Video
Use the Video module to insert a video into your layout or play it in a lightbox. The source can be either of the following:
- A video from the WordPress Media Library
- Embed code provided by a third party such as Vimeo or YouTube.
An important part of the Video module is what goes on behind the scenes. You can add structured data to meet Google's Rich Results Test. The Video module also does a great job of being responsive on smaller devices.
Module settings
General tab
Video type
There are two choices:
- Media Library
- Embed
These choices are described in the following sections.
Media Library
If you choose Media Library, the following additional settings are available.
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Video (MP4) | Add an MP4 video that you have uploaded to your media library. |
| Video (WebM) | (Optional) Select a WebM-format video from the media library to display in browsers that can't play MP4. WebM was required on some older versions of Firefox and Safari. |
| Show video on lightbox | (Default is No) The video plays in a lightbox rather than directly on the page. If set to Yes, you must select Enable Poster and select a poster image, described in the following table rows. |
| Enable poster | Enable or disable a poster image that displays before the video is loaded, whether the video is displayed in a lightbox or not. If set to Yes, you must add an image to the next Poster setting. Note: If a poster image is specified, the attribute preload="none" is added to the rendered output to ask the browser not to load the video when the page loads. However, this attribute is ignored if Autoplay is set to Yes. See this article for more information about the preload attribute. |
| Poster | (Optional for videos that play on the page, required for videos that play in a lightbox) Select a poster image from the Media Library. If the video plays in a lightbox, the poster image displays on the main page and the video plays in the lightbox. |
| Autoplay | (Default is No) Choose whether the video should start automatically. Note: Selecting Yes doesn't guarantee your video will autoplay in all environments. Standards frequently change for whether browsers and mobile devices will autoplay videos. Here's a good recent summary. |
| Loop | (Default is No ) Choose whether to automatically replay the video when it ends. |
| Sticky on scroll | (Default is No) If set to Yes and the lightbox is set to No, the video stays displayed on the page while the rest of the page scrolls beneath it. |
There's also a Video Controls section, with the following settings. All are set to Show by default. Here's a screenshot to explain the controls, also described in the table below.
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Play/pause | Show or hide the play and pause controls. |
| Timer | Show or hide the timer control. |
| Time Rail | Show the bar that displays the time progression while the video plays. |
| Duration | Show the time duration. |
| Volume | Show the volume control. |
| Full screen | Show the control to enable full-screen viewing. |
Embed
If you set Video type to Embed, a code box appears where you can add
the <iframe> embed code provided by your video service. For Youtube videos,
go to the video you want to embed and click Share, then choose Embed
to get the code. The StartTime and EndTime YouTube embed parameters are passed to the YouTube Player API, so you can start and end an embedded video at selected points.
With the Embed setting, the following settings are also available. See the previous section for an explanation of these settings:
- Show video on lightbox
- Enable poster
- Poster
- Sticky on scroll
oEmbed
Instead of adding an iFrame you can add the URL for your video as long as the video service is supported by WordPress oEmbed.
Structured data tab
This tab lets you set information about the video that is provided in the rendered HTML output that search engines make use of, particularly Google's Rich Results feature.
If you choose Yes for Enable structured data, the following fields become available.
- Video name
- Video description
- Content URL
Google defines this as "The URL of the actual content bytes, either on the local site or on a streaming service." - Embed URL
Google defines this as "The URL of the custom player. This is often the src value for an <iframe> or <embed> tag on the page."
For more information about both of these URLs, see this Google Video Best Practices page. - Video thumbnail
- Upload date
Here's an example of the rendered HTML output as a result of this structured
data in the outer <div> wrapper for the video. The itemtype attribute
identifies the object as a schema.org video, and the meta attributes include
the structured data provided.
<div class="fl-video fl-embed-video" itemscope="" itemtype="https://schema.org/VideoObject">
<meta itemprop="name" content="BLT 2005-2017">
<meta itemprop="uploadDate" content="April 10, 2017">
<meta itemprop="thumbnailUrl" content="https://example.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/history-embed-thumbnail.png">
<meta itemprop="description" content="A photo slideshow of memorable moments in our history">
<div className="fluid-width-video-wrapper" style="padding-top: 56.25%;">
<iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/AbCdEfG" frameBorder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowFullScreen="" name="fitvid0"></iframe>
</div>
</div>
Advanced tab
There are all the usual Advanced tab settings for margins, visibility, animations, and advanced HTML settings.
Related modules
- You can also play a video in a lightbox using a Button module.
For a description of the differences, see the article about opening a video in a lightbox. - You can embed the code for videos using an HTML module.
However, if you want the structured metadata in the output, you'll have to provide your own code. Use the example above for how to structure this information around your video iframe.