Setting up Continuous Podcast or iTunes U Play on iPhone or iPad

It is somewhat dismaying to find that iTunes U series do not play continuously, at least not on my iPhone 4. This has actually been the case for some time. Here is a workaround.

1. Select your files
2. Right-Click
3. Change media kind to "Audiobook"
4. On the same tab page, change the option to "Part of a compilation" and to not shuffle your list
5. Exit the mode
6. Wait for the files to change to audiobook
7. Find your audiobook in the "Books" section
8. Sync as usual

Once they are on your iPhone or iPad, the files will play continuously and in a row. You can also change the playback speed just like with podcasts or iTunes U lectures in their normal interface, which is a great tool for getting more info quickly.

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Using:
iTunes 11.0.1
iPhone 4
OSX 10.8.2

How to Sort iTunes U Titles by Name, Not "Release Date"

In iTunes 11, there is a difficulty sorting iTunes U albums any way other than by "release date." Some people say that it is because iTunes wants to leave the sorting to the album creators. Hopefully that is not the case, as it is incredibly un-intuitive and not useful at all.

In any case, here is how to sort your album by name. I will use an example to illustrate.

I imported a non-iTunes U album into iTunes. It was a series of lectures I had gathered earlier.

Before importing, the album lectures were well-ordered, 1a, 1b, and so on.

Once I imported them (by dragging) into iTunes U, however, what a mess! It started with 7a, then went to 12b, etc. (Note: When importing, the album showed up as a "Music" album; simply change to "iTunes U" in "Get Info" menu via right-click.)

"Release Date" ordering was not at all helpful, as it simply reversed the jumbled order. 

To fix this problem, you need to highlight all the album contents (all the lectures at once; simply click the first lecture, then hold the shift key while clicking the last lecture) and enter the "Get Info" menu (right-click and access "Get Info."

Once in this menu, you will need to change a few things. Make sure "Artist" and "Album Artist" are both filled in. Then (very important) enter a Year, as seen in the top-right corner. This way, they will all have the same year, since you are editing the info for all the lectures at once.

Next change "Disc Number" to 1, and "Track Number" to set them all as first track. Taking into account the other info you changed, iTunes U will now only be able to sort them via Name, since the info is all the same.

Screenshot example of how my album looked when finished. Be sure to have at least all these fields filled in:



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Using:
iTunes 11.0.1
OSX 10.8.2