Video

Video files are treated by the CMS just like other files. By using the standard [file..] tag you can make the video downloadable as a clickable link. Additionally files in our two supported formats (quicktime (.mov) and flash video (.flv)) can be embedded directly into the page for viewing using the [video 123] tag.

As with the file tag the unique id of the file is included along with (in this case) the word video. As with the [image] tag the modifiers right, left, center, caption and defaultcaption are available with the video tag. For example:

[video 1234 right defaultcaption]

For video embedded for viewing directly into pages using the [video] tag we strong recommend using the flash video format; particularly the vp6 encoding available in Flash 8 and above. Video can be encoded into this format using either the full Flash authoring tool or the inexpensive encoder from on2. This particular format is widely supported by users of our site (it should work automatically for over 95% of our current visitors) and offers high quality. If a larger version (appropriate for viewing offline, e.g. in a class) is needed we recommend providing a quicktime version encoded with the h.264 encoder (available in Quicktime 7 and above) as it offers high quality and is straight-forward to view after being downloaded. In many cases it makes sense to provide both an embedded version of the video in .flv format using the video tag, as well as a version for download in the .mov format using a file tag.

If you wish to point to a video in a page often it's helpful to point to the details page which has some contextual information and a built in player. If you use the [file ]tag for a .flv file users will be automatically pointed at the details page (where they can download the original file if they really want to). Also, it's possible to embed a thumbnail of the first frame of the video into a page and have that thumbnail lead to the details page when clicked. Use a syntax like this: [video 1234 right 200 defaultcaption]where the '200' (or whatever number you include at that point in the tag) is the desired width of the thumbnail image. Not that this will not display an inline video player: just an image that links to the details page.