This "fix" has been bothering me a long time.
Gaia forgets that most people didn't necessarily block autoplay because of jarring music, as much as to save data if they're using a mobile hotspot for any reason. emotion_facepalm muting the sound does nothing for that, except perhaps make it more difficult to realize a vid is playing if you don't have all the appropriate settings to prevent it.
Gaia forgets that most people didn't necessarily block autoplay because of jarring music, as much as to save data if they're using a mobile hotspot for any reason. emotion_facepalm muting the sound does nothing for that, except perhaps make it more difficult to realize a vid is playing if you don't have all the appropriate settings to prevent it.
I use Firefox, so I have a native setting to "block video and audio," which gets even the muted videos.
Or at least it's supposed to. Sometimes one slips by it, and I wouldn't notice it if it was starting muted.
The point that I'm getting at is that Gaia staff should please let the users decide whether or not to allow auto-play through their personal browser settings.
Gaia does NOT need to automatically add an "autoplay" and "mute" parameter to all of our profile media to appease the masses.
Gaia is doing this because Google suggests this as the best way to go about it.
Quote:
One cool way to engage users is about using muted autoplay and let them chose to unmute (see code snippet below). Some websites already do this effectively, including Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube.
The point that I'm getting at is that Gaia staff should please let the users decide whether or not to allow auto-play through their personal browser settings.
Gaia does NOT need to automatically add an "autoplay" and "mute" parameter to all of our profile media to appease the masses.
Gaia is doing this because Google suggests this as the best way to go about it.
Quote:
One cool way to engage users is about using muted autoplay and let them chose to unmute (see code snippet below). Some websites already do this effectively, including Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube.
I honestly forgot about this, so that's a fair point...
But the main difference between those sites and here is that on Gaia, most users only use the media panel for music (audio)
Meanwhile on other social media sites, videos are usually used to share the content of the video
(Cooking tutorials, news stories, memes, etc)
The point that I'm getting at is that Gaia staff should please let the users decide whether or not to allow auto-play through their personal browser settings.
Gaia does NOT need to automatically add an "autoplay" and "mute" parameter to all of our profile media to appease the masses.
Gaia is doing this because Google suggests this as the best way to go about it.
Quote:
One cool way to engage users is about using muted autoplay and let them chose to unmute (see code snippet below). Some websites already do this effectively, including Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube.
I honestly forgot about this, so that's a fair point...
But the main difference between those sites and here is that on Gaia, most users only use the media panel for music (audio)
Meanwhile on other social media sites, videos are usually used to share the content of the video
(Cooking tutorials, news stories, memes, etc)
This is very true, but it's rarely a good idea to go against the suggestions of the one making the browsers. Which is why Gaia and others do it this way. Why even I say it's required.
That and by doing it this way it gets users to engage with and unmute the audio, which increases the site's MEI with the user. This will allow autoplay with unmuted audio by default. That link also lists other factors that can increase/decrease your MEI by the way. Such as a pixel size that doesn't hide the content.
While people are using this on Gaia for music, it's entirely pointless if people aren't aware there is even music on the page at all. A video that starts autoplayed and without audio is likely to get a response from the user. Something that is hidden and doesn't play at all will not get the attention of the user. This is why it's suggested sites do it this way. You want users to be given the choice of interacting with something.
The point that I'm getting at is that Gaia staff should please let the users decide whether or not to allow auto-play through their personal browser settings.
Gaia does NOT need to automatically add an "autoplay" and "mute" parameter to all of our profile media to appease the masses.
Gaia is doing this because Google suggests this as the best way to go about it.
Quote:
One cool way to engage users is about using muted autoplay and let them chose to unmute (see code snippet below). Some websites already do this effectively, including Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube.
I honestly forgot about this, so that's a fair point...
But the main difference between those sites and here is that on Gaia, most users only use the media panel for music (audio)
Meanwhile on other social media sites, videos are usually used to share the content of the video
(Cooking tutorials, news stories, memes, etc)
This is very true, but it's rarely a good idea to go against the suggestions of the one making the browsers. Which is why Gaia and others do it this way. Why even I say it's required.
That and by doing it this way it gets users to engage with and unmute the audio, which increases the site's MEI with the user. This will allow autoplay with unmuted audio by default. That link also lists other factors that can increase/decrease your MEI by the way. Such as a pixel size that doesn't hide the content.
While people are using this on Gaia for music, it's entirely pointless if people aren't aware there is even music on the page at all. A video that starts autoplayed and without audio is likely to get a response from the user. Something that is hidden and doesn't play at all will not get the attention of the user. This is why it's suggested sites do it this way. You want users to be given the choice of interacting with something.
I absolutely hate hidden autoplay, so I am with you on that point.
But another counter-point to consider:
If you don't even notice the muted auto-playing video until 2-3 minutes in, it's likely that you've already missed most of (if not the entirety) of the music that was playing (since most songs are an average of 3 minutes long). This is why I would prefer that Gaia remove the auto-play parameter which they're currently forcing us to have on all of our videos. That way, when we click to play a video, we know it's going to start at the beginning of the song.
If I'm misunderstanding you, I apologize, but it seems like you think I want auto-play without the muting?
If so, that's incorrect.
I just want the ability for users to be able to customize the video parameters as they please, instead of having certain parameters forced on us by Gaia.
I'm part of the profile coding community on here and make profiles for others on a regular basis, but it's a struggle to constantly explain to both my customers and those just trying to learn how to customize their profile that the Media panel is extremely... un-customizable. sweatdropA few years ago, we used to have 10+ media players to pick from, and could throw whatever parameters we wanted onto the end of our Youtube URLs. Now we're just stuck with 1 player and can't even stop it from auto-playing unless we use a third-party script.
The point that I'm getting at is that Gaia staff should please let the users decide whether or not to allow auto-play through their personal browser settings.
Gaia does NOT need to automatically add an "autoplay" and "mute" parameter to all of our profile media to appease the masses.
Gaia is doing this because Google suggests this as the best way to go about it.
Quote:
One cool way to engage users is about using muted autoplay and let them chose to unmute (see code snippet below). Some websites already do this effectively, including Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube.
I honestly forgot about this, so that's a fair point...
But the main difference between those sites and here is that on Gaia, most users only use the media panel for music (audio)
Meanwhile on other social media sites, videos are usually used to share the content of the video
(Cooking tutorials, news stories, memes, etc)
This is very true, but it's rarely a good idea to go against the suggestions of the one making the browsers. Which is why Gaia and others do it this way. Why even I say it's required.
That and by doing it this way it gets users to engage with and unmute the audio, which increases the site's MEI with the user. This will allow autoplay with unmuted audio by default. That link also lists other factors that can increase/decrease your MEI by the way. Such as a pixel size that doesn't hide the content.
While people are using this on Gaia for music, it's entirely pointless if people aren't aware there is even music on the page at all. A video that starts autoplayed and without audio is likely to get a response from the user. Something that is hidden and doesn't play at all will not get the attention of the user. This is why it's suggested sites do it this way. You want users to be given the choice of interacting with something.
I absolutely hate hidden autoplay, so I am with you on that point.
But another counter-point to consider:
If you don't even notice the muted auto-playing video until 2-3 minutes in, it's likely that you've already missed most of (if not the entirety) of the music that was playing (since most songs are an average of 3 minutes long). This is why I would prefer that Gaia remove the auto-play parameter which they're currently forcing us to have on all of our videos. That way, when we click to play a video, we know it's going to start at the beginning of the song.
If I'm misunderstanding you, I apologize, but it seems like you think I want auto-play without the muting?
If so, that's incorrect.
I just want the ability for users to be able to customize the video parameters as they please, instead of having certain parameters forced on us by Gaia.
I'm part of the profile coding community on here and make profiles for others on a regular basis, but it's a struggle to constantly explain to both my customers and those just trying to learn how to customize their profile that the Media panel is extremely... un-customizable. sweatdropA few years ago, we used to have 10+ media players to pick from, and could throw whatever parameters we wanted onto the end of our Youtube URLs. Now we're just stuck with 1 player and can't even stop it from auto-playing unless we use a third-party script.
No, no, I understand what you're saying. I am just explaining why Gaia made the choice they made. It's what Google suggests they should do if they wish to increase their MEI score. Which is good for Gaia, as it's not just an individual browser thing. The MEI score is pooled and calculated as well on Google's end. It is really stupid looking, but it's just what it is.
This is also actually what Google says is giving the user the option to customize as they see fit.
Do you mean Youtube embed parameters? Because that is Google.
As for other media players, I got nothing. I haven't tried anything with my profile in ages. I just used it to troll people and then I got bored. So I admit I don't know what is going on there. I would assume you can still use Spotify embed, no? That's really the only one I know, sorry.
Really, this all just goes back to Google. Gaia has surprisingly little say in this matter, they are just doing what Google says is best practice and they don't really have much of an option but to obey.
Edit: I hit submit when I meant to hit preview, my bad. Added what didn't get in.
So I am to assume the code is broken as far as music goes right now? Not sure if I am using the right code now - I was able to fix it but still doesnt play anything. sweatdrop
No, the looping has been disabled.
As to whether Gaia Online will allow looping or auto play in the future... we will just have to wait until Flash is obsolete to find out what can be incorporated.
(It may also take some investment as well...)
That and by doing it this way it gets users to engage with and unmute the audio, which increases the site's MEI with the user. This will allow autoplay with unmuted audio by default. That link also lists other factors that can increase/decrease your MEI by the way. Such as a pixel size that doesn't hide the content.
Unfortunately, the MEI doesn't really help the users here. We don't have the option to remove the mute at the player level, so crossing the MEI threshold won't have any effect with regards to getting sound on profiles back.
Quote:
While people are using this on Gaia for music, it's entirely pointless if people aren't aware there is even music on the page at all. A video that starts autoplayed and without audio is likely to get a response from the user. Something that is hidden and doesn't play at all will not get the attention of the user. This is why it's suggested sites do it this way. You want users to be given the choice of interacting with something.
That's really how people like to use it though. Since media panels tend to get used mostly for just music, it's a popular thing to chop off the video portion and reduce the player to only its essential controls, then stuff it somewhere out of the way. That tends to get as much attention as a video that's just sitting there and doing nothing, and it sometimes takes a minute or two to find these mini-players on the page, especially if the theme has a lot going on. Having it be an actual suggestion for sites that this type of player automatically start playing with no audio, seems a bit ... odd.
Quote:
Do you mean Youtube embed parameters?
Yeah. After the V2 media panel was "upgraded," it stopped accepting anything other than YouTube URLs, and it started automatically stripping any parameters you try to specify (then replaces them with autoplay=1 and mute=1). It just literally won't allow to submit anything else.
As to whether Gaia Online will allow looping or auto play in the future... we will just have to wait until Flash is obsolete to find out what can be incorporated.
This actually all got broken in the first place because Gaia swapped out support for Flash embeds on profiles in favor of HTML5 iframes, and that new system doesn't give us even a tiny fraction of the features the old one did.
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