Embedding YouTube videos on the forum

[El Fixes Things]

I just made my first post in a while with a video embed- in the past, I had found this feature to be broken, but found a 'work around' that would fix it. Well, when I tried my usual thing, it didn't work!

Long story short, I went to an old post of mine that had a working embed, went into the post editor, and clicked the "<>" button to view the source code for the post. I compared it to how it looked on my new post, and saw a difference in how the video link is formatted- so I changed the new post to match the format, and bam- working again!

I figured maybe it was worth making a post telling others what you need for your videos to show up as an embed!

In order to make the video appear, you'll need to use the "insert/edit video" tool in the post editor (directly to the right of the "insert/edit picture" tool in the toolbar). Select the "general" tab if it isn't selected by default. You should see four lines that have corresponding fields where you can put text, titled "Source", "Alternative Source", "Poster", and "Dimensions".

Most Youtube video urls currently look like:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=__________
except that instead of a " __________", there is a string of random numbers and letters. This string of characters is what identifies the video.

The forum seems to now no longer accept this format for video embeds, but formerly did.

The new format that the forum seems to like, is:
https://www.youtube.com/embed/__________
where again, the "__________" represents the string of characters that identify a video.

So, back to the "insert/edit video" tool. First, type or paste "https://www.youtube.com/embed/" into the field labeled "Source".
Next, go to the YouTube video you want to embed, and look for the identifying string of characters in the url. Copy them, and no other part of the video url. Then paste this string of characters into the "Source" field of the "insert/edit video" tool, so it appears after the previous text you entered in the same field.

Now, click the "OK" button. And bam, you're done! Submit your forum post, and your video should appear as an embed.

Here's an example:
the video URL I want to embed is:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bimt8MaUv-E
The "bimt8MaUv-E" at the end is what I need for the embed.
Following my instructions, I need to enter "https://www.youtube.com/embed/bimt8MaUv-E" into the "source" field.
And if all goes well, you should see a train video below! (very cool channel, well worth visiting)



-Ellie

Update: I discovered there's an extra step I missed, I need to rewrite some of the instructions. It looks like the only way to post a video and have it work involves editing the source code.

[pennytrains]

Gorgeous Dampflok!  Spectacular Modelleisenbahn! 

[ADCX Rob]

El Fixes Things

It looks like the only way to post a video and have it work involves editing the source code.

You've really overcomplicated it... it's very simple to fix the source code ("<>" drop-down icon) by adding just one character... "s". Here's how to do it in one short paragraph:

Post the video link using the "Insert/Edit Video" icon, go into the source code and just change the link url to be "https" instead of "http". That's it.

[Flintlock76]

O Gauge three-rail Maerklin!  Wow!  Now THAT'S something you don't see every day!  Thanks for that video!