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How do I add video in the Drag & Drop Email Editor?

← Editing Items: Drag & Drop Email Editor
Do you want to increase your email click rates, promote your library’s brand, and educate and entertain your patrons? You can by adding linked videos to your e-blasts! Choose the jump start method or skip to dive in deeper and get a few pro tips.



Jump start:


If your template shows a video placeholder, just click on it and the video settings will open. Toggle off the Custom Thumbnail and enter your video’s URL. And just like magic, suggested Alt Text and a thumbnail will pop in. You’re welcome.

Don’t like the thumbnail? Easy! Click the icon of the rotating arrows and select a new image or graphic. We have about five million to choose from. Really.

Keep the play button color and style that appears or pick something new in the dropdown.

Pro tip! YouTube, Vimeo, and TikTok links to individual videos will work great. Playlists, not so much.



Deeper dive

Insert new Video Block: Drag and drop a Video Block into your e-blast. Click on it to open the video settings menu.




Link to video: Enter the video’s URL. (YouTube,Vimeo, or TikTok video only, not a playlist URL).  


Alternate text: The Alternate text field will automatically fill with the title of the video. Edit this text as needed. 


Custom thumbnail: A thumbnail will be inserted automatically into the e-blast. If you want to insert a Custom thumbnail, click the toggle to turn it on. This will open the LibraryAware Image Selector. Search for an image or upload your own and click on Select. 


Play button: A platform-specific Play button (YouTube, Vimeo, or TikTok) will appear on the video thumbnail. If you want to switch to a different Play button, click on the drop-down menu and select a button. 


Alignment: To align the video thumbnail within the container, click once on the thumbnail then select left, center, or right alignment.

To set a different alignment for mobile view, click on the mobile icon and then set the alignment.  

NOTE: The alignment option works only for those videos and images when there’s some space in the container, like internal paddings. If the image or the video takes the entire container, the alignment option will not be active.
   
Pro tip! Some elements look good on desktop devices when center-aligned but may not look as good on mobile devices. You might want to set different alignments for certain elements on mobile and desktop devices. Click on the Device Preview icon to preview how your email will look on desktop and mobile devices.




Size: Adjust the width and height of the video thumbnail using the + and – controls or by entering numerical values. Restore the thumbnail to original image size by clicking on the Restore to actual size icon.



Adjust to width: To increase the width of the video thumbnail to fill the width of the Container, click to toggle on Adjust to width. 

Responsive image: This option allows the video thumbnail to adjust to the width of the screen of the mobile device.  
 

NOTE: Adaptivity only works on devices that support it. 


Padding: Padding refers to the margin around images or text. To add padding to the edges of a Video Block, use the + and – controls to adjust the padding for all edges.

To adjust the padding for each edge separately, click on More to toggle it on.

Click on the mobile icon to adjust padding for the mobile version.

Pro tip! Sometimes you want to make your email design “clean” with lots of white space. Sometimes you use padding for containers and structures to fill them in with a color background. This all looks good on desktop devices, but on mobile devices it may make those elements less attractive. So, you may want to remove padding for mobile devices. Click the Device Preview icon at the top of the page to see how your email will look on desktop and mobile devices.


Add an anchor link: Anchor links allow viewers to jump to specific areas within the email. To add an Anchor link to the video thumbnail, click to toggle on Add an anchor link and enter a name for the Anchor. 
 
NOTE: Anchor links are not supported in some email clients: iOS Gmail app, iOS Apple Mail, Outlook app on Android, Outlook app for macOS and AMP Emails. 


Hide element: If you wish to hide a video thumbnail from view on either desktop or mobile devices, select the appropriate icon in the Hide element section. 

Pro tip! There are a few reasons why you might need this option. For example, you may want to hide some elements on mobile devices to avoid horizontal scrolling, which could happen if you apply a large font size to the text. Click on the Device Preview icon at the top of the page to see how your email will look on desktop and mobile devices.


Include in: By default, the video thumbnail will be included in both HTML and AMPHTML emails. This is shown in the Include in setting. We do not recommend you change this setting. 


Delete: To delete a Video Block, hover over it in the e-blast. A menu tab will appear on the right side of the block. Click on the tab and click on the trash can icon. 


What about embedded videos?


We don’t recommend that you literally (and we do mean literally) embed a video. Major email providers, including Gmail and Yahoo, do not support embedded video. Also, emails with truly embedded videos are often oversized which makes them more likely to bounce from a recipient’s inbox. Embedding video just doesn’t provide the best experience for your subscribers. Still think you want to embed video? Heads’ up: it’s going to require some coding on your part. And unfortunately, we’re not able to help customers with it. So again, we recommend you don’t do it. 



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