Many times during discussions it is useful to share a video from one of the many hosting sites out there, such as YouTube, LiveLeak, MetaCafe, FaceBook, and Vimeo, in the body of your message (post). This is referred to as "embedding" the video.

This is pretty easy to do, although the technique changes a bit depending on the source of the video.

YouTube
To embed a YouTube video, simply do the following:

• To post a video from YouTube, go to the video on YouTube and click the button labeled 'Share' on YouTube. Highlight and copy the provided link.
  
• Insert the link into your message window here at BeechTalk.
  
• Highlight the link in your message window and click the button above the message window labeled 'YouTube'. This will insert tags on either end of the video link enclosed in square brackets.
  
• Click Preview below your message window to see if it embedded properly.
  
• Click Submit to post the message with embedded video.

It should appear like this when you are composing the post:

[youtube]http://www.youtu.be/DpCCYWDy1o8[/youtube]

LiveLeak, MetaCafe, Vimeo

The easy way to do this is to simply cut and paste the URL address (the video's address that appears in your internet browser window, including the http:// part) into your message window when composing your post. Then highlight the link and click the button labeled 'LiveLeak', 'MetaCafe', or 'Vimeo' above the message window to insert the appropriate code around the URL address you inserted. You must click the correct button associated with the source of the video (i.e. Vimeo), as each of these video hosting sites uses a different code and our forum software must handle these differently.

NOTE: BeechTalk does not have the ability to host the video here--you will need to link to it, as described above, in order to share it.

NOTE: BeechTalk only works with the above sites. Therefore, if you are trying to share a video from a site not mentioned above, you will need to simply providing a link to the other sites page for others to visit.

Just a heads up that YouTube recently changed the format of its "Share" links. As such, the BeechTalk YouTube button is adopting the new format and foregoing the old.

Unfortunately, this means that previously posted videos will not embed as they have in the past, though all new videos submitted with the new Share format (e.g., http://youtu.be/ZnehCBoYLbc) should work as expected.

We will look into prior submissions to see if they can be converted, but our first priority is to maintain present and future compatibility with the various video services.

The instructions above have been updated to reflect this change, and embedding YouTube videos in the manner described above is current and correct at this time.

Thanks,
The Jeffs