You might also consider using Gaia Tool's Youtube Redirect service for building Youtube URLs. (There is a user-guide for that over here)
Youtube is one of the most easiest and at the same time complex media options available. It's easy because you can just plug in a URL and submit if you are fine with a single video, but it's also complex due to the amount of things you can customize and the different player versions. Please bare with me as I attempt to explain things as clearly as possible.
Major Updates: March 2017 - The Flash API has been officially dropped August 2016 - The entire Youtube player broke for about a week, making us realize how unreliable it is. Workarounds were found by Fredy. July 2016 - The AS2 player cannot be shrunken to dimensions of 250px or less June 2016 - All youtube.com/p URLs no longer work. Please use the AS3 parameter work-around. December 2014 - Googleapis URLs no longer work
Last Update: 8/17/2016
Posted: Sun Jul 03, 2016 9:04 am
The Basics of Youtube Videos
With any of these urls, you are going to have to know some things. These include (but are not limited to) ...
Video IDs So let's say this is the youtube url you want to use: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E2LM3ZlcDnk or this (the "Share" url) : http://youtu.be/E2LM3ZlcDnk That part red is your Video ID, which is specific to each video. It's like a telephone number -- you only get one per video and if you dial in that id, you will get the video!
Playlist IDs In order to get your playlist ID, it is easiest if you find the direct link for your playlist page. Example: http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL2788304DC59DBEB4 The part in red is your Playlist ID (following the "PL" letters)
Parameters How to describe these in simple terms... basically, they are extra hand-typed controls which let you control more things about your video. All of them are added with the "&" symbol, so it's like saying "I want the video from this ID to play and (&) for it to play automatically and (&) for it to loop and (&) etc..." Parameters are added at the end of the url (after the video ID) The first parameter always starts with a question mark (?) and the ones which follow use an ampersand (&) Example: http://jp.youtube.com/v/video-id-here?parameter=value¶meter=value¶meter=value
Values These are what follow the parameter name. Values are usually numerical, with the basic ones being just "0" or "1". Some of the advanced parameters use specified keywords or color names.
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Posted: Sun Jul 03, 2016 9:14 am
AS3: The Default Player for Single Videos
This is the default URL/player Gaia gives you when pasting in a regular Youtube URL Make sure to remove the "s" from the "https" at the beginning of the URL, or else it will register as an alert
Basic Video URL: http://youtube.com/v/video-id-here
Parameters include: autoplay 0 = (default) User must push the play button in order to play the media 1 = Media will play automatically
... and no others, because Gaia strips any other parameters
However there are three ways to override this: 1. Using the Gaia Tools Youtube Redirect Service 2. Using a URL shortener like tinyurl to prevent Gaia from stripping other parameters 3. Using a non-American URL
The next post goes over each of these methods in detail
Posted: Sun Jul 03, 2016 9:22 am
AS3 Extended and AS3 Playlists
So you want more parameters for your URL? Let's go over the options again and send you on your way: 1. If you want the Youtube Redirect Service, go to Gaia Tools. 2. If you will be using a URL shortener, it's easiest to build your URL with the basic youtube.com URL. 3. If you will be using a non-American URL, please refer to the list further down the page with all of these types of URLs.
What if you want a playlist? You're going to need to use AS3 parameters in order to build one. Fredy-san has an additional guide devoted to that for more help.
What if you want to color-customize your player? Unfortunately this player does not support that. However, Fredy-san has a guide you might want to look at.
AS3 Parameters include:
autohide 0 = Progress bar and controls will be visible throughout video 1 = Progress bar and controls will be visible for a few seconds, then slide out of video. They will reappear if video is moused over. 2 = (default) Progress bar fades out while player controls remain visible
autoplay 0 = (default) Video must be clicked in order to play 1 = Video will start to play automatically after page loads
cc_load_policy 1 = Closed Captions will show by default
color red = (default) Progress bar will use red to track video length white = Progress bar will use white to track video length (this value will disable the modestbranding option)
controls 0 = Player controls do not display 1 = (default) Player controls display
disablekb 0 = (default) Enable player keyboard controls 1 = Disables player keyboard controls
end Value is any positive interger. Specificies what time the video should end (based on the start of the video 0:00)
fs 0 = Fullscreen button does not display 1 = (default) Fullscreen button will display
iv_load_policy 1 = (default) Video annotations will show 3 = Video annotations will not be shown
list Used in conjunction with listType parameter If listType=search, then list specifies the search query If listType=user_uploads, then list identifies the Youtube channel whose uploaded videos will be loaded If listType=playlist, then list specifies the playlist ID. Playlist ID needs a "PL" in front of it
listType Used in conjunction with the list parameter. Valid values are search, user_uploads, and playlist
loop 0 = (default) Video will play through once and stop. 1 = Video will play through and loop back to the beginning. If used with playlist, Playlist will play through all tracks then repeat. Note: You need to use the playlist parameter and put the video ID in as a value for that as well in order for this to work
modestbranding 1 = Youtube logo will not display in the control bar
playlist Values are a list of videos to play separated by commas. The first video to play will be the one specified in the basic url path, and then the ones from this parameter will follow.
rel 0 = Player will not show related videos once initial playback is over 1 = (default) Player will show related videos once initial playback is over
showinfo 0 = Player will not display information such as video title and uploader 1 = (default) Player will display video information
start Value is any positive integer. Player will start the video at the given number of seconds from the start of the video.
theme dark = (default) Player controls will be displayed in a dark color scheme (grays/blacks) light = Player controls will be displayed in a light color scheme (whites/tans)
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Posted: Sun Jul 03, 2016 9:32 am
AS2: The Old Player
Please please please do not use this. The only reason I have it listed here is because some people insist on still using it. This player is old and broken and is no longer supported by Youtube, yet it still works on Gaia. The main reason people find it attractive is because it can be cropped into a nice square little play/pause button with options to change its colors. Playlists are not supported on this player.
Anyways, if you want to use this, you need to either use a URL shortener or use a non-American URL
Basic Video URL (if using URL-shortener): http://youtube.com/v/video-id-here?version=2
Basic Video URL (if using non-American URL): http://jp.youtube.com/v/video-id-here?version=2
Parameters include:
autoplay 0 = (default) User must push the play button in order to play the media 1 = Media will play automatically
color1 Affects the border color for the player controls. Accepts hexcodes without a "#" attached. Border is black by default.
color2 Affects the background color for the player control buttons. Accepts hexcodes without a "#" attached. Background is black by default
end Ends the video based on the specified number of seconds in from the start of the video. Value is any positive integer.
loop 0 = (default) Media will play through to end and stop 1 = Media will play through to end and then go back to the beginning
start Starts the video from a specified number of seconds into the video. Value is any positive integer.
Posted: Sun Jul 03, 2016 9:44 am
Non-American URLs
Earlier in the guide, I mentioned using non-American URLs as a work-around to avoid Gaia stripping parameters. This is a list of a few such URLs which will work. Please note that some of these may change the language on your player into whatever country it is. Additionally, some videos have restricted playback and cannot be embedded using non-American URLs.
Some non-American URLs: http://ca.youtube.com/v/ http://ru.youtube.com/v/ http://br.youtube.com/v/ http://hk.youtube.com/v/ http://jp.youtube.com/v/
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Posted: Sun Jul 03, 2016 9:51 am
CSS Theme Override Codes
Some extra things you might want to consider coding inside of your Theme Override Box
All Versions Selector name for media: v1 (Classic) profiles: #multimedia embed v2 (Current) profiles: .media_panel object
AS3 - Using the Default URL (Current Layouts Only) Only the Play/Pause button will display: (for single videos) .media_panel{height: 27px !important; width: 55px !important; overflow: hidden; padding: 0;} .media_panel object{height: 400px; width: 400px; position: absolute; bottom: 0; left: 0;}
Only the Play/Pause button and Left/Right arrows will display: (for Playlists) .media_panel{height: 27px !important; width: 125px !important; overflow: hidden; padding: 0;} .media_panel object{height: 400px; width: 400px; position: absolute; bottom: 0; left: 0;}
AS3 - Using Extended URL {height: 27px; width: 55px;} = Only the Play/Pause Button will Display In order to achieve this effect, use the following parameters: &fs=0&autohide=0&modestbranding=1&showinfo=0
{height: 27px; width: 90px;} = Play/Pause Button and Player Controls will display 90px can be increased in order to increase "bar" size In order to achieve this effect, use the following parameter: &autohide=0 Optional Parameters: &fs=0 (hides fullscreen button) &modestbranding=1 (hides Youtube logo)
AS2 The AS2 player cannot be shrunken down to dimensions of 250px by 250px or less Otherwise, adjust the height and width as you please
Posted: Sat Jan 14, 2017 2:16 am
Hi! I am having a little trouble with my youtube playlist URL. It used to work, but I noticed today that it isn't, so I tried updating. I'm running into the issue that when I grab my playlist URL from youtube, it gives me an https:// URL, and when I try to put that into the Gaia Media box, it says it must be an http://, and won't let me save it. If I remove the 's', the video playlist doesn't load on my profile for me, it just shows as a white box. Do you know what the issue here is?
Hi! I am having a little trouble with my youtube playlist URL. It used to work, but I noticed today that it isn't, so I tried updating. I'm running into the issue that when I grab my playlist URL from youtube, it gives me an https:// URL, and when I try to put that into the Gaia Media box, it says it must be an http://, and won't let me save it. If I remove the 's', the video playlist doesn't load on my profile for me, it just shows as a white box. Do you know what the issue here is?
What you currently have in your Media panel is simply a link to the page which has your playlist. You want an embed URL, like so: https://gaiatools.com/youtube/redirect/Sx1mHSo7ug4?list=PLHV3G9j1v3hGyfjwOU15i1ABN4kaTrVw4 (You can also create this using a non-American URL -- I just use Gaia Tools since it's a bit easier)
Posted: Sun Jan 15, 2017 2:20 am
Lady Saxophone
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Hi! I am having a little trouble with my youtube playlist URL. It used to work, but I noticed today that it isn't, so I tried updating. I'm running into the issue that when I grab my playlist URL from youtube, it gives me an https:// URL, and when I try to put that into the Gaia Media box, it says it must be an http://, and won't let me save it. If I remove the 's', the video playlist doesn't load on my profile for me, it just shows as a white box. Do you know what the issue here is?
What you currently have in your Media panel is simply a link to the page which has your playlist. You want an embed URL, like so: https://gaiatools.com/youtube/redirect/Sx1mHSo7ug4?list=PLHV3G9j1v3hGyfjwOU15i1ABN4kaTrVw4 (You can also create this using a non-American URL -- I just use Gaia Tools since it's a bit easier)
Ahh thank you! This worked, I still had to make it into http: instead of https: tho, haha. I tried to figure out the gaiatools URL maker thing, but I may have been doing things wrong because when I moused over the URL boxes at the bottom my mouse became like a "don't" symbol?? Red circle with a slash through it, whatever that is called.
Hi! I am having a little trouble with my youtube playlist URL. It used to work, but I noticed today that it isn't, so I tried updating. I'm running into the issue that when I grab my playlist URL from youtube, it gives me an https:// URL, and when I try to put that into the Gaia Media box, it says it must be an http://, and won't let me save it. If I remove the 's', the video playlist doesn't load on my profile for me, it just shows as a white box. Do you know what the issue here is?
What you currently have in your Media panel is simply a link to the page which has your playlist. You want an embed URL, like so: https://gaiatools.com/youtube/redirect/Sx1mHSo7ug4?list=PLHV3G9j1v3hGyfjwOU15i1ABN4kaTrVw4 (You can also create this using a non-American URL -- I just use Gaia Tools since it's a bit easier)
Ahh thank you! This worked, I still had to make it into http: instead of https: tho, haha. I tried to figure out the gaiatools URL maker thing, but I may have been doing things wrong because when I moused over the URL boxes at the bottom my mouse became like a "don't" symbol?? Red circle with a slash through it, whatever that is called.
Yeah, there's still a few bugs with the page. (The site dev knows, but he's busy with other projects atm) You can still highlight and copy the URL -- it's just that it gives you that "cannot enter" sign because you are not allowed to edit the text in that box.
Posted: Mon Jul 03, 2017 5:15 pm
Hello I am too trying to put a playlist and on autoplay...can you help me out (I did read the directions but still got confused and didn't work for me I prob placed it wrong)?
Hi!! I'm trying to put a gif in the background of my youtube video because I don't like the white space as the bg (see profile to understand what I mean). What would be the code to do that? Also, is there a way to get the video to take up the entire space of the media box? smile)
