Media Library: Uploading Videos

There is a two step process to get your videos into your library. Step one is to get the video files onto the internet with a public URL (web address.) Step two, is to enter the information and graphic for your file and to initiate the encoding process.

Step One

Video files are typically very large files. The most successful upload process for such large files would be FTP transfer or some kind of managed uploader (like Dropbox.) Perhaps you have your videos stored online in a public folder already. If so, step one is already complete. But, if your videos are only stored on a local computer, step one will consist of uploading them to the internet first. You can upload these files to any publicly-accessible storage space via FTP, or you can use Dropbox to temporarily store your files. After your files are encoded and stored in your library, you can decide if you want to keep the original videos on the internet, or delete them. The originals will not be used other than for initial transfer and encoding. Click here to see more information about getting your videos online with a public URL.

Step Two

Step two is where you actually add your video to your library. To do this:

1. Click on "Media Library" from the tool databases
2. Click the "add new video" button in the upper right corner of the tool
3. Choose the channel you want the video to be in, or just leave it on the default channel (if you don't add channels, the default will be "general")
4. Select any of the categories you want to use to label this video, and/or add new ones that apply to the content of this video
5. Choose whether this video is part of a series of videos.

   

6. If the video is part of a series, then you have to
   • choose the series it is a part of from the drop-down menu (if you haven't added the series yet, you will have to stop and go to the series tab and enter the series title and optional information)
   • enter the part number of this video in the series
   • decide whether to use the series title, series part number, thumbnail, and description for this video when it is displayed in the main media library (the individual video information will always be displayed when the individual video is selected and loaded.)
7. Enter the title of the video, and optionally, a subtitle, date, and short description.
   
   
    
8. Upload a graphic for the thumbnail that has square dimensions (identical width and height) and at least 150 pixels by 150 pixels. If you do not upload a thumbnail, the system will use a generic graphic.
9. Choose whether the video is active or inactive
10. Enter any text or graphic resources, and/or links to documents or external sources.
    
    
11. If your video is already online with a public URL, copy that URL and paste it in the appropriate field.
12. Decide whether to also encode an audio file that would be available for people to listen to or download from the player.
13. Choose the Video Quality you wish to use. If you have a video implemented into your homepage, you may see an "integrated" option with corresponding dimensions that will be used for the video to display in an area of the homepage.  If you are uploading a video that will be used on interior pages of your website, use the "Standard" option.
14. Hit submit to start the uploading and encoding process. Once the process starts, you can navigate away from this screen and the process will continue behind the scenes. Refresh your screen on the page with the list of videos to see an updated progress meter. Your videos will be available on your pages after they are listed as "finished."