Plugins can now include videos in their readme.txt files
The plugins directory now supports videos in readme.txt files. YouTube, Vimeo, and WordPress.com VideoPress videos are supported.
Videos are included using one of two formats.
Shortcode: YouTube, Vimeo, WordPress.com VideoPress
Include a normal looking shortcode anywhere in the readme.txt file.
For YouTube and Vimeo, the shortcode has one unnamed parameter: the video’s URL.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7EiKx_WSesk]
[vimeo http://vimeo.com/173714]
For WordPress.com VideoPress videos, the shortcode has one unnamed parameter: the video’s ID. The shortcode can be copied from the video’s embed menu.
[wpvideo OO4thna8]
To prevent shortcodes from being parsed, enclose the shortcode in backticks.
`[wpvideo OO4thna8]`
Autolink: YouTube, Vimeo
Include a YouTube or Vimeo URL by itself on its own line in the readme.txt file.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7EiKx_WSesk
http://vimeo.com/173714
Example
http://plugins.svn.wordpress.org/mdawaffe-test/trunk/readme.txt
http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/mdawaffe-test/
The Validator shows the videos too.
NB: Directly including object/embed HTML into the readme.txt file is not supported; the goal of the readme.txt file is to be human readable.
PS: Videos are not currently supported as replacements for screenshot images in the screenshots section. It’s silly that the Plugins Directory doesn’t yet support that 
It’s on the todo.
r-a-y, 
Dre Armeda 9:27 am on February 20, 2010 Permalink |
Very nice add-on to help make decisions about what plugins to use!
What controls will be set around advertisements and spam messages included in the videos?
The theme directory has a pretty good review process to ensure no spam is included, but with video it will be more challenging. If the video is 10 minutes long, how will that be reviewed?
Matt 11:58 pm on February 20, 2010 Permalink |
I’m most worried about Youtube, seeing a lot more spammy stuff on there with the ability to put links and popups in videos. If the feature is abused, we’ll just turn it off.
Ryan 10:59 pm on February 21, 2010 Permalink
You could limit it to VideoPress videos perhaps. It would make some sense to have them all running on the same infrastructure and be a good advertisement for the service.
Dre 4:49 am on February 24, 2010 Permalink
It would be nice to not have to turn it off but almost seems inevitable at some point if we don’t closely follow and implement strong controls. It will be difficult to go through every video and Matt I have been seeing a ton of spammy stuff on Youtube as well.
Can we limit the length of the videos, and have some written guidance around what can be included? At the end of the day, a consistent governance plan will enable effective tools like this to proceed by use of monitored controls. VideoPress may also be an interesting approach as Ryan mentioned.
Banago 10:23 am on February 20, 2010 Permalink |
That will add a lot to plugins – settings customization is one of the things many plugin users need and video is best to show the how-to.
alphawolf 3:36 pm on February 20, 2010 Permalink |
That’s very neat! Thanks for that!
Peter Westwood 9:52 pm on February 21, 2010 Permalink |
Wow! Mike you rock!
Plugin Repository Now Supports Videos 7:33 pm on February 22, 2010 Permalink |
[...] a short explanation as to why a user should upgrade to the newest version. The readme file has been updated again to include support for videos. According to Michael Adams who is responsible for this enhancement, [...]
Michael Fields 8:11 pm on February 28, 2010 Permalink |
Just tried it out… This is Awesome! Thanks!
r-a-y 6:23 pm on June 21, 2010 Permalink |
What about inline images using the following MarkDown syntax?
