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Storyline 1: How to Add YouTube Videos

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There are two ways to add a YouTube video to a Storyline 1 course. Each method has unique benefits. We'll take a look at both methods in this article.

Insert > Video > Video from Website

Storyline makes it easy to insert a YouTube video:

  1. Go to the Insert tab.
  2. Click the Video drop-down arrow and select Video from Website.
  3. Paste the YouTube embed code into the box, and click the Insert button.

That's it!

Here are some of benefits of this method:

  • You won't see the YouTube-branded player in your published story.
  • You'll have an option to start the video automatically or wait until learners click it.
  • You'll have an option to include a playbar if you want to let learners scrub through the video.
  • The volume slider on the Storyline player will control the volume of the YouTube video.
  • You can layer other objects on top of the video. This can be useful if you want to annotate the video to highlight areas at specific times.

Tip: YouTube videos embeded in this manner aren't supported in HTML5 or Articulate Mobile Player output.

Insert > Web Object

If you want more control over the appearance and behavior of a YouTube video, insert it as a web object:

  1. Go to the Insert tab.
  2. Click Web Object.
  3. Type the URL for the video into the Address field in this manner (replace video_id with the actual ID of the YouTube video):

    http://www.youtube.com/embed/video_id
     
  4. If you want to add any special parameters to your video (see below for details), add a question mark (?) to the end of the URL followed by the parameters. If you add more than one parameter, separate them with ampersands (&). For example, the following URL would automatically play the video and start the video at the 45-second mark:

    http://www.youtube.com/embed/video_id?autoplay=1&start=45
     
  5. Click OK.

The benefits of using web objects for YouTube videos include:

  • They'll work in Flash, HTML5, and Articulate Mobile Player output.
  • You can control videos with optional parameters (Flash output only).

Optional Parameters for Web Object YouTube Videos

autohide

The autohide parameter determines whether the player controls and progress bar (timeline) remain visible throughout the duration of the video or whether they disappear automatically after a few seconds. The autohide parameter accepts the following values:

  • 0 means you do NOT want the player controls or the progress bar to autohide
  • 1 means you want the player controls and the progress bar to autohide
  • 2 means you want the player controls to remain visible at all times, but you want the progress bar to autohide (default)

autoplay

The autoplay parameter determines whether the video will automatically play when learners reach the slide that contains the YouTube web object or whether learners must click the video to start playing it. The autoplay parameter accepts the following values:

  • 0 means you do NOT want the video to autoplay (default)
  • 1 means you want the video to autoplay

cc_load_policy

The cc_load_policy parameter determines whether closed captions will be displayed by default in the YouTube video or not. The cc_load_policy parameter accepts the following value:

  • 1 means you want existing closed captions to be displayed by default

Note: The cc_load_policy parameter only displays existing captions in the YouTube video. You must first add captions to the video through your account at YouTube.com. You can only add captions to videos you own. (If you don't own the video you're embedding, the cc_load_policy parameter will only display captions if the owner has already added them to the YouTube video.) For instructions on adding captions to YouTube videos, see HOW TO: Add Captions To Your YouTube Videos, which describes two methods.

color

The color parameter determines the color of the video's progress bar. The color parameter accepts the following values:

  • red (default)
  • white

controls

The controls parameter determines whether the player control bar will be displayed in the YouTube video or not. The controls parameter accepts the following values:

  • 0 means you do NOT want the player control bar to display
  • 1 means you want the player control bar to display (default)

end

The end parameter determines when the YouTube video will stop playing. It's measured from the beginning of the video. The end parameter accepts a numeric value that represents seconds. For example, if you want the video to stop at the 2 minute and 12 second mark, you'd use the end parameter with a value of 132.

fs

The fs parameter determines whether the fullscreen button will be displayed in the YouTube video or not. The fs parameter accepts the following values:

  • 0 means you do NOT want the fullscreen button to display
  • 1 means you want the fullscreen button to display (default)

hl

This parameter sets the interface language for the YouTube player. The interface language is used for tooltips (when you hover over player features) and closed captions/subtitles.

This parameter accepts two-letter and four-letter language codes. For example, hl=fr and hl=fr-CA are both acceptable.

iv_load_policy

The iv_load_policy parameter determines whether annotations that have been added to the YouTube video will display or not. The iv_load_policy parameter accepts the following values:

  • 1 means you want annotations to display (default)
  • 3 means you do NOT want annotations to display

loop

The loop parameter determines whether or not the YouTube video will automatically (and continuously) replay. The loop parameter accepts the following values:

  • 0 means you do NOT want the video to loop (default)
  • 1 means you want the video to loop

Note: The loop parameter requires that you also use the playlist parameter. Set the playlist parameter equal to the video ID that you want to loop. Here's the URL format for a looping video:

http://www.youtube.com/embed/video_id?loop=1&playlist=video_id

modestbranding

The modestbranding parameter lets you remove the YouTube button from the player controls of the video. (The YouTube button lets the learner launch the video in a separate window at the YouTube website, which may not be desirable if you want your students to be free from distractions.) The modestbranding parameter accepts the following value:

  • 1 means you do NOT want the YouTube button to display

playlist

The playlist parameter lets you specify a comma-separated list of YouTube video IDs, which will play back-to-back in the same video player. Here's the format for the playlist parameter:

http://www.youtube.com/embed/video_id?playlist=video_id,video_id,video_id

The video ID in the standard URL for your web object will be the first video to appear in the playlist. The video IDs after the playlist parameter will be the second video, third video, fourth video, etc.

playsinline

This parameter determines whether YouTube videos play inline or fullscreen on iPhones running iOS 10 and later. See this article for details.

  • playsinline=0 means the video will play fullscreen (default)
  • playsinline=1 means the video will play inline

probably_logged_in

The probably_logged_in parameter determines whether the Watch Later button is visible in the YouTube video or not. By default, the Watch Later button will be visible in the YouTube video if the learner is logged into YouTube.com in the browser they're currently using. The probably_logged_in parameter accepts the following values:

  • 0 means you do NOT want the Watch Later button to display
  • 1 means you want the Watch Later button to display if the user is logged into YouTube (default)

rel

The rel parameter determines which related videos will be suggested at the end of the video.

  • rel=0 means related videos will come from the same channel as the source video
  • rel=1 means related videos will come from any channel (default)

start

The start parameter determines whether the video will start playing at the beginning of the video or at a specified point in the middle of the video. The start parameter accepts a numeric value that represents the number of seconds into the video where you want the video to start playing. For example, if you want the video to start playing at the 1 minute and 30 second mark, you'd add the start parameter with a value of 90.

theme

The theme parameter determines which theme (color scheme) will be applied to the YouTube player controls. The theme parameter accepts the following values:

  • dark (default)
  • light