Introduction

Embedding video clips is a great way to increase your site’s appeal. Unfortunately, the Commons does not have the bandwidth to “host” your videos. You will need to use an external service such as Vimeo or YouTube. Both of these (and others) offer a free means of uploading your video clips and provide a URL (or a “link”) that can be used to embed your content into a WordPress post or page.

The Easy Way

WordPress automatically implements the “o-embed” API that lets you simply insert the video’s URL on a new line in a page or post. This method is generally fool proof and has been available in WordPress for many years. It however does not automatically provide options such as sizing, auto-run, show/hide player control, close-captioning, etc. For many members, the easy way is fast and sufficient, but others might want further control of their videos.

The Block Editor

If you use the block editor (now the default editor on the Commons), there is a generic video embed block, called simply “Video” as well as specific blocks such as “YouTube” and “Vimeo.” These provide additional control over the display of your videos.

The block editor allows members to adjust the size and placement of videos on posts and pages.

Plugins

There are also plugins that can help to customize your video display. Among these are:

• YouTube WordPress Plugin by Embed Plus
• EmbedPress
• Cincopa video and media plug-in
• MediaElement.js – HTML5 Audio and Video
• Webinar and Video Conference with Jitsi Meet