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AddOns

Getting Started with the Drupal Module

Purpose

To get you up and running with the JW Player Module for Drupal so you can start embedding video on your Drupal site. 

Introduction

The JW Player for Flash Module enables you to deliver video content through your Drupal website.  This module has been developed by LongTail Video, the creator of the JW Player, and allows for easy customization and embedding of the Player in the body of your Drupal nodes.  It provides support for all of the player’s configuration options, including skins, plugins and the LongTail Video AdSolution.  In addition, it supports a powerful tag system that allows for dynamic customization at embed time, and gives you the capability of referencing external video content.

Installation

Before installing please ensure that you meet the following requirements.

To install the module, first install the JQuery UI module. You will then need to extract the jwplayermodule.zip and FTP the folder to your Drupal modules directory (/sites/all/modules) on your web server. 

Login to your Drupal website and navigate to Administer > Site Building > Modules.  The JW Player Module will appear in the list of modules.  Check the checkbox and click the "Save configuration" button. 

Setup

Activation

The module stores your custom player configurations and the JW Player itself on your web server. These files are stored in the sites/default/files directory. This directory is the standard Drupal location to write files to.

Upon activation the module performs several automated steps. It attempts to create the following directories in the sites/default/files directory if they don't already exist.

The player folder is where the JW Player player.swf file will be located. The configs directory is used to store your custom player configuration xml files. As part of the activation the module will attempt to make these directories writable. This is necessary for the module to function correctly.

Installing the JW Player

The JW Player Module for Drupal has additional functionality to help automate the installation of the JW Player into your Drupal site. Upon first activating the module you will be presented with a link to complete the installation. This will take you to the installation page where the latest player.swf will be downloaded and saved to sites/default/files/jwplayermodule/player automatically.

When the download is complete the version of the player will be detected and saved to your Drupal database. In addition a sample player will appear to show that the download was successful.

If you have a licensed version of the player, a specific version, or you need to rerun the automatic install please visit the upgrade page. There are two sections on this page. The first section allows you to upload a specific .swf file. This is intended to let you easily upload your licensed player or an older version of the player. The second section lets you trigger the automatic download again. The automatic download will always grab the latest stable JW Player release.

Note: In some instances the install may fail as a result of your PHP installation's zip support being disabled. A workaround is to make use of the PCLZIP library which can be found here: PCLZIP downloads. Download the PCLZIP package and extract the pclzip.lib.php file. Place this file in the jwplayermodule/framework directory. Once you've done this attempt the installation again. If PCLZIP has been correctly installed the JW Player Module for Drupal will make use of it to install the JW Player onto your site.

Configuration

Advanced Player Settings

The Advanced Player Settings are used less than the Basic Player Settings and are not required for embedding the JW Player.  It is likely that you will make very few changes to the flashvars contained in this section.  Again, descriptions of what each flashvar does are provided.

In general, the settings in Colors and Icons help to alter the color of the player including the control bar and background color.

LongTail AdSolution

The LongTail AdSolution (LTAS) is a service provided by LongTail Video which allows you to run pre-roll, post-roll and overlay ads.  This enables you to monetize your content.  In order to make use of LTAS you will need to purchase a commercial JW Player license and acquire a channel code. 

For information about purchasing a commercial license please visit http://www.longtailvideo.com/order/.  For more information about LTAS please visit http://www.longtailvideo.com/adsolution.

 Once you have been approved check the “Enable LTAS” check box and enter your channel code in the “ltas.cc” field.

Plugins

The JW Player has a number of plugins available that enhance player functionality, or alter existing functionality.  This section contains a list of the available plugins, providing a description of its function.  To use a particular plugin, check the checkbox next to the plugin.  A tab will appear with the checked plugin’s name.  This tab will contain the configuration options available for the plugin.