Inserting videos and embedded files

Plan requirement

Subscription Any plan
Access Agent

Video shows what text describes slowly. It also dates faster, cannot be scanned, and is invisible to search.

Insert one

  1. Upload the video to a hosting service.
  2. Copy its embed code or address.
  3. Insert it in the article.
  4. Save and check it plays.

Host it elsewhere rather than attaching a large file. Attachments have size limits and no player.

Always keep the written steps

The rule that matters. A video alone means somebody in an open office cannot use your article, search cannot index it, an AI agent cannot quote it, and nobody can scan for the one step they were missing.

Write the steps, and offer the video as well.

Where video genuinely wins

  • Physical actions. Connecting something, or handling a device.
  • An interface where the shape of the thing matters more than its name.
  • An overview, giving somebody a sense of a product before they use it.

Where it does not

Anything somebody consults while doing it. A reader following steps wants to glance, act, glance again. A video makes them scrub back and forth, which is worse than a numbered list.

It dates faster

An interface change makes one screenshot wrong; it makes a whole video wrong, and re-recording is a bigger job than retaking a screenshot. Budget for that before building a library.

See also

Was this article helpful?

0

Still stuck?

Our support team will take a look with you.

Comments

0 comments

Article is closed for comments.