You’re new to this whole blogging thing. You want to put a cool video in your post like you see everywhere on the web, but you haven’t figured out how to do it. I got your back. Everything’s easy when you know how, right? 
So watch this video to see how it’s done the easy way. Here’s what you’ll get out of it:
- What NOT to do (the “Add media” buttons are wrong)
- Where to get the embed code on a YouTube video
- How to customize the embedded movie player
- How to embed the movie the easy way, WITHOUT extra plugins
So enjoy (you may want to go full screen but the quality’s not as good as Viddler–since I used YouTube in the video, I wanted to use them for this post).
If you can’t see the video in your email or reader, it’s on YouTube: How to Add Video to a WordPress Post.
Also of Interest
Since I’ve written this post, many people have asked questions in the comments below and I’ve done my best to answer them, so please do check them out and leave a comment yourself if you have a question.
I have a few more posts on video blogging you may also find interesting if you found this one helpful:
- How to Wrap Text Around a Video
- Start Video Blogging in Five Easy Steps
- Should You Use a Video Service or Host Your Own?
Good video.
I’ve noticed that the Add Media buttons don’t always do the job for me (especially the image one, it never seems to do the align right).
One thing to add to this is that you can edit the dimensions of the video if you need to. I use the Revolution Magazine theme and need to downsize the video so it won’t throw my layout off – I just take the YouTube embed URL and reduce the dimensions by 50%.
Interesting. I’ve never noticed that “Add Video”-button. I have always added videos by adding embedded code in the code-tab. Thanks for posting the video!
@Dave – when you use the align features, specific CSS classes are created. It is possible, then, to have CSS styles created for these classes so that when you use them in your theme the pictures will always look good.
Thanks for bringing up the video resizing idea, I know a lot of people would benefit from knowing that. In the code the dimensions are given twice, so make sure you change both instances.
@Marko – In previous versions of WordPress, the html tab didn’t faithfully render the code, resulting in botched video embdeds. People like me had to use the permanent code view (set in user options) while less technical folk had to try and find a plugin that would work halfway decently.
@Michael –
My issue with WP 2.5 is this – I click Add Media, add a photo and tell it to align (left or right), and it tosses it in but doesn’t do the text wrapping (so the image looks awkward). I then select on the image, click on the image edit button, and lo and behold … the alignment doesn’t show as set. If I set it from within *there*, then it does the wrap.
Weird. Annoying.
I had tried putting video on my blog but it threw out the layout (too big). I just followed the advice to cut the height and width by half and I just successfully added a YouTube video to my blog. Thank you.
This is a great tutorial. Thank you!
Thank you, I was having a little problem with embedding a video in the post but now its fine.
Super. It took almost a day to find this info. Thanks, great job.
Thanks Mark!
I have the video embedded in my blog post now, but when I view the post in the Categories section, the video disappears. It works fine on the front page or when I look at it in the Recent Posts section. Same with images. Am I doing something wrong?
@Kim – Who’s Mark?
The reason why you don’t see the video in the categories or date archives is because the code in those pages does not show videos, picture, or links. That is the default behavior of the “excerpt” code that is on those pages.
It can be changed by editing the archive.php file, which is one of the files that make up your WordPress theme.
However, it can only be done by a person who knows what they’re doing with the code and an FTP client (for a self-hosted blog–for a wordpress.com blog, you’re just out of luck).
@Michael, not Mark
heh, sorry about that. My brain’s mushy from all this html stuff. :p
Okay, I probably won’t mess with it then. I’m not proficient with html, but I’m learning as I go.
Thank you for your response and all the great info on your site!
Kim
@Kim – Any time! Thank you for reading and commenting!
I’m trying to get a video embedded, resized, and then aligned somehow so that I can have text wrapped around it. I’ve tried everything I know how to do and even some things that are way above my pay grade. I can’t even seem to find a plug-in that can help me with this.
Any help?
@Clark – In order to do those things, you will need to edit the html for the embed. That will let you change the size. You’ll need to wrap the embed code in a div tag and use css to float the div left or right so text can wrap around it.
Thanks. I was afraid that that was the case. I’m setting up a blog for my father to use professionally, and I’m afraid that he would find that too inconvenient to be worth it.
@Clark – If your father is on a PC I suggest you download and install for him Windows Live Writer and get the YouTube video plugin for it. Super easy. I use it myself even though I can write html as fluently as English.
This is a perfect solution for him, I’ve been searching for a WYSIWYG that he would be able to use so this is nailing 2 birds with one stone!
Thanks a lot!
@Clark – You’re welcome. The only thing WLW doesn’t do is help you deal with comments, but it IS great for writing posts.
Wow! That was so cool, thank you sooo much! I had messed around with adding video through that very same option in WordPress, and went – what the heck? Could have done that by just adding a link.
I absolutely LOVE the customization from youtube – I had NO clue.
Now this is what I call one HELPFUL video – so quick and simple!
Can’t thank you enough for this little gem!
Thanks!
Michelle
@Michelle – You’re welcome. Glad you got a lot of value out of it.
Michael,
I just followed the instructions and it is very easy. Thanks so much I sure appreciate the help.
All the best,
Theresa
@Theresa – Wonderful! Glad that worked for you.
Thanks for this simple tip. I just spent 2 hours searching for a plugin or way to embed a Viddler video.
Sheesh. I too love WordPress, but why make it so hard?
Let’s hope WP 2.8 greatly improves all the media integration! Thanks a bunch!
you have made my life a little easier today! thanks for saving me from installing some useless plugin!!
http://www.bullsbattlebears.com
Thank you Michael. Really appreciate the video lesson. That was so easy, you’re the best, keep up the good work.
crap sorry, used my username @liesforliars
@Jared – Double crap, I deleted your first comment before I saw this one! But to answer your question of why not just use the add video button: in a WordPress self-hosted blog (in other words, not on WordPress.com) this action only creates a URL. It does not embed the video.
[...] Click on this link for help with embedding videos into your wordpress [...]
Thank you. Clear. thorough and you make it simple
Hello, Michael – thanks for the very insightful tutorial! WordPress is quite a beast, but I’m learning how to tame it. My question regarding video: I want to add my own video clips (aka video blog); would it be easier to put them on YouTube and then create the links in my blog posts as per your steps, or is there a way to link to them from my PC? I do have access to my webserver’s directory; can I load them into the blog folder there and link to them, or is via YouTube a better way to go? Thanks for any insigut you can provide!
@Rich – Great questions! Look for Monday’s post for the answers.
[...] How to Add Video to a WordPress Blog the Easy Way is slowly turning into a very popular post. A reader left an excellent question in his comment, and I wanted to write a post about it instead of just reply in the comments. [...]
Very good post. Thanks a lot.
Thanks a lot.I’m trying to follow the instructions to add a video to my blog.
thank you thank you thank you thank you!!
Aaaah, I’ve read over and over about different issues and noone has ever explained the sooo easy move to just push the html-tab, until now.
I could almost say I love you
Thank you so much for this! on wordpress’ help site, they tell you how to use the media buttons, which obviously do not work…this was quick and easy
oh u’re a hero
thnx a lot
i’ve tried so many times but it didn’t work until i saw ur video
and as u said, WordPress is really good but weird sometimes
thnx again and have a nice day
Thank you so much! The word press site suggestion was so frustrating. Nice work!
Very clear instructions on embedding a video – got it! Makes complete sense.
The one thing, well 2 things I really need to do now is push my video to the right, and wrap text around it on the left. You said this before:
“You’ll need to wrap the embed code in a div tag and use css to float the div left or right so text can wrap around it.”
How exactly do you do that? Or should should I say, what exactly would/could the code look like? I think tags look like , but after that I’m lost! Any info would GREATLy appreciated as I’m going nuts with this one. Thanks a million for helping us struggling wordpress people!!!
I’m kind of in love with you now…
What clear, concise directions. The video was just cake! Thanks so much.
@Christy – Um… OK (blushes). I’m glad you found this helpful!
[...] my blog post on How to Embed Video in a Blog Post, Scott asked in the comments if I could show how to get text to wrap around a video. If you want to [...]
Thanks for this tutorial. I’ve had WordPress for a few months but am a technophobe. Finally gotten past this last hurdle.
Cheers Mike! (I can call you Mike right?)
Excellent video!
After frantically and unsuccessfully hunting around WordPress on Embed Video functions, you made it so easy! =)
I did this the way you suggested, but Google rejects the embed code in the RSS and will not read my feed. Feed Validator gives an error because of the embed code. How do we put the video in our blogs so that there are no coding errors coming up?
@Coree – You probably have a problem created by a plugin. Seems they can really screw up valid feeds. There is no valid reason why you can’t do this in WordPress 2.7.1, which I know you’re running because I looked at your site. The only way you’ll know is to deactivate plugins and then see if the videos and feeds work. Change your theme also and see if that makes a difference. Unless your blog wasn’t upgraded or installed properly, I seriously doubt this is WordPress’ fault. Good luck!
Thanks so much. I embedded video before, because I’ve done a little web writing, but had problems with more html showing up in the finished blog. Now I see that there is a check box that says something about adding all other relative videos available. When I unchecked that box all was solved.
Ok I got one of the videos to embed, however, when I go on You Tube and say for instance I want to embed the video of “Meet Limpy” and it’s there on behalf of Defenders of Wildlife, the embed directions do not correctly embed. The empty box with an X appears instead. Why don’t all the embed directives work?
@Valeria – the embed codes always work, so if you’re having a problem it can be due to several reasons. Possibly all the embed code hasn’t been copied. Possibly you switched tabs to visual and back again (this DOES cause problems for some people). Possibly a plugin is interfering.
Thanks for answering so quickly. Yup I switched back and forth from visual to html and probably screwed it up. I’ll try again. If at first you don’t succeed…
Got another simple question about taking screen shots that I’ve forgotten how to do.
How do I capture a picture of a webpage?
@Valeria – If you want the whole screen, use http://www.thumbalizr.com/. Otherwise, there may be a Firefox add-on. After that, you’re looking for software, which depends on your operating system.
Thanks again.