Adding Videos

Videos that you add to Drupal will show up on our Videos from the Libraries page. These videos should be appropriate and relevant for a broad public audience. If possible, they should be professionally captioned.

Videos added to Drupal must first be uploaded to Vimeo (preferred), YouTube, Twitch, MediaSite, and Panopto. (We don't support uploading videos straight into Drupal.)

How to add videos to Drupal

In Drupal, you'll add videos to the "media library" (like we do with PDFs and some images). That way, they can be reused across our website, without your having to re-upload the same files.

1. First, upload your video to Vimeo (preferred), YouTube, or Pantopo. If you're using Twitch, save your recorded stream.
2. Go to Add video (opens in new window) — also found under Content > Media tab > Add media > Video
3. Paste in the URL of the video and fill in a title; all other fields are optional. (If it's an event recording, please fill out the related event field.)
4. Tag the video with a category, if you want it to show up under Think & View as well as on the Videos from the Libraries page. **
5. Save, and you're done!

**If you don't tag a video with a category, it won't show up on those pages but it will still be embeddable on other Drupal pages

How to add a video to another page

Done the above steps to add the video to Drupal's system? Great! You can also add the video elsewhere, like on a page of a guide, without having to re-add it or fiddle with an embed code. Here's how:

1. On the page you're editing, select the "Insert from media library" button:
2. Select the "Videos" tab on the side, and find your video (may take a few seconds to load), and hit "Insert selected"
3. Save the page, and you're done!

The video will automatically fill the width of the screen. If it looks too big for the page you're working on, and you're not sure how to shrink it, email the Web Team and we'll help out.

How to caption videos

Before you embed a Libraries-produced video on our website, it should be captioned. Here's how to get your video captioned using 3Play Media (staff-only Confluence link). It's an easy process, promise!

We're legally required to do this, since we must provide equal access to information. Automated captions (like on YouTube) are better than nothing, but they are not ADA-compliant. Captions give Deaf and hard-of-hearing users equal access to the audible information. Plus, it benefits users who don't want to turn on their volume — think of the headphones-less student in the bookstacks who doesn't want to disturb their carrel neighbor.

Linking videos and events

You no longer have to edit Event nodes after the fact! You don't need to paste in an embed code, change the date, or select "Permanent Virtual Experience."

Instead, simply add the video to Drupal and start typing the name of the event/workshop into the "Related event or workshop" field for the video. The full name should appear as a selectable item. Save the video, and you're done!

Example of how a video node links to an event

Example of how an event node links to its video recording (see bottom)

This same cross-linking functionality will be implemented on workshop pages, too — coming soon.

Remember: users are now more likely to discover the event/workshop recording from the video node or the /videos page, not the event page. Our website is designed to showcase upcoming events/workshops, not past ones. The way we display videos is less restricted by time: videos are discoverable by topic and type.

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Have any questions about this process? Don't hesitate to email Web Team (group-lib-webteam@ncsu.edu).