Information about tabs in iTunes U

What is a tab in iTunes U?

On iTunes U course pages, tabs are logical sections that offer a unique way to organize content. You can use tabs to separate content based on:

• Time: For example, week one is a tab, week two is another tab, and so on.
  
  
• Subject: For example, the first tab contains lecture material, the second tab contains PDFs, and the third tab contains supplementary material from the instructor.
  
  
• Source: "Source" is similar to "subject", except you can republish podcasts from another source through a new tab in your course. For example, a dedicated tab could be the podcast from a local news source or a teaching assistant.

Each tab has its own RSS feed, as well.

How do I create a tab?

To create a tab in iTunes U:

1. Use the iTunes U interface to enter your course site, and then click Edit Page in the top right corner of the site.

   Once you do this, look at the tabs (above the episode listings at the bottom of the course page). They should have a pencil icon on them.

2. On the left side of the tabs row, click the + (plus sign). You will see a new tab created just to the left of the Trash tab.
   
   
3. If a gray editing box does not appear immediately, click the pencil icon on the tab to edit the tab's settings, where you can set the tab's name and type.

What kinds of tabs are available?

There are three types of tabs available in iTunes U:

• Simple: This is the default type of tab, which allows you to edit the name of the tab, and manually upload podcast episodes via the Upload Files interface.
  
  
• Smart: This is an intelligent search tab, which will collect all podcasts in your course that match search conditions you specify. Searching is done live, and results will change as episodes are added, edited, or removed. Note that you can provide several search conditions and use logical searching functions, such as matching by title, author, keyword, and more.
  
  
• RSS: This allows you to take an already existing podcast feed, such as one from the IU Podcast Portal, and publish it in this tab on your course site. You also can publish podcasts from outside sources, such as news outlets, fellow instructors, or industry experts.

How do tabs affect subscriptions?

When you subscribe to a podcast that contains only one tab, that tab becomes the default. However, if a course site has multiple tabs, you will need to select the tab you want to subscribe to before clicking Subscribe.

Note: You can delete an entire tab; when deleting a tab, all contents of that tab will also be deleted.