Vital Video Block Reviews, Downloads & Maintenance

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.

Features

Performance-first YouTube video display.
Automatic video thumbnail and title retrieval.
WebP image support for faster image loading.
Customizable aspect ratios (4:3 and 16:9).
Displays the video title in the image.
Multiple thumbnail quality options.
Minimal initial page load impact.
Option to disable WebP images if unavailable.
Advanced video playback controls.
Uses YouTube’s no-cookie thumbnail service.
Respects modern browser autoplay policies.
Alt text matches the video title.
Thumbnail dimensions set based on selected image size:
- HQ (480×320): Default size
- SD (640×480): Standard size
- MAX (1280×720): Highest available resolution

Vital Video Settings

Aspect Ratio: Choose between 16:9 and 4:3.
Mute Toggle: Control video playback behavior.
Thumbnail Quality: Select from High, Standard, or Maximum resolution.
Disable WebP: Turn off WebP usage if unavailable.

Mute Toggle

The Mute Toggle feature is designed primarily for mobile devices, adhering to browser autoplay policies.

Mute Toggle Off (Sound On):

Videos require two clicks to start playing:

The first click loads the video.
The second click begins playback. Ideal for maintaining user control and preventing unexpected audio.

Mute Toggle On (Sound Off):

Videos play with a single click.
Automatically starts muted.
Perfect for situations where immediate video playback is desired.
Complies with browser autoplay restrictions.

Disable WebP Images

WebP is enabled by default. Most thumbnails will use the WebP format.
However, if you encounter a dummy placeholder image, try selecting a different thumbnail size to see if another WebP version exists.
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.

Only use “Disable WebP Images” when absolutely necessary!

External Services

This plugin connects to YouTube’s services to embed videos and retrieve video information:

YouTube Video Service:

The plugin connects to YouTube’s embed service (youtube-nocookie.com) to display videos
When a video is played, it loads the video player from YouTube’s servers
YouTube’s terms of service: https://www.youtube.com/static?template=terms
YouTube’s privacy policy: https://policies.google.com/privacy

YouTube oEmbed API:

Used to fetch video titles when adding videos to your content
Sends the YouTube video ID to retrieve the video title
API documentation: https://developers.google.com/youtube/v3/docs/videos

YouTube Thumbnail Service:

Retrieves video thumbnail images from i.ytimg.com
Only loads thumbnails for videos you’ve embedded
No personal data is sent to this service

Note: 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.

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! You can support Vital Video in various ways:

Write about the plugin on your blog or share it on social media.
Translate the plugin into your language using your WordPress.org account.
Review the plugin here on WordPress.org.

Installation

You can install Vital Video in two ways:

In your WordPress admin area, go to Plugins > New Plugin, search for Vital Video Block and click Install now.
Download the latest version from WordPress.org and extract the files into your /wp-content/plugins/ directory.

Usage

Activating the plugin
Add a new block to your post or page.
Select the “Vital Video” block.
Paste a YouTube video URL.
Customize Vital Video settings in the block inspector.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the Mute Toggle?

The Mute Toggle gives you control over video playback:
– Mute Toggle Off: Videos require two clicks to play and start with sound.
– Mute Toggle On: Videos play immediately but are muted by default.

Why would I disable WebP images?

WebP is faster, but YouTube doesn’t always provide WebP thumbnails.
If you see a dummy placeholder image, try different thumbnail sizes first.
If none work, enable “Disable WebP Images” to fall back on JPG or other formats.

Can I change the position of the title?

Yes, you can overwrite the CSS.
Use the selector .wp-block-greuts-vital-video .vital-video .video-title {}
and the property: place-self: with the values start, end or center;
examples
place-self: end; = bottom/right
place-self: start center; = top/center
Here you can also edit the text and background of the title.

Review feed

No reviews available

Screenshots

A screenshot showing the block in the editor, with available settings in the sidebar.
A frontend preview of the video thumbnail with the play button.

Changelog

1.0.3

Fixed Style – 03 januari 2025

1.0.2

Release Date – 02 januari 2025

Changing sreenshots

1.0.1

Release Date – 01 januari 2025

Updated readme.txt to match the standards

1.0.0

*Initial Release

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