Add videos to your library with an external uploader widget

You can create an external uploader that allows others to add videos directly to your library without having to sign in.

This is especially useful if you have partners or colleagues who need to contribute videos to a project, but they do not have their own dedicated user(s) in your Vidyard account.

You can share your uploader with others anytime through a direct link or embed the widget on a webpage for visitors to use.

Create a new uploader widget

Videos uploaded to your account through the uploader widget are added to the folder that the widget belongs to. 

Before you begin, switch into the folder where you want videos to be uploaded. Then, complete the following steps to create a new uploader widget:

1. Select Channels > Uploader Widget
2. Select +New Widget

Give your uploader widget a name

Enter a name for your uploader widget. The name is not publicly displayed; it is only used to differentiate the widget from others that you might create.

Automatically add tags to uploaded videos

You can choose to automatically add tags to videos that are uploaded to your account through the widget.

Tags are keywords that allow you to easily search for videos in your library, add videos to hub categories, and contribute to SEO optimization on pages where videos are embedded.

Consider adding a tag that allows you to later search your library for all videos uploaded through the widget.

1. Type the name of a tag into the field provided
2. Select the + button to add the tag

Uploader widget settings

You can customize the widget to control what others are able modify when a video file is uploaded to your account.

For example, you may want to give users the ability to adjust the name, description or thumbnail of each video as they are uploaded.

Restrict your uploader widget to a specific domain

You can use a domain restriction to limit where your uploader widget is allowed to be embedded. If the uploader is embedded on a web domain other than the one you've specified, it will fail to load and present visitors to that page with an error.

Adding a domain restriction also disables the uploader widget's direct sharing link. 

1. Toggle Enable Domain Restrictions to ON
2. Specify a domain where the uploader widget is permitted (e.g. vidyard.com).
3. Select Save Changes

Note: Vidyard will match references to domains with http:// and https://, as well as domains with or without www. To include all subdomains on a website, use a wildcard asterisk: *.example.com

Change height and width of the uploader

Use the width and height boxes to change the dimensions of the uploader (measured in pixels). 

The dimensions of the uploader specifically matter if you intend to embed the widget on a page alongside other content.

If you instead decide to use the button to launch the uploader widget, use HTML and CSS on your webpage to size and style the button as needed.

Preview the uploader widget

If you want to preview your uploader widget, select the sample button under Preview to launch the widget in a new window.

You can also use the Share link to open the uploader in a new browser tab.

Note: the share link will be unavailable if a domain restriction has been added to the uploader widget

Share your uploader widget with others

There are 3 ways to share your uploader widget so that others can add videos to your account:

• copy the iframe code to embed the widget on your own webpage
• copy the button code to add a button to your own webpage that launches the uploader in a separate window
• copy the link to your uploader and share it directly with others

Hover over a field to the copy the code or sharing link.

• On a Mac: Command (⌘) + C
• On Windows: Ctrl + C

Edit or delete an uploader widget

You can makes changes to your existing uploader widgets at anytime. Simply return to the folder in your account that contains the widget, then:

1. Select Channels > Uploader Widgets
2. Select Edit to make any changes or copy the embed code
3. Select delete (trash icon) to remove an uploader widget entirely.

Note: when you delete an uploader widget, it will no longer be accessible on any pages where it has been embedded or through its direct sharing link.

Optional: use query strings to customize the uploader

You can add a URL argument (aka. a "query string") to the embed code of an uploader widget to make further customizations.

For example, you may want to use the same uploader widget in more than 1 location, but offer different upload options for your two separate audiences (e.g. only allow uploads from computer vs. only record a new video).

Rather than create an entirely separate uploader widget with different settings, you can use a query string to customize the widget on a per embed basis.

Simply add a ? after the secure.vidyard.com URL in the embed code followed by the query string you want to use. Multiple query parameters are separated with an &.

<---this example only allows users to upload videos from their computer and adds a tag--->

<iframe frameborder="0" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" src="https://secure.vidyard.com/uploader_widgets/B9aIlV_aybtck92fdTc-9A?options[]=upload&tags=widgetupload" width="640" height="360"></iframe>

Optional: use a webhook to post video metadata to an endpoint

When creating your uploader, you can also enter a web address (an endpoint) that our API will send information to about each video uploaded through the widget.

You can then use the metadata about each video to execute additional custom actions on your own webpages.

Video metadata is sent to the endpoint as an HTTP POST request in JSON format.

1. Enter your endpoint URL into the webhook field
2. Select Save Changes

Here's an example of the object that we'll POST to your endpoint each time a video is uploaded through the widget:

HEADERS: 
Host: 12.123.12.123
Date: Feb 25, 2020 9:13 AM
Size: 795 bytes
ID: eb1bce04-08d8-4860-a2ad-c5182a485ef2
content-length: 795
host: webhook.site
connection: close 
accept-encoding: gzip;q=1.0,deflate;q=0.6,identity;q=0.3
x-datadog-sampling-priority: 0
x-datadog-parent-id:
x-datadog-trace-id:
accept: application/json
content-type: application/json
user-agent: Dashboard/1.0

RAW BODY:
{
  "name": "Coffee",
  "upload_url": "s3://vidyard/uploads/videos/390c49e3-05c5-464b-b5d4-1524dc0a581c.mp4",
  "notes": null,
  "description": null,
  "sync": true,
  "sync_thumbnail": true,
  "audio_gain": 0,
  "webhook_url": "https://webhook.site/7f56a5ff-028c-438a-8502-018faa9b75b8",
  "current_thumbnail_id": 123,
  "salesforce_files_attributes": [],
  "tags_attributes": [],
  "seconds": 22,
  "milliseconds": 22950,
  "id": 11770013,
  "uuid": "HpzAmaH8O32SZHFQ3Vgp0c8s7ac4",
  "status": "ready",
  "error_message": null,
  "created_at": 1602871452,
  "updated_at": 1602871475,
  "organization_id": 123456,
  "origin": "upload",
  "is_secure": true,
  "hosting_provider": "vidyard",
  "sync_captions": true,
  "video_type": "normal",
  "aspect_width": 16,
  "aspect_height": 9,
  "created_by_client_id": "secure.vidyard.com",
  "blender_campaign_uuid": null,
  "facade_player_uuid": "avwd653359cP4uWf332niB1BaRk",
  "player_uuid": "avwd653359cP4uWf332niB1BaRk"
}