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AddOns

Getting Started with the WordPress Plugin for the JW Player

Purpose

To get you up and running with the JW Player Plugin for WordPress so you can start embedding video on your WordPress blog. 

Introduction

The JW Player for Flash Plugin enables you to deliver video content through your WordPress website.  This plugin 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 WordPress articles.  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 plugin, extract the jw-player-plugin-for-wordpress.zip and FTP the folder to your WordPress plugins directory (/wp-content/plugins) on your web server. 

Login to your WordPress website and navigate to Site Admin > Plugins.  The jwplayerplugin will appear in the list of plugins.  Click the Activate link. 

Setup

Activation

The plugin stores your custom player configurations and the JW Player itself on your web server. These files are stored in the wp-content/uploads folder. This folder is the standard WordPress location to write files to.

Upon activation the plugin performs several automated steps. It attempts to create the following directories in the wp-content/uploads folder 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 plugin will attempt to make these directories writable. This is necessary for the plugin to function correctly.

On certain server configurations this activation process may not be successful and will likely be the result of your wp-content/uploads folder not being writable or your WordPress installation having insufficient privileges. If this occurs you will need to manually create these folders using your FTP client and set the permissions so that they are writable by your WordPress installation. This will likely involve setting the permissions to either 755 or 777. For more information on setting file permissions please refer to this WordPress Codex entry: http://codex.wordpress.org/Changing_File_Permissions

Installing the JW Player

As part of the 1.2 release, the JW Player Plugin for WordPress has additional functionality to help automate the installation of the JW Player into your WordPress site. Upon first activating the plugin 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 wp-content/uploads/jw-player-plugin-for-wordpress/player automatically.

When the download is complete the version of the player will be detected and saved to your WordPress 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.

Configuration

The plugin is very flexible in its management of the JW Player.  In fact, you can begin embedding JW Players immediately after installing the plugin. However, you will be using the Out of the Box JW Player which may not fit with the theme of your site.  The Out of the Box JW Player represents the default player without any customization.

As a result, the plugin allows for the creation of a custom JW Player, giving you a wide range of configuration options including the Player’s flashvars, the LongTail AdSolution and numerous Player plugins.  These options are presented in an intuitive wizard like interface meaning your configuration is only as advanced as you need it to be.

To access the setup page navigate to “Site Admin > Settings > JW Player Plugin.”  You will see a page that contains a brief description and a single button.

Basic Player Settings

The Basic Player Settings encompass the most commonly used flashvars for the JW Player.  It is very likely that you will be making adjustments to these settings with each Player configuration that you create.  These involve setting the player dimensions, and its basic appearance.  Descriptions of what each flashvar does are provided.  In the “Selected Player” field you can enter a name for your custom player.  This field is available on every screen of the plugin’s player wizard.

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.