roxics
Veteran
So I've been a blogger for many years now. I started back on Livejounal in 2001 when most of my friends were on there. I've had a blog on my own personal website for years now but only really used it here and there. My interest in bloggibg was rekindled when I joined Xanga back in 2008 based on my girlfriends recommendation. Due to Xanga being in shutdown mode lately, I moved all of my entries over to my own site and have been really playing with wordpress more than I ever have. I really like now that I know it better. If all of this moving around has taught me anything over the last decade, it's that you can't really trust a service site to stick around long term. They come and go. Meanwhile my personal websites have been around for over ten years. I have complete control over them. I'm starting to really like that dependability. Plus I'm really starting to push my beliefs toward the idea that my content should exist on my own websites and not on service sites where they're making money based on my usage and I'm getting little out of it myself. The analogy I made the other day was that using a site like Xanga or Facebook is like renting an apartment, whereas having your own website is like owning your own house on acres of land.
That said, I've been interested in putting more of my personal videos online and on my blog. Usually I would default to something like youtube since its easy, fast and widely compatible with pretty much every device out there. I even recommend to clients that they use youtube or vimeo for hosting their videos when they can. Most do. There have only been some where I've had to use a custom player for whatever reasons. Typically JW Player.
But now when it comes to my own stuff, I'm reconsidering how I want to do this. While I'm convinced that youtube probably isn't going to shut down anytime in the next several years, there is something to just putting your content on your own site and knowing that it's locked in with the rest of your content. Where you aren't going to have to worry about player changes or policy changes or services suddenly throwing up a paywall or whatever else might happen. But is there a way I can do this with ease of use, full wordpress integration and maximum device compatibility? Ideally I'd like to be able to just upload an mp4 to my wordpress media library and have it be selectable for inclusion into a blog entry the same way I can do with a photo right now.
On the other hand maybe youtube or vimeo really is the best way to go long term.
Benefits of Youtube
No need to worry about bandwidth or storage space
Variable quality selection from 240p to 1080p (viewer selectable)
Easily upload nearly any video format, so no need to rerender to MP4.
Quick and easy way to embed videos on blog or elsewhere.
Compatible with nearly every device and browser
Benefits of self hosting
Full control of video (it's on your site with your content)
Higher bitrate (aka bitrate of my choice)
Ability to playback 60p videos at full framerate (youtube and vimeo are limited to 30p and will convert higher framerates down to that)
No need to follow service policies or fear being shutout by a potential future paywall
So it seems that Youtube has more benefits unless I'm missing some from self hosting.
What is your opinion on this and do you have any suggestions for a wordpress based video player that might meet my desires if I go that route?
That said, I've been interested in putting more of my personal videos online and on my blog. Usually I would default to something like youtube since its easy, fast and widely compatible with pretty much every device out there. I even recommend to clients that they use youtube or vimeo for hosting their videos when they can. Most do. There have only been some where I've had to use a custom player for whatever reasons. Typically JW Player.
But now when it comes to my own stuff, I'm reconsidering how I want to do this. While I'm convinced that youtube probably isn't going to shut down anytime in the next several years, there is something to just putting your content on your own site and knowing that it's locked in with the rest of your content. Where you aren't going to have to worry about player changes or policy changes or services suddenly throwing up a paywall or whatever else might happen. But is there a way I can do this with ease of use, full wordpress integration and maximum device compatibility? Ideally I'd like to be able to just upload an mp4 to my wordpress media library and have it be selectable for inclusion into a blog entry the same way I can do with a photo right now.
On the other hand maybe youtube or vimeo really is the best way to go long term.
Benefits of Youtube
No need to worry about bandwidth or storage space
Variable quality selection from 240p to 1080p (viewer selectable)
Easily upload nearly any video format, so no need to rerender to MP4.
Quick and easy way to embed videos on blog or elsewhere.
Compatible with nearly every device and browser
Benefits of self hosting
Full control of video (it's on your site with your content)
Higher bitrate (aka bitrate of my choice)
Ability to playback 60p videos at full framerate (youtube and vimeo are limited to 30p and will convert higher framerates down to that)
No need to follow service policies or fear being shutout by a potential future paywall
So it seems that Youtube has more benefits unless I'm missing some from self hosting.
What is your opinion on this and do you have any suggestions for a wordpress based video player that might meet my desires if I go that route?