The video channel
Set up Quiet's video channel at /videos/: films from YouTube, Vimeo or uploaded files, a player that keeps playing as readers scroll, members-only films, and channel links.
A film in Quiet is an ordinary post tagged #video. Quiet lifts the video out of the post body into a player at the top, and lists every film at /videos/.
The video channel - Editor
The video channel
Set up the channel
Publish a page with the slug videos. The title becomes the channel's name. The address is bound to this page, so it has to exist first.
Write a tagline in the excerpt.
Add an intro or a trailer in the body, if you want one. It sits between the header and the film grid.
Upload the routes file, if you have not already. See Installation, steps 4 and 5.
Field on the videos page | On the page |
|---|---|
| Primary tag | The small label above the name. Falls back to the word Videos |
| Title | The channel's name |
| Excerpt | The line under it |
| Body | An optional intro or trailer |
| (automatic) | The film count beside the label |
The page's feature image is not used here: the pictures on this page are the films' own thumbnails. Films are shown in one even grid, newest first, on every page of the channel.
Nothing at /videos/ until the page exists
Without a published page slugged videos, the address answers 404, and so does /videos/rss/.
Add a film
#videoWrite the post: a title, and whatever notes, credits or transcript belong with the film.
Put the video first in the body. Paste a YouTube or Vimeo URL on its own line, or use Ghost's video card to upload a file. Quiet takes the first video in the body and lifts it into the player at the top of the post.
Set a Feature image. It becomes the card thumbnail on the channel and the poster the player shows before playback.
Under Tags, add #video, then publish.
The video page - Editor
The video page
The video has to be the first card
Quiet lifts the first video it finds in the body. Put a paragraph of introduction above it and the paragraph is still the first thing under the player, but a second video further down the post stays where it is, playing inline.
Three ways to add the video
| Source | How | What readers get |
|---|---|---|
| YouTube | Paste the video's URL on its own line | A click-to-play poster, then YouTube's player |
| Vimeo | Paste the video's URL on its own line | A click-to-play poster, then Vimeo's player |
| An uploaded file | Ghost's video card, or drag an MP4 in | Quiet's own controls, with captions if you added a caption track |
Nothing loads until someone presses play
On a film's page, neither YouTube nor Vimeo is contacted until the reader actually starts the video. Until then all they have downloaded is your poster image. That is a real difference to how much data a visit costs, and to what a third party knows about your readers.
Privacy
- YouTube films play through
youtube-nocookie.com. - Vimeo films are loaded with do-not-track requested.
- Uploaded files involve nobody but your own site.
Captions
An uploaded film keeps whatever caption track you added to the file, the captions button appears in Quiet's controls, and captions start on rather than waiting to be found. YouTube and Vimeo films use their own caption controls.
Members-only films
Set a post's Access to members or a paid tier and the film is genuinely withheld: the page shows your poster image with a padlock and a signup prompt, and the video's address is never sent to a browser that has not signed in.
The video page - Editor
The video page
Do not use Ghost's public preview on a gated film
Ghost's public-preview divider shares everything above it with everyone. On a film, the video card is above it, so the film plays for people who have not paid. Leave the divider out of gated films, and write your teaser in the Excerpt instead: Quiet shows that above the signup card.
Channel links
The row of buttons under the channel's name, for your YouTube or Vimeo channel. Same mechanism as the podcast's listening links, with quiet-videos- in place of quiet-podcast-.
In Settings → Code injection → Site header:
<meta name="quiet-videos-youtube" content="https://youtube.com/@your-channel">
<meta name="quiet-videos-vimeo" content="https://vimeo.com/your-channel">For a platform with no built-in logo, add an anchor block in Settings → Code injection → Site footer using data-quiet-videos-links. The attributes are exactly the podcast's, and they are documented in The podcast. A link to an address Quiet does not recognise still renders, labelled with its own domain name.
An RSS button, if you want one
quiet-videos-rss adds a feed button, always last in the row. Unlike the podcast, Quiet leaves /videos/rss/ switched on, so you can point it at your own channel feed.
Tagging an existing post
Adding #video to a published post moves it from /its-slug/ to /videos/its-slug/ with no forwarding address. Add a redirect at Settings → Labs → Redirects if the old link is out in the world. And never tag one post both #video and #podcast.
Related
- The persistent player, the floating player and its off switch.
- Video band, the homepage teaser.
The podcast
Set up Quiet's podcast home at /podcast/: cover art and a description from one page, episodes from tagged posts, and listening links for Spotify, Apple and twenty more.
The persistent player
How Quiet's floating video player works: it docks to a corner as readers scroll, follows them to the next page without restarting, and can be switched off in one setting.