Description

Gutenberg block and Shortcode for embedding YouTube/Vimeo videos, in a way that prevents users easily accessing the underlying video.

This is useful for example when embedding an “unlisted” video as premium course content behind a paywall on your site.

Features include:

Plyr player used to overlay default player with custom controls
Player modifications to always prevent clicking the default player
Encodes video ID in HTML to prevent finding it via “View Source”
Settings page to configure the player theme to match your site

View Player Demo

Note: This only provides a basic level of protection. Technical users may still be able to access the underlying video.

This plugin is open source and contributions are welcome on GitHub.

Screenshots

Protected Video block in the Block Editor.
Configuration of the player theme in plugin settings.
Optional usage as Shortcode.
Display of the player in the public facing site.

Blocks

This plugin provides 1 block.

Protected Video

Installation

Install and activate the plugin
Optionally configure player theme at Settings > Protected Video
Search for and use “Protected Video” block in the Block Editor
Alternatively use the Shortcode e.g. [protected_video url="https://youtu.be/c_hO_fjmMnk" service="youtube"]

FAQ

What does this plugin do?

Embeds YouTube/Vimeo videos on your pages and takes steps to prevent users obtaining the e.g. YouTube URL of the video by clicking on the player or viewing the page source.

Watch this YouTube video for an introduction to the plugin and its potential use cases.

How secure is this plugin?

This plugin only provides a basic level of protection against users accessing the default player or otherwise determining the video URL. Technical users may still be able to figure out this information.

Does this plugin work on mobile?

Yes, the custom player works on mobile browsers and the disabling of access to the default player is still in place even in fullscreen mode.

Why not use plain Plyr player?

The default Plyr player overlays YouTube/Vimeo players with its own controls, which prevents access to the underlying video copy/share buttons under some scenarios, but this is a side-effect of the way it works rather than a feature. The goal of Protected Video is to make this a feature by accounting for more scenarios e.g. when the player is paused, and providing additional features such as obfuscation of the underlying video ID in the HTML.

If you don’t care about your users sharing the video or actually want them to, a plugin like WP YouTube Lyte is probably more suitable.

How can I style the player with CSS?

The main color of the player can be configured at Settings > Protected Video. If you’d like to style the player further, you can provide your own CSS to override the player’s CSS variables:

Can the YouTube watermark/controls be hidden?

Unfortunately not. This plugin loads the standard YouTube player behind the overlay, which we have no control over. These aspects of the YouTube player cannot be disabled.

Can you add feature X to the player?

This plugin embeds the Plyr player in a particular way and adds modifications to prevent access to the underlying video player. This plugin cannot provide additional features to the player itself beyond what is provided by Plyr. If you’d like to see a feature added to the player, please open an issue on Plyr’s GitHub.

Why is there a Shortcode as well as Gutenberg block?

The Shortcode is provided as an alternative embed method that still provides the same level of protection. Some people need the Shortcode for use with 3rd party page builders (Elementor etc.) and others simply prefer using a Shortcode over Gutenberg blocks.

How do I use the Shortcode embed method?

This is the format to use if you’d like to use the Shortcode embed method:

[protected_video url="https://youtu.be/c_hO_fjmMnk" service="youtube"]

A service of either youtube or vimeo must be specified when using the Shortcode embed method.

How can I set the dimensions of the player?

The Plyr player is responsive by default and will grow to fill the container it is placed in. If you’d like to restrict these dimensions, place the block or shortcode within a container that has your desired dimensions. See this support topic for more.

<style>
:root {
--plyr-badge-background: #000;
--plyr-control-radius: 5px;
}
</style>

The display of the player is broken/it doesn’t work

If the player is not looking or behaving like the demo on your site, this indicates another theme or plugin is interfering with Protected Video.

This is usually caused by another plugin or theme loading its own version of Plyr, which interferes with the Plyr version provided by Protected Video. Please try disabling all other plugins and switching to a default theme to isolate what is causing this issue.

Reviews

jorgeabrantes Apr 17, 2023

Plugin fulfills what it promises in an easy, fast and ficacious way. Alec's support is also 5 stars!

jenomal Apr 13, 2023 3 replies

I appreciate this plugin for its apparent ability to offer some form of protection. Additionally, I am pleased with the customization options it provides, such as the ability to style the player and modify colors. However, my only critique is that it does not allow for complete removal of the branding, and the support response time could be improved. Overall, though, I am content with its performance.

tbi Feb 18, 2023 8 replies

very helpful plugin! covers the youtube player with nice customizable plyr player. would be nice if there would be even more customization options...

Bestcool Media Jan 31, 2023

i have tested so many plugins , i just selected this one and wowwww. this is by far the best video player, people stay on your blog because they can't click on the youtube title that normally goes to youtube. now it's fully protected. thank you so much !

sallory85 May 8, 2022

Thanks, Alec for the great work, a very useful plugin! You deserve a million 5-stars reviews!

Chris Badgett Feb 14, 2022

Very useful innovation for the course building community!

Contributors & Developers

“Protected Video” is open source software. The following people have contributed to this plugin.

Alec Rust

“Protected Video” has been translated into 3 locales. Thank you to the translators for their contributions.

Translate “Protected Video” into your language.

Interested in development?

Browse the code, check out the SVN repository, or subscribe to the development log by RSS.

Change log

1.8.1

Bump build dependencies
Load player assets on custom post type pages
Use better wp_add_inline_style() for loading inline styles
Use plugin_dir_url consistently over plugins_url

1.8.0 – 2023-04-01

Bump dependencies including Plyr 3.7.7 -> 3.7.8
Simplify JS for decoding HTML
Switch YouTube embeds to use “no cookie” domain for GDPR support
Add “Can you add feature X to the player?” FAQ

1.7.22 – 2023-03-20

Bump dependencies including Plyr 3.7.6 -> 3.7.7
Add “How can I style the player how I like?” FAQ
Add link to Plyr’s styling documentation on plugin settings page
Add “The display of the player is broken/it doesn’t work” FAQ
Update plugin “Tested up to” to WordPress 6.2

1.7.21 – 2023-03-10

Bump dependencies including Plyr 3.7.3 -> 3.7.6

1.7.20 – 2023-02-19

Bump dependencies
Improve “Why is there a Shortcode as well as Gutenberg block?” FAQ

1.7.19 – 2022-11-18

Bump dependencies inc Plyr player v3.7.3
Fix FAQ wrapping
Update plugin “Tested up to” version

1.7.18 – 2022-11-06

Bump dependencies
Tidy readmes
Add FAQ
Fix readme typo

1.7.17 – 2022-08-14

Bump dependencies
Add missing $this->shortcodes placeholder variable
Add “How do I use the Shortcode embed method?” to FAQs
Add readme link to video that explains plugin

1.7.16 – 2022-07-24

Bump dependencies
Switch to official WordPress Babel preset
Switch to official WordPress Browserslist
Improve plugin information

1.7.15 – 2022-07-08

Bump dependencies
Fix CI badge in README.md

1.7.14 – 2022-05-28

Move readme.txt into repository

1.7.13 – 2022-05-28

Fix changelog building

1.7.12 – 2022-05-28

Bump dependencies
Split up CI workflows
Ignore casing of “service” value in Shortcode

1.7.11 – 2022-05-08

Bump dependencies
Update “Tested up to” to WordPress 6

1.7.10 – 2022-04-20

Bump dependencies
Bump Plyr player version 3.6.12 -> 3.7.2

1.7.9 – 2022-04-10

Bump dependencies
Improve README

1.7.8 – 2022-03-06

Bump dependencies
Refactor fetching of default player theme color option
Automate keeping GitHub Actions up to date
Upgrade “Checkout” GitHub Action to v3
Upgrade download/upload artifact GitHub Actions to v3
Remove unnecessary settings_errors call
Allow errors to display at top of plugin settings page
Tidy

1.7.7 – 2022-02-26

Bump dependencies
Store plugin option (theme color) as string instead of object

1.7.6 – 2022-02-14

Bump dependencies

1.7.5 – 2022-02-05

Bump dependencies
Include .yml files in linting
Remove unnecessary postcss-nested plugin
Update author notes
Improve public CSS webpack configs
Remove invalid CSS from demo

1.7.4 – 2022-01-25

Build player demo assets with webpack
Add missing demo src files
Bump mini-css-extract-plugin version
Prevent interaction with <iframe> if poster removed in Dev Tools
Improve WordPress vs standalone player dev experience
Fix lint
Simplify Demo CI
Tidy
Fix Vimeo thumbnail in blocks editor
Exclude /demo from Prettier

1.7.3 – 2022-01-24

Bump webpack-cli version
Refactor/simplify public JS
Update URL to player demo
Fix excluding webpack-public.js from plugin dist
Create CNAME

1.7.2 – 2022-01-23

Bump dependencies
Build public CSS with PostCSS
Set Browserslist value in package.json

1.7.1 – 2022-01-23

Update plugin “Tested up to” to WordPress 5.9

1.7.0 – 2022-01-22

Bump dependencies
Bundle Plyr in plugin JS/CSS instead of loading from CDN
Optimize and minify public CSS
Build public CSS with webpack
Optimize and minify public JS

1.6.2 – 2022-01-16

Fix syntax in readme FAQ

1.6.1 – 2022-01-16

Switch from Rollup to webpack for building public JS
Bump dependencies
Bump dependencies
Bump follow-redirects from 1.14.6 to 1.14.7
Add FAQ about setting player dimensions

1.6.0 – 2022-01-02

Bump dependencies to add support for YouTube Shorts
Fix error when fetching post content when not on a post

1.5.2 – 2021-12-23

Bump linting dependencies
Extract “check if video on page” check into function
Improve README/documentation
Remove unused get_loader() utility function
Remove unused globals from ESLint config
Tidy README

1.5.1 – 2021-12-16

Upgrade Plyr version 3.6.11 -> 3.6.12

1.5.0 – 2021-12-16

Bump dependencies
Fix Shortcode-only usage not loading assets
Upgrade Plyr player 3.6.9 -> 3.6.11
Adjust formatting in readme.txt

1.4.0 – 2021-11-17

Bump dependencies
Add Shortcode as alternative embed method
Fix installation steps order
Optimise banner image PNG

1.3.1 – 2021-11-14

Upgrade get-video-id to improve YouTube URL matching
Fix typo in plugin description

1.3.0 – 2021-10-13

Update npm dependencies
Update Plyr version 3.6.8 -> 3.6.9

1.2.10 – 2021-09-18

Bump dependencies
Bump tar from 6.1.6 to 6.1.11

1.2.9 – 2021-09-05

Bump dependencies

1.2.8 – 2021-08-06

Update dependencies

1.2.7 – 2021-07-11

Bump sub-dependencies to resolve security vulnerabilities

1.2.6 – 2021-07-11

Update dependencies
Use “block editor” instead of “blocks editor” in readme
Tidy readme.txt
Update “Tested up to” to WordPress 5.8
Update plugin banner and icon

1.2.5 – 2021-07-03

Bump dependencies
Disable weekly Dependabot PRs
Bump release-it from 14.8.0 to 14.9.0
Mention /docs in local development instructions
Remove links to PRs in readme.txt changelog
Improve readme
Remove unnecessary .husky/.gitignore

1.2.4 – 2021-06-12

Bump rollup from 2.51.1 to 2.51.2
Improve readmes
Automate dependency PRs
Remove unnecessary wp_enqueue_style option
Depend on Plyr player CSS for custom CSS
Improve dependency naming
Support translation of more settings UI strings

1.2.3 – 2021-06-11

Improve readme.txt
Exclude /docs from plugin dist

1.2.2 – 2021-06-11

Add demo of player
Link to demo in readmes

1.2.1 – 2021-06-11

Improve README.md
Simplify readme.txt

1.2.0 – 2021-06-11

Add obfuscation of provider and video ID in HTML
Improve readmes
Remove check-licenses
Tidy CI
Add license checking to lint
Improve FAQ
Add CI badge to README

1.1.12 – 2021-06-10

Simplify CI workflow
Improve readme
Update block screenshot

1.1.11 – 2021-06-10

Replace “replace” with “replace-in-files”
Show error notice when no video ID found
Improve block copy
Add placeholder to embed input
Use “yarn start” instead of “yarn watch”
Remove readme CI badge for now
Improve plugin banner/icon

1.1.10 – 2021-06-10

Run separate lint workflow only on PRs
Fix readme.txt changelog

1.1.9 – 2021-06-10

Split up deployment workflow
Exclude release commits from changelogs
Add CI badge to README
Improve plugin banner image

1.1.8 – 2021-06-09

Exclude release commit from temp changelog
Remove unnecessary –oneline flag

1.1.7 – 2021-06-09

Improve order of CI steps
Exclude Lint workflow from tag pushes
Improve date output in changelog

1.1.6 – 2021-06-09

Write to temporary file with git log
Simplify git log output
Exclude temp-changelog.txt from dist

1.1.5 – 2021-06-09

Fix output savings

1.1.4 – 2021-06-09

Save current tag as output

1.1.3 – 2021-06-09

Fix build
Fix GitHub release

1.1.2 – 2021-06-09

Add fetch-depth

1.1.1 – 2021-06-09

Fix changelog generating

1.1.0 – 2021-06-09

Move GitHub release to CI
Add link to plugin settings on Plugins page
Improve readmes
Add FAQ

1.0.8 – 2021-06-09

Add CHANGELOG.md
Improve readme
Bump npm deps
Add Lint workflow
Improve readme
Tidy workflow
Add check flag to Prettier in CI
Rename readme

1.0.7 – 2021-06-09

Exclude files from plugin deployment
Add missing admin/index.php

1.0.6 – 2021-06-09

Remove unnecessary @since comments
Set up plugin deploy
Specify minimum PHP version
Improve plugin description
Improve README
Improve README
Update license in package.json

1.0.5 – 2021-06-06

Add admin stylesheet
Register block on enqueue_block_editor_assets instead of init

1.0.4 – 2021-06-06

Fix version not being updated in plugin header

1.0.3 – 2021-06-06

Improve README installation instructions
Add GitHub Plugin URI to plugin header

1.0.2 – 2021-06-06

Add Rollup build process for public JS
Bump release-it version
Tweak readme
Add plugin banner/icon assets

1.0.1 – 2021-06-05

Add release-it

1.0.0 – 2021-06-05

Initial commit