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elliot stiller
283 PointsHow necessary is it to learn the HTML Video and Audio Course?
Is it really important to learn html video and audio, or can I just use a plugin that lets me customize it deeply? Such as this one, perhaps you can glance at it to see how in-depth it is http://codecanyon.net/item/ultimate-video-player-wordpress-plugin/8374433
I understand that this is a difficult question because it depends what i, personally, want to do; but perhaps someone can shed light into the complexities of creating and optimizing videos and how long it takes to master that.
To master that in the sense that i could do what this great plugin in could do-- or in the sense that i could have more abilities in creating a custom video then this plugin.
If I choose to take the course anyway, will I be ok going into with strong skills in html and little skill in CSS, or should I dive in with a solid understanding of jquery and other things, too?
7 Answers
Andrew Robinson
16,372 PointsThe HTML audio and video course basically covers the html5 elements that allow you to stream video and audio to your audience, no JavaScript or jQuery necessary, I'd definitely recommend taking the course, using a native browser element is much faster than implementing a plug-in, and they can be highly customized too as Nick shows.
Jason Anders
Treehouse Moderator 145,860 PointsWelcome to Treehouse!
While hosting videos and audios via 3rd party sites/plug-ins in pretty much becoming the 'norm' now (it how I do it), it is definitely good to know how to do it via HTML Video/Audio, just in case you are left with no other option. There is a chance, you will build a website where your client does NOT want it hosted on 3rd party sites. (i.e. a site for 'memebers' or a 'paid subscription' wouldn't want the videos/audios freely hosted on YouTube. OR... a new band wanting to preview for their 'fan club' only...
It's probably not something that will be used too much, but I would say it is something you should know how to do (at least basically). Besides, the course doesn't take that much time to learnt the basics.
Keep Coding! :)
elliot stiller
283 PointsQuestions arose;
- As What do you mean build a website hosted on a 3rd party site? The way i would use the plugin would be i add it into the existing website that i create. and the video just sits there nice and merry. But, i can freshen up the video via plugin customization.
Can i use a video plugin-- such as the one above-- to upload videos that i get my from desktop? For instance; I snap a video, DL it to my desktop, throw it into the video plugin and then optimize it to my liking. I ask this to clarify if i can upload from deskstop, instead of solely from youtube URL.
Is there a problem with page load speed due to the video plugins, or have you found that it runs smoothly? The plugin listed above was lauded for having great code that makes little impact on page speed.
Thank you-- :)
Andrew Robinson
16,372 PointsWhen Jason said "where your client does NOT want it hosted on 3rd party sites. " he's referring to the videos, for instance Treehouse wouldn't host their videos on YouTube (I imagine) because it's paid content.
Yes you can, what you would do is point the src of the video to the video in the website directory, so when you upload the site using FTP you can also upload videos so they will be hosted by the website itself.
There's no 'problem' with video plugins, but with the advance of HTML5 video and audio they're not needed as much, in fact I don't see a reason to use plug-ins like the one you linked when I can just style the native HTML5 player to my liking, there may be some extra functionality with a plug-in like that but not much.
elliot stiller
283 PointsIndeed, sir i see what you saying in regard to point number 3, and your comments on points 1 and 2 answered my questions well.
In regard to point number 1, I will not need to worry about posting my videos on 3rd party sites because I will instead place them directly on my desktop and use the method you described. This way, i dont need to get a youtube account and throw them on the youtube account.
But-- I see a new thing now: would i benefit from using the 3rd party site MORE then if i were to use the video from the desktop.....
In the sense that placing the video on youtube would make the video rank higher in SEO or other beneficial web-things?
-Elliot
Andrew Robinson
16,372 PointsI think the main reason on using a third party site (which a lot of sites do in fact, such as news websites/blogs) is because if they hosted all their own videos it would lead to a worse user experience, when you host a video on YouTube, you're fairly certain that video will load fast and reliably when the user wants it to.
Also if you had a website where you had a video for every article and you had thousands of articles online, all that video has to be stored somewhere and it's going to be less expensive and better off using a third party site such as YouTube to do that.
If you're a website like Treehouse where you have people paying to see your content, then investing in a good webhost would be a good choice, can you imagine if Treehouse used YouTube to host their content? Adverts and suggested videos afterwards?
It all really depends on the site and how much content is video based etc.
elliot stiller
283 PointsI see. Does SEO play a role in placing your video on youtube-- like it could get picked up on in searches, more so then if it was placed on your website--?
Or are they about the same.
Andrew Robinson
16,372 PointsIf the video is public on YouTube then that will definitely help with searches, but for instance if Treehouse used YouTube and made all the videos private so they could only be embedded on the site, it wouldn't help because they're private.
Semantic mark-up is what really helps with SEO, for instance when you look at a course on here, the titles of each section will most likely get picked up and benefit Treehouse's search rank.
elliot stiller
283 PointsAh, so somehow "teamtreehouse.com" is embedded into every page so that the website itself ranks really high. Similar to how you place the adress element into a bunch of adresses on a page, or you place a property adress into every photo URL for a property that is on a website.
Andrew Robinson
16,372 PointsThat's not what I meant really, infact that doesn't sound like proper SEO, checkout the Treehouse videos on SEO to learn more about that, some SEO techniques are frowned upon and could end up being worse for the website long term.
What I meant was the titles they use for the videos are informative and likely what people might be searching for, basically they're labeling their content correctly, it's all about semantics and content.
elliot stiller
283 PointsWhats the point of using informative titles for their videos, if people can only use the videos if they pay Treehouse?
Perhaps someone can click to a video from a keyword search on google, and then the video says "Sorry! you need to sign up to watch this..." and then i guess it would help treehouse get traffic because they would get people who are hooked.