<ide_opened_file>The user opened the file /Users/russgoerend/Desktop/Portfolio HTMLs/Marketing Analytics Playbook.html in the IDE. This may or may not be related to the current task.</ide_opened_file>

Looks great. Can you build another playbook but this one is for podcasting? Take everything you've learned from building the other playbooks.


The user wants me to build a Podcasting playbook following the same patterns as the Video Production, Social Media, and Marketing Analytics playbooks. Let me think about what I've learned from building those playbooks:

1. **Structure**: Phase 0 (Orientation/Before You Start) → phases with steps → checkpoints with mentor review → completion buttons
2. **Sidebar**: White, sticky, playbook-style with project switcher (New, Duplicate, Rename, Delete), progress bar, phase groups with step-check circles
3. **Content quality**: Educational content with "Before You Start" orientation (key terms, tools, what finished looks like), teaching content within steps (not just checklists), callouts with why explanations, artifacts with portfolio connections

4. **Mentor checkpoints**: Named mentors with specific review questions
5. **Project switcher**: Full multi-project localStorage with namespaced keys, save-before-switch bug fixed

Now I'm mapping out the podcast production workflow. For Phase 0, I need to establish what podcasting is as a professional medium, define the core terminology like RSS feeds, episodes, hosts, show notes, and transcripts, and introduce the key production tools like Audacity, Adobe Audition, and Riverside.fm.

Then Phase 1 covers pre-production where I'd walk through project setup with name and format, develop the show concept around mission and episode length, hit a checkpoint with Russ to review the concept, plan guests and content if it's an interview format, write scripts and outlines, and do another review before recording.

Phase 2 is the actual production phase starting with a production kickoff checkpoint, then diving into recording fundamentals.

Now I'm looking at the full post-production workflow and realizing I might have too many steps here. Let me compare against the other playbooks—Video Production has 20 steps, Social Media has 14—so I'm aiming for around 15-18 steps total for podcasting. I should restructure this to be more streamlined.

Looking at the core workflow, I really have three main phases: pre-production (concept, planning, scripting), production (recording), and post-production (editing, publishing). Let me map out a cleaner structure that balances detail with practicality, making sure each step adds real value without unnecessary checkpoints. I'm counting 17 steps total, which feels like a solid structure. For the mentor role, Russ would likely be the primary reviewer for podcast work given his involvement in video production, though I should consider whether he has specific colleagues who handle podcasting—but since I'm not certain, I'll assign him to the concept and pre-production checkpoints along with the publishing phase.

Looking at what makes these playbooks effective, I notice a few key patterns: Phase 0 needs to be substantive with professional context and tools, the discovery step should include rich client research questions, teaching sections need to explain the reasoning behind decisions rather than just listing steps, and callouts matter for highlighting critical moments. The most technically demanding part—recording and editing for podcasting—deserves the most detailed guidance, similar to how camera and audio fundamentals got emphasized in video production. I also need to make sure checkpoints have specific mentor questions rather than generic ones, and that artifact capture ties back to portfolio standards.

Now I'm laying out the foundational concepts: defining what professional podcasting actually is as a communication product rather than just a personal project, then establishing the core vocabulary—episodes, seasons, RSS feeds, show notes, transcripts, the different hosting and format options, and the technical tools like DAWs that creators will need to work with.

Moving into the audio production specifics—the distinction between raw and edited audio, managing noise floor and room tone, getting levels right to avoid distortion, and the branded elements like intros, outros, and bumpers that give a show its identity. Then I'm surveying the actual tools available, from free options like Audacity and GarageBand to professional suites like Adobe Audition, plus the remote recording platforms that let you capture high-quality conversations with guests across distances.

For distribution and hosting, there are free platforms like Anchor that handle both hosting and syndication to major services, or more feature-rich options like Buzzsprout and RSS.com. I'm also noting that a finished project needs more than just audio—episode artwork from Canva, show notes, and something publishable across at least one platform to serve as a portfolio piece.

Now I'm mapping out the actual production workflow starting with Phase 1, where I establish the fundamentals: the show name, who's involved, what format we're using, deadlines, and roles. Then Phase 2 digs into the creative concept—the mission statement that defines what the show is about and who it serves, the format choice between interview, monologue, or panel, how each episode is structured, whether there's a season arc, and the cadence and length we're committing to. After that comes a checkpoint where the concept gets reviewed for clarity.

Phase 3 is about understanding the listener deeply—their demographics, what they already know, what shows they're already consuming—and mapping out the competitive landscape to see what else exists in this space. Phase 4 is the content planning stage where I outline individual episodes with hooks and segments, prepare interview questions if needed, and decide whether to script or use talking points. Then there's another checkpoint to confirm the concept is differentiated, the first few episodes are mapped out, and the guest or content pipeline is ready. Phase 5 is the production kickoff where we do a final gear and room check, and Phase 6 covers the actual recording fundamentals starting with room treatment.

Now I'm thinking through the technical side of recording—finding the right acoustic space, positioning the mic correctly, setting levels to avoid clipping, monitoring through headphones to catch issues in real time, and always capturing room tone at the start. Phase 7 is the actual recording session itself with a pre-recording checklist and post-recording wrap-up, then Phase 8 is about organizing files into a logical folder structure and backing everything up immediately. There's a post-recording checkpoint to assess audio quality and whether the content hit its mark, and then Phase 9 begins the editing process.

For the edit, I'm listening through the raw audio to identify problem areas, removing silence and false starts, balancing the levels between speakers, layering in music and transitions, and exporting at the right specifications. After that comes Phase 10 where I'm crafting the show notes and metadata—writing an episode title that resonates with the audience, hooking them with the first two sentences of the description since that's all most platforms display, adding timestamps and guest information, including relevant keywords, and preparing the artwork at the correct dimensions. There's another checkpoint before publishing to make sure the title and description are actually compelling, the audio is polished, and everything's ready to go live. Phase 11 is about getting the episode out to all the distribution channels.

Now I'm thinking about the navbar structure—it should match the existing DCS playbooks with a 🎙 badge and navigation to the Dashboard, Portfolio, and this playbook. I'm setting up localStorage keys for the podcast projects and planning to name the file `Podcast Production Playbook.html` to stay consistent with the other playbooks. I should also add this to the dashboard's Playbooks section.

I'll build out the complete playbook file now, mirroring the Video Production Playbook's structure since podcasting follows a similar production workflow. The file will include the same CSS patterns, project switcher with all four buttons, phase groups with distinct colors, step-check circles, callout classes, glossary terms, checkpoint cards, artifact zones, toast notifications, and portfolio modal integration.

Building the playbook HTML... Finishing up the color scheme with green for the publishing phase, then mapping out the complete steps array with 17 total steps across all phases. Now I'm structuring the sidebar navigation with phases and checkpoints, modeling it after the Video Production Playbook with emoji icons for each section—starting with orientation, then moving through pre-production with concept review and production prep checkpoints, into production phases, and wrapping up with post-production and publishing steps. I'm settling on Russ as the mentor for all podcast checkpoints since this is a DCS course, similar to how the Social Media Playbook uses consistent mentors. Now I'm planning out the form field IDs for the setup step, starting with project information like name, show title, format type, deadline, and role. Now I need to map out the show-notes and publish steps with their respective fields, then plan the checklist items across recording, editing, and files sections. I'm going to structure this like the Video Production Playbook and start building the HTML with all the form fields and checkboxes needed.

Building the HTML structure... I'm settling on the filename `Podcast Production Playbook.html` to match the existing video playbook, and I've decided the color scheme with purple for pre-production, teal for recording, amber for post-production, and green for publishing. Now I'm mapping out the podcast workflow phases to ensure they flow logically from orientation through project setup and into the production stages.

Writing the full playbook file now... , wrapping up the session and capturing room tone. I'm checking the post-recording quality and whether the content achieved what we set out to do. Then moving into post-production with file organization and backup protocols, followed by a pre-edit checkpoint to decide what stays and what gets cut. The editing phase comes next, then I'm adding show notes, metadata, and artwork before a final pre-publish review. Finally, distribution across platforms and sharing the episode. That gives us 17 steps total across the four phases. Now I'm ready to write out the full guide with a focus on teaching approach.

I'm thinking through the technical structure—the STEPS array needs short, hyphenated IDs like `orientation`, `setup`, `concept`, `cp1a`, `audience`, `content-plan`, and so on through `publish`. The navigation and step sections will use prefixed IDs like `nav-orientation` and `step-orientation`. The hyphens in IDs like `content-plan` work fine in JavaScript strings and with `getElementById()`. For the recording step, I'll use checklist IDs like `cl-rec-1`, `cl-rec-2` to keep things organized.

Now I'm settling on a simpler naming convention for the checklists—`cl-r1`, `cl-r2` for recording, `cl-f1`, `cl-f2` for files, and `cl-e1`, `cl-e2` for edit. The user asked me to build the playbook itself, not integrate it into the dashboard, so I'll focus on creating the core content and structure first.


Let me look at the dashboard's playbooks section quickly so I can wire everything together at the same time.


Bash

grep -n "Playbooks\|playbook\|Video Production\|Social Media\|Marketing" "/Users/russgoerend/Desktop/Portfolio HTMLs/APEX_Professional_Dashboard.html" | head -20

Find Playbooks section in dashboard


383:            Video Playbook
384:            Social Media
396:
No items in queue. Bookmark artifacts or steps from playbooks to add them here.

403:
Fast access to your portfolio, playbooks, and project task boards.

421:
Open the APEX Professional Portfolio, launch a playbook, or go straight to the project task boards from one central page.

452:
Playbooks

454:
456:
Video Production Workflow

457:
Access the full video project playbook and open its built-in project task board from the page.

461:
463:
Social Media Workflow

464:
Launch the social media playbook and manage your project tasks in the playbook task board.

468:
470:
Marketing Analytics Workflow

471:
Open the analytics playbook for data-driven client strategy, reporting, and campaign insight.

550:            list.innerHTML = '
No items in queue. Bookmark artifacts or steps from playbooks to add them here.
';


Looks great. Can you build another playbook but this one is for podcasting? Take everything you've learned from building the other playbooks.


452
Playbooks

453

454
455	                Playbook
456
Video Production Workflow

457
Access the full video project playbook and open its built-in project task board from the page.

458
Open Playbook

459
460
461
462	                Playbook
463
Social Media Workflow

464
Launch the social media playbook and manage your project tasks in the playbook task board.

465
Open Playbook

466
467
468
469	                Playbook
470
Marketing Analytics Workflow

471
Open the analytics playbook for data-driven client strategy, reporting, and campaign insight.

472
Open Playbook

473
474

475

476
477
478	        © 2026 Waukee APEX Aspiring Professional Portfolio | Built for Excellence
479
480

481

Playbooks

                Playbook

Video Production Workflow

Access the full video project playbook and open its built-in project task board from the page.

Open Playbook

                Playbook

Social Media Workflow

Launch the social media playbook and manage your project tasks in the playbook task board.

Open Playbook

                Playbook

Marketing Analytics Workflow

Open the analytics playbook for data-driven client strategy, reporting, and campaign insight.

Open Playbook

        © 2026 Waukee APEX Aspiring Professional Portfolio | Built for Excellence


Good. Now I have everything I need. Let me write the Podcast Production Playbook file. It will be a long, comprehensive file following the Video Production Playbook pattern closely. I'll then also update the dashboard to add it.

Let me plan the file carefully before writing:

**File name**: `Podcast Production Playbook.html`

**STEPS**: `['orientation','setup','concept','cp1a','audience','content-plan','cp1','cp2a','recording-prep','recording','cp2','files','cp3a','edit','show-notes','cp3','publish']` = 17 steps

**Phase colors**:

- Pre: #7c3aed (purple) — same as Video
- Prod: #0891b2 (teal) — same as Video
- Post: #d97706 (amber) — different from Video's green
- Pub: #059669 (green) — new phase color

**Nav**: 🎙 DCS Playbook badge, Dashboard, Portfolio, Podcast (active)

Now I'm setting up the artifact steps with discovery, content planning, recording, editing, show notes, and publishing all having dedicated zones, and I need to finalize the checkpoint structure before building out the full HTML. ors**: All Russ (since I don't have other mentor info)
3. **Portfolio standards**: S1 for audience/client work, S4 for recording/editing/publishing, S5 for professional communication/show notes

For the form fields in saveState/loadStateIntoUI:
- proj-name, proj-show, proj-format, proj-deadline, proj-role (setup)
- concept-mission, concept-length, concept-frequency, concept-structure (concept)
- cp1a-notes
- art-audience-link, art-audience-note
- art-content-plan-link, art-content-plan-note
- cp1-notes
- cp2a-notes
- art-recording-link, art-recording-note
- cp2-notes
- art-edit-link, art-edit-note
- episode-title
- art-show-notes-link, art-show-notes-note
- cp3-notes
- art-publish-link, art-publish-note
- chec

Now I'm mapping out the checklist states. The recording prep step has six checkboxes covering fundamentals, the day-of recording step has ten items, then files, editing, and publishing each have their own checkpoint sequences.

Before I write the file, I want to make sure the orientation content is solid. I need to establish what podcasting actually is as a professional communication product, introduce the essential terminology like RSS feeds, show notes, DAWs, and technical concepts like noise floor and gain, then cover the specific tools we're using for recording and editing.

For the concept phase, I'm thinking through how to teach the mission statement framework—helping students articulate who they're serving and what outcome they're delivering—then guide them through format selection based on their goals and the trade-offs between interview, solo, and panel approaches.

I'm also mapping out the form fields they'll need: mission statement, format choice, target episode length, and episode structure breakdown. Then there's a checkpoint where I review whether the mission is specific enough, the format actually fits the audience, and the structure is something they can realistically execute.

Next I'm moving into audience research—getting them to think deeply about who's actually listening, what competing shows exist, and what they want listeners to do or feel when an episode ends. Then for content planning, I'm weighing the script versus talking points trade-off and starting to break down how to craft a compelling cold open.

The opening 60 seconds are critical for keeping people engaged. For interviews, I'm thinking through guest prep—researching thoroughly, preparing more questions than you'll use, and having backup questions ready. Every episode needs a clear call-to-action at the end too. I'm also asking them to identify the single most important takeaway so the episode stays focused.

Once we hit the production prep checkpoint, I'm checking whether the first episode is actually ready to record, the structure is tight, and they have a strong hook. Then we move into recording logistics—testing the space, making sure the gear works, and getting ready to capture clean audio. I'm thinking about room treatment options like closets with clothes or small rooms with soft surfaces to avoid HVAC noise, and mic technique considerations like proper distance.

For the actual recording, I'm running through the technical setup: getting levels in the right range so nothing clips, monitoring through headphones to catch issues as they happen, and capturing room tone at the start. Before hitting record, I'm making sure phones are silenced and away, HVAC is off, levels are set, and room tone is captured.

Once recording starts, I'm speaking the slate with episode details, saving everything as lossless WAV or AIFF, and flagging any mistakes with a single clap rather than stopping. After wrapping, I'm checking the recording quality before anyone leaves and backing up files right away.

Then I'm organizing everything into a folder structure by show, season, and episode, separating raw audio from edited versions and exports, and making sure backups are in place.

Before I dive into editing, I'm listening through the raw file to identify what stays and what goes. The actual edit involves importing into a DAW, running noise reduction, marking cuts with markers first rather than deleting immediately, then removing pauses and filler words. I'm balancing levels between speakers with compression, layering in intro and outro music with bumpers, and exporting as MP3 at 128 kbps.

Now I'm thinking about the metadata side — the episode title needs to hook people with either the guest name and topic or a specific question they'll want answered. The description's first 150 characters are critical since that's what shows before "show more" in feeds. I need timestamps for anything over 20 minutes, artwork that's 3000×3000 and still readable as a tiny thumbnail, and the right Apple Podcasts category. Before publishing, I'm checking whether the title actually serves the audience or just summarizes, and whether the description pulls people in.

Once that's locked, I'm uploading to a host like Spotify for Podcasters or Buzzsprout, submitting the RSS feed to Apple Podcasts, and making sure Spotify gets it too if needed. Social media matters — I'll pull an audiogram clip, a quote card, and excerpt the show notes. The first week is when the algorithm pays the most attention, so timing and promotion matter.

Now I'm ready to build this out into a comprehensive file.

Building the interface... I'm implementing the DCS inbox pattern for S4 and S5 standards, pulling from localStorage and adding the new card to the inbox array before saving it back. Now I'm planning out the complete file structure—CSS, navigation, app shell, the 17 workflow steps, modals for task board and portfolio, and the JavaScript logic—estimating around 1,200 lines total for this polished playbook.

I'm thinking through the sidebar navigation structure, organizing it by phases with collapsible sections for Phase 0 (Orientation), Phase 1 (Pre-Production with its checkpoints), and Phase 2 (Production). Setting up the CSS color variables and phase badge styling for each production stage, then implementing the saveState function to persist the workflow progress.


Good. I'll build the playbook and wire it into the dashboard simultaneously. Writing the full file now — this will be comprehensive, following every pattern we've established.