Help:YouTube extension

The easiest way to embed video from several online video hosting services is to use the Help:Video Embed Tool.

This page documents how to use the older YouTube video extension (which was adapted to embed videos from several other sites) on any Wikia page using simple code. The video is not uploaded to Wikia, but embedded, meaning it is stored on YouTube, then called from there to be viewed on Wikia.

See also Help:Videos for other video-related extensions.

What video sites are supported?
This extension allows the embedding of videos from YouTube, Google Video, Archive.org, Blip.tv and GameTrailers.com, as well as Tangler forums.

How do I add a YouTube video?
To add a YouTube video, you need the id code for the video. The easiest way to find this is to look at the URL of the You Tube page for the video. The string of letters and numbers after "v=" in the URL is the id code. So for the URL:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CCz1kmfqL7g  the id code would be CCz1kmfqL7g. If you aren't sure what to use, you can add the whole url in place of the id code.

YouTube videos are embedded using two tags, with the id code for the video you want to show between them:

"id code" is the code from the URL. So in our example, you would use:

Can I display the video at a smaller size?
You can change the width and height of the video box, to a maximum of 640x385 pixels. For best results, the height should be about 3/5 (60%) of the width. Some examples of good ratios include 200x120, 375x275, and 500x300.

If you specify width and height, and those settings are not in proportion to the YouTube screen, then you will have empty space around the video. In most cases, the width determines the screen size in this situation.


 * Width is controlled with, where xxx is the number of pixels.  The default is 640 pixels.
 * Height is controlled in the same way with .  The default is 385 pixels.

A full example would be:

Can I add a caption?
You can add a caption to a video using the image thumbnail styles. You can use all normal wikitext formatting in your caption.

The basic form is: CAPTION ID

This code places the caption, in a smaller font, below the video:

ID CAPTION

Can I center the video, or move it to the right?
This is an important caption. CCz1kmfqL7g You can control video placement using the image thumbnail style.

In this example you can add a video with a width of 250px, float it to the right of the page, and add a caption at the top. Simply edit the ID and CAPTION and pixel sizes to suit.

CAPTION ID

Can I use a template to embed videos?
If you intend to use a lot of YouTube videos on your wiki, you can make a template to make adding videos easier, and to display all videos in a standardized way. However, because of the order in which the template and the extension are processed, the extension code itself cannot contain template parameters.

A sample template which overcomes this limitation is available at Template:YouTube, with documentation at Template talk:YouTube.

Other usable video sites
The video extension also supports several other video hosting sites. Replace "id" with the unique identifier each site uses in their URLs.

An example of a GameTrailers.com video
 * Google Video


 * Archive.org audio and video


 * GameTrailers.com video


 * Tangler forum

Examples of embedded video at Wikia
Are you using video on your Wikia? Please add to the list of examples below to show people how this feature can be used.


 * Video clip of English lesson activity on WikiJET
 * Videos showing the 3D strategy game Glest
 * UnNews is now available on video
 * Cisco's Human Networking commercial on the Human Network Wiki
 * The Gaiapedia using YouTube videos to show off the battle system teaser video.
 * The Gaiapedia using YouTube videos to show off recorded footage from The Otakon 2006 Gaia Online Panel.
 * A category about videos in articles (Hungarian Spamwiki)
 * Sport, Arts & Culture on Sustainable Community Action
 * Psychology wiki listing of clips
 * Lord of the Rings parodies
 * Subpage showing the latest videos for an upcoming Grand Theft Auto modification
 * Redwall Wiki: Introduction themes to various seasons of the Redwall Television Series
 * Electrocuting an Elephant at the Spanish Art Wiki
 * Kuk Sool Won: Martial Arts in Motion
 * Featured Video on the Ghostbusters Wiki main page
 * A German example from the Lachfisch-Server
 * Videopedia - a Videoportal with a lot of YouTube Videos (German)
 * Homeworld wikia shows how weapons work in game - here it's Sajuuk Main Cannon
 * Duty & Valour, the Canadian Forces Wiki &mdash; this wiki uses this extension on its Main Page.