VideoPress is a lightweight and responsive video player you can use to host and embed videos on your WordPress.com website. This guide will cover how to upload and work with the videos on your site.
In this guide
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VideoPress gives you a simple and tidy video player for your website. Whether you’re a videographer, creator, filmmaker, educator, or blogger who’s new to this kind of tool, VideoPress makes it easy to upload high-quality videos. It works smoothly on all modern browsers and devices, ensuring great playback on screens of all sizes, from smartphones to desktops. Take a look at the VideoPress Service Guidelines for some basic tips on how to use our service effectively.
The VideoPress player is straightforward, unbranded, and ad-free. It places the focus on your content so it can shine! Here is an example of the embedded player in action:
VideoPress supports a wide range of video formats, including:
- MP4 (
.mp4,.m4v) - QuickTime (
.mov) - Windows Media Video (
.wmv) - AVI (
.avi) - MPEG (
.mpg) - Ogg (
.ogv) - 3GPP (
.3gp) - 3GPP2 (
.3g2)
For best results and compatibility with all WordPress editor blocks, see our recommended video settings.
When you upload a video, VideoPress automatically converts it to MP4 format using H.264 video and AAC audio compression. Your video is stored across multiple data centers to ensure high availability and accessibility for your viewers.
VideoPress works best with files up to 1 GB. Larger files may take longer to upload and are more likely to fail, especially if they exceed 1.4 GB due to network timeouts. Videos that are smaller or compressed will load faster for your viewers. The maximum upload size is 6 GB, but on plugin-enabled sites, the limit is 2 GB. If you need to upload larger files on a plugin-enabled site, use SFTP (Secure File Transfer Protocol).
Videos longer than three hours are converted to standard resolution and will not be available in higher-resolution formats.
All videos are optimized for progressive loading, so viewers can start watching while the video continues to download.
When you upload a video through the WordPress editor, it is automatically converted into a VideoPress file for maximum compatibility. To add a video to your site using VideoPress, follow these steps:
- Edit the post or page where you want to add your video.
- Click the block inserter (+) and search for VideoPress. Click VideoPress block to add it to your content.
- Choose how to add your video:
- Upload: Click “Upload” to select a video file from your computer.
- Media Library: Click “Media Library” to select a video you’ve already uploaded.
- Insert from URL: Click “Insert from URL” and paste the direct link to your video file.
- Drag and drop: You can also drag a video file from your computer directly onto the VideoPress block.
- Wait for the video to upload and process. You’ll receive an “Upload complete!” message when it’s ready.
- Click “Done” under the video.
- Adjust any desired video settings, such as privacy, poster image, or playback options.
- Click the “Save” button to save your changes.
Note that a slow or unreliable internet connection can limit the size of your video upload. If you are having trouble, try uploading at a different time of day or from a computer with a faster internet connection. Failed attempts don’t count against your storage space limit.
Uploading from iPhoto: If you experience an error or your file does not fully upload when dragging a file from iPhoto, make sure you are using the latest versions of iPhoto, your browser, and your operating system. If the issue continues, try dragging the file from iPhoto to your desktop first. Then, upload the file from your desktop to your media library, post, or page.
Customize the VideoPress player
Learn how to customize how the VideoPress player displays to your visitors in this guide.
Add chapters and captions to a video
This guide will show you how to add chapters and subtitles to a WordPress video.
Manage VideoPress privacy settings
In this guide, you will learn how to set video privacy and choose an audience rating.
Control downloads and sharing for VideoPress videos
In this guide, you’ll learn how to enable or disable downloads and sharing for individual videos or all videos on your site.
Analyze your content’s performance
In this guide, you’ll learn how to view key metrics such as page views, authors, and file downloads.
