JW Player

Quick Start Guide

Getting JW Player 6 up and running is now easier than ever. Only a few lines of HTML code are required to embed a video that works on all popular desktop browsers and mobile devices; you are no longer required to download, unzip & upload files to your webserver. The JW Player and its assets are now cloud-hosted. This guide walks through the necessary steps for a quick set-up with the cloud-hosted JW Player.

Step 1: Set-up Your JW Player

With the cloud-hosted JW Player, we offer a Publish Wizard inside your JW Player Account to help you go live. Simply copy & paste the script tag required to load the JW Player on your page. Alternatively, if you prefer to skip using the Publish Wizard, you can find the direct cloud-hosted JW Player url from your Account Home Page.

Step 2: Include JW Player in your Page <head>

Once you have copy & pasted the cloud-hosted JW Player script tag (.js) in the <head> of your HTML page, you will be set up to load the player on your webpage. You will find this script tag inside your JW Player Account..

If you have purchased the Pro, Premium or Ads edition of JW Player 6, your player features are immediately unlocked by loading this script tag on your page. It will look something like:

<script src="http://jwpsrv.com/library/YOUR_JW_PLAYER_ACCOUNT_TOKEN.js" ></script>

Note that for Free users of JW6, your cloud-hosted embed will also track your video analytics, with no additional configuration required.

Step 3: Embed a Video

With the cloud-hosted JW Player, embedding your video is exactly the same. Therefore, insert this HTML code at the location you want the video to appear:

<div id="myElement">Loading the player...</div>

<script type="text/javascript">
    jwplayer("myElement").setup({
        file: "/uploads/myVideo.mp4",
        image: "/uploads/myPoster.jpg"
    });
</script>

In this code, the <div> element is used as a container to load JW Player into. It must have a unique id attribute. The setup() block defines which video file and poster image to load. Their URLs should be relative to the HTML page (just like embedding an image with <img>). Your JW Player Account offers a Publish Wizard for quick embedding with the cloud-hosted JW Player.

Note two very common issues prevent smooth playback of videos in Internet Explorer 9/10. First, you need to set <!DOCTYPE html> to prevent triggering IE's quirks mode. Second, your videos must be served with the video/mp4 mimetype or IE will refuse to play them. See our troubleshooting guide for more common issues.

Loading Premium Skins

If you have purchased the Premium or Ads edition of the player, your player includes a set of Premium skins.

These skins can be viewed and selected using the Publish Wizard inside your JW Player Account. Alternatively, you can also load them off our CDN by simply inserting the skin name:

    skin: "bekle"

Next Steps

That is it! With a few lines of code, you will have embedded a video that can be watched on any desktop browser, tablet or mobile phone. Here's a few basic example setups:

JW Player supports many options for enhancing and tuning your embeds. Here are a few key guides: