All,

As previously mentioned, as part of the upgrade to YaBB version 2.2.2, Media can now be embedded ANYWHERE within the discussion forum. Although the members only 'Media Centre' is still well and truly open (and I am planning an upgrade to this area of the forum), feel free to post YouTube clips and the like within any post, anywhere.

Please feel free to ask any questions relating to this functionality within the 'Ask The Admin' section but in the meantime, here's a 'how to guide' :-

In order for this new feature to work, there is now a new tag (function) within the forum. The new tag is :-

Code:

[media][/media] 

... and it works like this :-

Code:

[media]http://url.to/your/media.wmv[/media] 

The new media tag accepts the following file types :-

.wma, .wax, .asx, .mid, .rmi, .wav, .wmv, .mp3, .avi, .mpg, .mpeg, .kar, .wpl, .asf, .rm, .ra, .ram, .qt, .mov and .qtm files and loads up the appropriate html player inside the message.

It's pretty simple to use, with a few extra functions that can also be placed within the tags if needed :-

Code:

[media loop] to loop the file after manual start

[media autostart] to autostart the file and play it once

[media loop autostart] to autostart and loop the file after manual start

[media autostart loop] to autostart and loop the file after manual start

Adding width=*** to the front tag gives you full control over the width of the player
 between 180 and 800 px.

The height is automatically adjusted to remain in a 4:3 ratio. 

When used, the viewer's browser must have the appropriate applet installed for the media to be viewed / heard. If the appropriate applet isn't installed, the viewer's browser will automatically prompt for a download. For information purposes, I would suggest that any member placing a media clip into a thread to state what file type is used. This will help the (inevitable) occasion where a member cannot see / hear a particular media clip.

YouTube videos are also supported.

Again, this is relatively simple to use. Place the YouTube clip's URL within the media tags. You will find the URL on the same YouTube page as the video clip - either on your web-browser's address line or to the right of the video clip itself, within the URL box. The only real tip here is to not use the information within the 'embed' box (underneath the URL box) to the right of the video as this is for embedding the clip within a web-page itself - the new media tags on the forum will already know and be able to configure the extra information quoted here.

Here's an example :-

Code:

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bcdM1xEiQN0[/media] 

This will load the YouTube clip of 'King Crimson in Hyde Park' within a thread on the forum.

In the meantime ... Enjoy !!

D