Check how popular your Jetpack VideoPress videos are, with Jetpack Stats.
Jetpack Stats, including video stats, are only available in the Jetpack plugin. If you’re using the individual VideoPress plugin and want stats for your videos, please install the Jetpack plugin as well.
Video views have their own section within the Jetpack Stats page under Stats → Traffic tab in your WP Admin.
Scroll down on the page to find the video stats section.
VideoPress stats display
Jetpack VideoPress videos on your site are listed by title, along with how many views a particular video has received.
To view detailed stats for a video, click on the video’s title.
Click on View details to view more detailed stats for all videos.
Impressions: The number of times a video was loaded on the page.
Hours watched: The total number of hours that the video has been watched by all viewers.
Views: The total number of how many times the video was played.
Please note this is the total number of views, even if one person watched a video multiple times. We record a single play while the page is open. If a person reloads the page or revisits the page later and watches it again, then that would count as a separate play.
Retention rate calculation
The Retention Rate is calculated by the percentage of a video’s total duration that is watched on average per view.
Chapters are a great way to split up longer videos and organize them into different sections. Your visitors can see what each section is about and skip to their favorite parts.
Click the “Done” button once it is finished uploading.
Navigate to the block settings for the video in the editor sidebar. Make sure you’ve clicked on the VideoPress block in the editor section of the screen, then click the ‘cog’ icon below the Publish button to make the block settings appear.
In the Description box, add a list of timestamps in minutes and seconds, along with corresponding chapter titles.
Make sure that the first timestamp starts with 00:00.
Add at least three chapter entries, in consecutive order, with at least 10-second intervals between each.
For example:
00:00 Intro 00:24 Mountains arise 02:38 Coming back home 03:04 Credits
Click on the Text Tracks icon in the block toolbar, as shown below:
Click on Upload track to upload your .vtt file. The Label and Source Language fields will automatically be populated if nothing is inserted.
Click Save.
When you preview your post, the subtitles menu will appear in the Jetpack VideoPress player, with your subtitles track as an option for viewers to select.
It is not possible to associate a .vtt file for closed captions to a file directly in the Media Library. The VideoPress block must be added first. However, when you upload a track file to the video via the above steps, it gets associated with the media file itself. If you reuse the video file elsewhere, the track will be already in place.
Viewers can use the Captions Settings menu in the VideoPress player on the front-end of the site to customize the appearance of the subtitles or captions.
Uploading videos via the Classic Editor requires the Jetpack plugin. It will not work when using the standalone Jetpack VideoPress plugin.
To add a video to a post, follow these instructions:
In the post editor, position the cursor where you’d like the video to be displayed.
Click the “Add Media” button to bring up the Media Library view.
From that view, select your video, or upload a new one.
Jetpack’s video hosting supports MP4 (.mp4, .m4v), QuickTime movies (.mov), Windows Media Video (.wmv), Audio Video Interleave (.avi), MPEG (.mpg), 3GPP ( .3gp ) and 3GPP2 ( .3g2 ).
The VideoPress seekbar automatically changes color for a better video-watching experience. The color-changing effect can be activated and deactivated by appending the useAverageColor parameter to the VideoPress video URL and setting it to true or false.
Adjust video settings
After embedding a video, adjust its settings:
Select the video.
Click the pencil icon
Update the settings as needed. This includes:
Adjusting the video width in pixels
Selecting a custom time to start the video
High definition by default
Link the video title to its URL on VideoPress.com (if this is unselected, the title only will appear, without a link)
Autoplay video on page load
Loop video playback
Adjust sharing settings
By default, your visitors can click the sharing icon in the top right of the video player to reveal the following sharing and embedding options:
Direct URL to the video (at VideoPress.com)
Start time
Loop
Autoplay
HTML Embed
To disable sharing:
Go to the Media Library.
Select the video.
Uncheck “Display share menu and allow viewers to embed or download this video.”
Note: Disabling the sharing options removes the functionality from the video player, but it is still possible to download the video from your browser. We take reasonable steps to prevent embedding on other sites by hiding the sharing options, which should stop most attempts.
Video stats
All videos come with stats tracking, which can be viewed within your Jetpack Stats. You can scroll down and find the “Videos” stats.
Insert your videos directly into posts and pages on your website; they’ll be automatically uploaded to VideoPress hosting.
Jetpack VideoPress is free to try, and you can upload and host one video (up to 1 GB in size) at no cost. If you use the Classic Editor plugin, please refer to this guide instead: Add a Video Using the Classic Editor.
The VideoPress block is a part of the Jetpack Blocks suite. See our Jetpack Blocks article to learn about the available blocks and how to activate them.
Jetpack Blocks require the Block Editor (also referred to as the Gutenberg editor). If you’ve installed the Classic Editor plugin, you have a few options:
Deactivate the Classic Editor: Go to Plugins → Installed Plugins in your WP Admin and deactivate the Classic Editor plugin.
Enable both editors: If you prefer flexibility, navigate to Settings → Writing in your WP Admin (not the menu under Jetpack settings). Set Allow users to switch editors to Yes. You will only see these options if you have the Classic Editor plugin installed and active.
Some custom themes or plugins may prevent you from using the Block Editor. In that case, please contact the support team for the plugin or theme for further assistance.
Add the VideoPress block by searching for and selecting it within the block selector on a post or page on your site. Alternatively, you can type /videopress directly into the content of the page or post, then select the block from the drop-down that appears. To unlock all VideoPress features, please be sure to select the VideoPress block and not the Video block.
Adding the VideoPress Block from the block selector.
Select a video
Drag your video directly to the block within your post or page to upload it. Alternatively, you can use one of the three options: Upload, Media Library, or Insert from URL. Each option is outlined below:
Upload: Upload a new video file from your computer. See our article Uploading a Video to Jetpack VideoPress for recommendations on file size and format for your videos.
Media Library: Select any VideoPress file that’s already been uploaded to your library.
Insert from URL: Insert the video URL directly.
Once the video successfully uploads, you’ll see the ‘Upload complete!’ notification. When you are happy with your Video Title and Thumbnail, click Done and you’ll see your video embedded into your post or page. From there, you’ll be able to set a caption for your video and access the Block Toolbar.
Adjust your video’s settings
Access video settings options either from the VideoPress Block toolbar or the block’s sidebar settings for maximum control over how your video plays, and for whom. These different settings areas are outlined below.
The VideoPress Block toolbar will hover above the block in the editor.
A screenshot of the VideoPress block toolbar.
Every WordPress block has settings available in the editor sidebar. If you do not see the sidebar, click the ‘cog’ icon next to the Publish button, and it will appear. These settings include adjusting how your video plays for visitors (playback settings), progress bar color customization, and privacy options.
A screenshot of where to find the WordPress Block editor settings on a post or page
Video settings
Video alignment
Change the alignment of your video to left justify, center justified, or right justified in the VideoPress Block toolbar.
Add video captions or subtitles
Add text tracks (captions or subtitles) in the VideoPress Block toolbar.
Edit video poster image
In the VideoPress Block toolbar, edit the poster image to change the thumbnail image that will be displayed before a video is played:
Choose an appealing image that’s most indicative of the video’s content.
While there isn’t a minimum required size for your poster image, we recommend that the image be at least the size of your video.
For example, if your video is a 1080p video, you should use a poster image that is 1920 x 1080 pixels.
Video title and description
Title and description:
can be modified in the block sidebar settings
can improve SEO (search engine optimization) and accessibility
The following video playback settings can be modified in the block sidebar settings:
Autoplay: Set your video to automatically play when someone visits your page or post. Some browsers do not respect this setting. You may need to enable mute for autoplay to work in those instances.
Loop: Choose if the video repeats automatically after it plays through.
Muted: Choose if the video has sound when it plays. Users can still unmute the video from the player controls. It’s recommended to use the muted option if you choose to have your video autoplay.
Show Controls: Show or hide the playback controls on the video. This option is turned on by default.
Play Inline: Play your video inline within the element’s playback area. Not selecting this option doesn’t mean that your video will always be played fullscreen.
VideoPress Progress Bar Colors
Adjust the color of the VideoPress progress bar in the block sidebar settings:
VideoPress will automatically default to the Dynamic color setting, which will make the progress bar adapt to the video as it plays.
If you toggle off Dynamic color, you’ll see three color sections to change: Main, Loaded, and Progress.
After you select your desired Progress Bar colors, the player on the page will update automatically.
Preview the colors you have selected before publishing or updating a page or post.
When you publish or update your page or post, these color changes will be live on your selected video.
Video privacy and rating
Video privacy and ratings can be adjusted in the sidebar block settings:
Rating: Select a rating for the video, based on its content.
Privacy: Decide who gets to see your videos: site members only (private), or all visitors to your site (public). For more information, check out our VideoPress: Privacy article.
Allow Download: Control whether the VideoPress player should include the option for users to download the video.
Advanced video player settings
Add a CSS class to your block in the Advanced section of the sidebar block settings, so you can write custom CSS and style the block as you see fit.
The VideoPress video player is embedded in an iframe, meaning it’s not possible to style the video player itself. Only the <div> which contains the video player can be styled with CSS.
You can also add an HTML anchor to the block, to create a link directly to that section of the page.
Adaptive streaming and VideoPress
VideoPress supports adaptive streaming, which enables faster video playback by automatically adjusting the quality based on the viewer’s bandwidth and screen size. However, viewers can still manually select their preferred video quality from the video player’s menu.
To learn more about other VideoPress options, please visit this guide.
Why can’t I find the VideoPress block?
If you can’t find the Jetpack VideoPress block, check the following:
The ideal solution is to use the Jetpack VideoPress plugin alongside the main Jetpack plugin.
