Video files can be huge-- several hundred megabytes for an hour's worth. Most of the videos we use for our purposes on this site are just a few minutes long, but the storage space required is still significant when we start adding a lot of video. That's why we take advantage of free services like YouTube.com or Vimeo.com. One exception is Shortfield.com, where we actually want to submit the video file to the server.

Pros:
1. Free
2. Uses someone's else's server storage besides BCP.
3. Flash video format is widely supported by all platforms, unlike ever-changing video formats like Quicktime (mov), Mpeg (mpg), or Windows Media (wmv.)
4. You can embed Flash movies in a forum.

Cons:
1. Quality is not as good as the original video
2. Difficult to save for offline viewing

That's the breakdown on pros/cons just so you understand the background a little. Let's just embed a video.

Step 1: Copy the Unique Identifier of the video
Every video, whether Vimeo or YouTube, has a unique identifier code that is part of its web address (URL), much like ICAO codes for airports. For Vimeo, it is simply a long numeric ID. For YouTube, it is letters, numbers, and sometimes punctuation. This identifier always appears in the URL (web address) of the video. For instance:

In this YouTube URL, the unique ID is "DxM3c90D7xs":

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DxM3c90D7xs
(sometimes on YouTube, this unique ID is between the "v=" and the "&" character)


In this Vimeo URL, the unique ID is "1533203":

http://www.vimeo.com/1533203

Highlight that unique identifier, whether it's YouTube or Vimeo, and copy it to the clipboard (CTRL+C)


Step 2: Use BBCode to embed the video in a post
In post edit mode, where you write or edit your posts, you'll notice there are now buttons for Vimeo and YouTube. To embed your video, simply:

1. Click the appropriate button in the menu above the post edit text area, either YoutTube or Vimeo.
2. Paste the unique video identifier at the cursor position, which will be between the tags the button inserted.
3. The BBCode tags will appear around your identifier like this:

Code: Select all

[vimeo]1533203[/vimeo]

If your Vimeo video is in widescreen format (16:9) like most all HD movies are, you can use this tag:

Code: Select all

[vimeowide]1533203[/vimeowide]

For YouTube videos, use the YouTube BBCode:

Code: Select all

[youtube]DxM3c90D7xs[/youtube]

If your Youtube video is widescreen (HD or 16:9) you text should look like this:

Code: Select all

[youtubewide]DxM3c90D7xs[/youtubewide]

Step 3: Preview
Let's Preview our post to see if it worked. Click Preview instead of Submit and wait for the page to refresh. If you don't see your video, double check these things:

1. Make sure you copied JUST the unique identifier code, NOT the whole web address (URL)

2. Make sure the BBCode you're using matches the video host (Vimeo vs YouTube.)


If you did everthing right, it should appear in your post like this (Youtube):



Or like this (Vimeo):

I have updated this tutorial for the new forum version.