Over the last 2 posts I’ve mentioned some of the great new features of version 2 of YouTube Embed. And I haven’t even mentioned them all.

When updating this plugin I took the opportunity to look at the top 10 most popular rival plugins. I documented the features of each, ensuring that mine also had them (with only a few exceptions, where I felt they weren’t appropriate). I then added on the extra features that YouTube Embed has. The resulting spreadsheet is below and I believe it to be a fair representation. As I say at the beginning, if I’ve missed anything off or anything is incorrect, feel free to let me know.

So, let’s look at what this tell us.

First of all, one third of the plugins don’t work with all video IDs (I’ve, in the past, identified some YouTube IDs which WordPress has a habit of converting when used within shortcodes)

Secondly, one half of the plugins haven’t been updated this year. This may not be a problem, but the fact that most of the alternative plugins use the now defunct AS2 YouTube player would suggest that an update is due!

Lastly, YouTube Embed has over 6 times more features than the next “feature packed” YouTube embedding plugin. Yet, it remains simple to use.

Still using an alternative? It’s time to swap.

WordPress 3.2 is now available.

The focus for this release was making WordPress faster and lighter. The first thing you’ll notice when you log in to 3.2 is a refreshed dashboard design that tightens the typography, design, and code behind the admin. (Rhapsody in Grey?) If you’re starting a new blog, you’ll also appreciate the fully HTML5 new Twenty Eleven theme, fulfilling our plan to replace the default theme every year. Start writing your first post in our redesigned post editor and venture to the full-screen button in the editing toolbar to enter the new distraction-free writing or zen mode, my personal favorite feature of the release. All of the widgets, menus, buttons, and interface elements fade away to allow you to compose and edit your thoughts in a completely clean environment conducive to writing, but when your mouse strays to the top of the screen your most-used shortcuts are right there where you need them. (I like to press F11 to take my browser full-screen, getting rid of even the OS chrome.)

Under the hood there have been a number of improvements, not the least of which is the streamlining enabled by our previously announced plan of retiring support for PHP4, older versions of MySQL, and legacy browsers like IE6, which allows us to take advantage of more features enabled by new technologies. The admin bar has a few more shortcuts to your most commonly-used actions. On the comment moderation screen, the new approve & reply feature speeds up your conversation management. You’ll notice in your first update after 3.2 that we’ll only be updating the files that have changed with each new release instead of every file in your WordPress installation, which makes updates significantly faster on all hosting platforms. There are also some fun new theme features shown off by Twenty Eleven, like the ability to have multiple rotating header images to highlight all of your favorite photos.

The official WordPress announcement

3.2 Codex Details

Change Details

Download 3.2 (entire installation)

This is part 2 of a series of posts providing details of some of the new functionality being added to my WordPress plugin YouTube Embed.

During this article any reference to YE is indicating YouTube Embed (and, more specifically, the currently unreleased version 2).

Part 2 : Profiles & Lists

Profiles Options Screen

Profiles

With previous versions of YE you had a default profile that you could modify. If when embedding a video you didn’t specify any of the parameters then the default would be taken from this profile.

With the new YE you can now create multiple profiles – each having their own set of specific values. When embedding a video you can then say which profile to use.

So, you may have a standard default profile but another for widescreen videos, which is just the same but has a different size ratio.

There are a good few options available for each profile – everything from video size to whether you want (and how deep you want) a drop shadow on the video. The screenshot to the right shows some of what is available, but this is a partial list (and may change before the plugin is released).

Lists Options Screen

Lists

YE already supports YouTube generated playlists. However, you have little or no control over them (especially if they’re not your own). With the new version of YE you can now create your own lists of videos.

You simply supply a name for your list and then a list of video URLs or IDs – you can’t save this list until all the videos are checked and validated. Once done, instead of embedding using a URL or video ID you simply use the list name. By default, each video will then play in turn. However, parameters exist to allow you to play them back in a random order OR play just one video, but a random one.

A screen shot is to the list but may change as the plugin is completed.