Jan Hoek

<p>Vital Video is a WordPress block plugin designed to improve Core Web Vitals performance when displaying YouTube videos.</p>
<p>Instead of traditional embedding, it provides a lightweight, performance-optimized solution that first loads a clickable video thumbnail.</p>
<p>The Vital Video Block doesn’t play videos in the WordPress editor. It’s designed to prioritize performance and user experience on your frontend. To test video behavior, simply preview your post or page.</p>
<h3>Features</h3>
<ul>
<li>Performance-first YouTube video display.  </li>
<li>Automatic video thumbnail and title retrieval.  </li>
<li>WebP image support for faster image loading.  </li>
<li>Customizable aspect ratios (4:3 and 16:9).  </li>
<li>Displays the video title in the image.  </li>
<li>Multiple thumbnail quality options.  </li>
<li>Minimal initial page load impact.  </li>
<li>Option to disable WebP images if unavailable.  </li>
<li>Advanced video playback controls.  </li>
<li>Uses YouTube’s no-cookie thumbnail service.  </li>
<li>Respects modern browser autoplay policies.  </li>
<li>Alt text matches the video title.</li>
<li>Thumbnail dimensions set based on selected image size:
<ul>
<li>HQ (480×320): Default size  </li>
<li>SD (640×480): Standard size  </li>
<li>MAX (1280×720): Highest available resolution</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<h3>Vital Video Settings</h3>
<ul>
<li><strong>Aspect Ratio</strong>: Choose between 16:9 and 4:3.  </li>
<li><strong>Mute Toggle</strong>: Control video playback behavior.  </li>
<li><strong>Thumbnail Quality</strong>: Select from High, Standard, or Maximum resolution.  </li>
<li><strong>Disable WebP</strong>: Turn off WebP usage if unavailable.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Mute Toggle</h3>
<p>The Mute Toggle feature is designed primarily for mobile devices, adhering to browser autoplay policies.</p>
<p><strong>Mute Toggle Off (Sound On):</strong></p>
<p>Videos require two clicks to start playing:</p>
<ol>
<li>The first click loads the video.  </li>
<li>The second click begins playback. Ideal for maintaining user control and preventing unexpected audio.</li>
</ol>
<p><strong>Mute Toggle On (Sound Off):</strong></p>
<ul>
<li>Videos play with a single click.  </li>
<li>Automatically starts muted.  </li>
<li>Perfect for situations where immediate video playback is desired.  </li>
<li>Complies with browser autoplay restrictions.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Disable WebP Images</h3>
<ul>
<li><strong>WebP is enabled by default.</strong> Most thumbnails will use the WebP format.  </li>
<li>However, if you encounter a dummy placeholder image, try selecting a different thumbnail size to see if another WebP version exists.  </li>
<li>If no WebP images are available, you can enable the “Disable WebP Images” option as a last resort. This – will use fallback formats like JPG instead.</li>
</ul>
<p><em>Only use “Disable WebP Images” when absolutely necessary!</em></p>
<h3>External Services</h3>
<p>This plugin connects to YouTube’s services to embed videos and retrieve video information:</p>
<p><strong>YouTube Video Service:</strong></p>
<ul>
<li>The plugin connects to YouTube’s embed service (youtube-nocookie.com) to display videos</li>
<li>When a video is played, it loads the video player from YouTube’s servers</li>
<li>YouTube’s terms of service: https://www.youtube.com/static?template=terms</li>
<li>YouTube’s privacy policy: https://policies.google.com/privacy</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>YouTube oEmbed API:</strong></p>
<ul>
<li>Used to fetch video titles when adding videos to your content</li>
<li>Sends the YouTube video ID to retrieve the video title</li>
<li>API documentation: https://developers.google.com/youtube/v3/docs/videos</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>YouTube Thumbnail Service:</strong></p>
<ul>
<li>Retrieves video thumbnail images from i.ytimg.com</li>
<li>Only loads thumbnails for videos you’ve embedded</li>
<li>No personal data is sent to this service</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Note:</strong> This plugin uses YouTube’s privacy-enhanced mode by default, which helps protect your visitors’ privacy by not setting cookies until the video is played.</p>
<h3>Contributing</h3>
<p>Contributions are welcome! You can support Vital Video in various ways:</p>
<ul>
<li>Write about the plugin on your blog or share it on social media.  </li>
<li><a href="https://translate.wordpress.org/projects/wp-plugins/vital-video-block/" rel="nofollow ugc">Translate the plugin into your language</a> using your WordPress.org account.  </li>
<li><a href="https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/vital-video-block/reviews/#new-post" rel="ugc">Review the plugin here on WordPress.org</a>.</li>
</ul>


Vital Video Block

A YouTube block optimized for performance, allowing you to embed YouTube videos without harming your Core Web Vitals.

FirmCatalyst

<p>This is a professional tool to manipulate enqueued Styles and Scripts on your website; add custom CSS to the first screen and not first screen optionally, choose where to apply. Use it to improve your Core Web Vitals score or just add custom styling.</p>
<h4>Features</h4>
<ul>
<li>Control your website’s CSS</li>
<li>Apply changes to individual posts/pages/custom post types</li>
<li>Apply changes to all posts of a specific type</li>
<li>Apply changes to the blog or any post-type archive</li>
<li>Inline, defer, or de-register / disable Styles and Scripts</li>
<li>Edit CSS easily with the CodeMirror visual editor</li>
<li>Automatic CSS minification</li>
<li>Instructions to get CSS</li>
</ul>
<h4>Demo</h4>
<p><a href="https://firmcatalyst.com/first-screen-css/" rel="nofollow ugc">firmcatalyst.com/first-screen-css</a></p>
<h4>Usage</h4>
<ul>
<li>Install and activate the plugin.</li>
<li>Navigate to “CSS Settings” in the left sidebar of your wp-admin.</li>
<li>Click “Add New” Settincs Set</li>
<li>Input your CSS or adjust the settings.</li>
<li>Choose where to apply the changes and Publish.</li>
<li>Repeat to apply a different set of settings to other posts.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Development</h3>
<p>You can customize the code to suit your requirements or suggest improvements on <a href="https://github.com/VVolkov833/first-screen-css" rel="nofollow ugc">GitHub</a>. The code is transparent and easy to understand.</p>


First Screen CSS & Settings

Manipulate enqueued Styles and Scripts on the website; add custom CSS optionally

Vital Video Block vs First Screen CSS & Settings