How to Embed a YouTube Video

Embedding a video from YouTube into another website is possible through a few different methods. The embedded video can be viewed on external websites by loading the data from YouTube while the website viewers remain on the external site. YouTube has simplified the process of embedding videos into a website and it can be done with little more than cutting and pasting some code. The process is as follows:

1) Browse YouTube for the video that will be embedded.

2) Once the video to be embedded is found, move the cursor over the “Share” button below the video box. An example of the Share button:

3) Click the Share button to open up the share dialog. The small section that opens up will contain a shortened direct link to the video, options for the link, an Embed button, an Email button, and social sharing buttons (Facebook, Twitter, and Google+). An example of the section:

Clicking on the Embed button will open up another section. Within this section is a code box and selectable options for embedding. Selecting any of the options boxes will alter the code in the code box.

4) Select the appropriate options for the website into which the video will be embedded.

5) Complete the process by copying the text in the code box and pasting the code within the website’s source code or in the website’s HTML tag enabled portion. If using the embed code on a public website, the code may not be accepted. An example of this code box:

Note: Once embedded, some of the generated codes may not show up properly on different web browsers.

The process of sharing YouTube videos through social networking embedding works similar to the above instructions:

1) Find the video that will be embedded and click the “Share” button.

2) Once the share dialog has opened, choose one of two options: copy the direct link to the video or use the designated buttons for social sharing.

By copying the direct link to the video, the resulting clipboard data can be pasted into any location as a link to the video. Websites such as Facebook take extra steps to format the video link into a playable embedded status post or comment.

Using the social share buttons causes YouTube to send a sync request to each button’s respective social networking site. Once someone logs into his/her social network (Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Orkut, Tumblr, Blogger, MySpace, hi5, Bebo, or Stubleupon), he/she can use the confirmation dialog to complete the share.

Note: Some social networks such as Twitter will not create a video preview. Instead, they will create a clickable link to send the audience to the video intended to be shared.