last one, with nothing more to follow. Beginners mistake:)
Pasnow,
Thank you for this tip… 
All these examples are failing the Categories check in the publisher, which is what my programmer and I are having trouble with.
Thanks in advance for the help!
“a3mediallc” wrote:
All these examples are failing the Categories check in the publisher, which is what my programmer and I are having trouble with.Thanks in advance for the help!
What do you mean they are failing? What error message are you receiving? Please explain further.
