Including a video in your blog post can be a great way to explain your research, increase engagement and make your post more interesting to the reader. It can also increase the chance of your blog post being shared on social media. 

There are two ways to upload a video to your blog post, depending on the video type. 

For a step-by-step explanation, please see the details below...

Option 1: Uploading a link to a video that has already been uploaded elsewhere (e.g. a YouTube video)

Here is an example of a video post where the author as added a link to a video hosted on YouTube. 

After logging in to the Community, you will see an add button in the top right corner. Select ‘New Post’, then select the ‘+ New Post’ button which will take you to the post creation page.

The fields marked with an asterisk (*) must be filled in before the post can be saved (i.e. title and content fields). To add a video that has already been uploaded elsewhere, simply select the video icon in the content toolbar.

Insert the video link into the source field and click ‘Save’.

This will upload your video to the blog post. You can adjust the video's width, height, and aspect ratio for optimal display. After inserting the video, you can also drag and resize it to fine-tune its placement.

If you have the embed code rather than a link, you can also embed the video into the post by clicking on the ‘Embed’ option.

Once done, you can continue writing the text of your blog post. We advise a blog length of approximately 1000 words, with a minimum length of 750 words. For video posts, an accompanying written statement is still required (minimum of 500 words).

Option 2: Uploading a video straight onto the blog post

Here is an example of a video that has been uploaded directly to the Communities. In this case, the video appears as the header at the top of the post, rather than being within the body of the text.

When you are uploading a video directly to the Communities, you should select the add button in the top right corner then ‘New Video’. Then click the ‘+ New Video’ button which will take you to the video upload page.

You can upload your video to the blog post by dragging it into the box that appears, or by selecting ‘browse your device’. 

Once the video has uploaded (this can take a few minutes depending on the size of the video), other fields such as Title, Introduction, and Supporting text will appear, allowing you to create the rest of your blog post. Please note that the minimum written blog length for video posts is 500 words. 

In both instances, ensure that you have filled out all relevant fields on the right-hand side before posting. For more details on how to complete these sections, please refer to the blog ‘How to create a post’.

Once you have saved your post, you can preview it by selecting ‘Preview’ in the top right-hand corner. When previewing your video blog, please note that processing time may vary depending on the size of the video. Once you are happy with the appearance of your post, you can either publish it immediately by selecting ‘Publish Now’ or schedule it for a later date. 

If you have any questions about writing a post or uploading a video, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with the team and we’ll be happy to help.