WordPress Wednesday: Top 4 Video Plugins

Michael Garrity — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 21:00:00 GMT

Do you have a really great advertisement or video that you just went through all the work of filming, editing and preparing to go online only to realize that you don't have a way to put it up on your WordPress site?

Video plugins are the easiest way to host your own original content on your website. Whether it's a high-dollar, CGI mini-masterpiece or a 20-second product video, you can easily publish it to the Web using one of the many plugins available.

However, WordPress does not have a video player already built-in to its system, so if you want to host it you're going to have to find a plugin that will host your video. There are plenty available and most of them can integrate easily into some of the top video-hosting sites on the Internet, most notably YouTube and Google Videos.

These plugins range in price, size, simplicity and customization, so if you want to add a player that actually matches the neo-noir theme of your Bogart fansite, you should make sure that your plugin has customization options.

Here is a list of four of the most popular:

All in One Video Pack
Here's a deal! For free (up to 10 GB), the All in One Video Pack plugin includes all of the video and rich-media functionality needed to record, upload and import videos to your pages, as well as edit and remix content online, enable video responses and more. You can also manage and track interactive videos through the management console, enable video advertising and are given complete administrative capabilities, meaning you are in charge of deciding who can add and edit videos. The plugin supoorts over 150 video, audio and image file formats and codecs and owners can choose their preferred video player style for each player embedded, as well as its size. And on top of it all, it's totally easy to install and use.

Smart YouTube
YouTube is, far and away, the most widely used video platform on the Internet. With millions upon millions of users, it would almost be silly not to have your videos on YouTube, and this plugin is a great way to get those videos onto your site, as well. It's a simple tool that is designed to be fast and small and provides customization options for colors, borders, full screens and so on. You don't have to stop at just one video, either, because Smart YouTube allows you to publish whole playlists. They can go on your RSS feed, your blog posts or your site's comments section. It's a super great plugin for people who want to utilize the simplicity (and millions of users) of YouTube without having to establish another method of embedding their videos on their sites.

Embedded Video
This is quite possibly the most popular and well-reviewed video plugin on the market. If you can't tell, this tool exists to make it easy to embed videos into a blog post. They can be exported from other places, like YouTube, dailymotion or Google Video, or uploaded from a server. Once embedded, you are able to add a link to the video on the video portal page or make it so that a download like to the file can be automatically generated. Not a lot of bells and whistles with this one, but it is tops as a generic video player.

WordPress Video Plugin
Contrary to what its name would have you believe, this is not the only WordPress video plugin, but it is one of the best. It acts as a filter for your site that allows for easy video embedding from supporting sites like YouTube, Google Video and Brightcove. Like Embedded Video, it's very easy-to-use and simple, not relying on frills but rather solid performance to satisfy the user. Definitely worth checking out, especially if all you need is a manageable and straightforward way to put up videos on your site.

Using one of these handy plugins should turn any WordPress website owner into Chad Hurley in no time.

For more information about WordPress plugins, check out WordPress Plugins from A to Z.

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WordPress Wednesday: Top 4 Video Plugins