Video Player Block Pro

Video Player Block Pro extends the Gutenberg Video Player block for pages built around individual videos and collections. The player supports YouTube, Vimeo, and self-hosted HTML5 video in MP4, WebM, and OGG formats, with responsive layouts for desktop, tablet, and mobile. Pro adds player engines, streaming and external sources, and blocks for various video presentations.

Player engines and controls

Choose a React Video Player Engine built with React and Media Chrome, Video.js player layouts designed for broad compatibility, or the Vidstack player engine, which focuses on performance.

Player controls include playback, volume, fullscreen, seeking, rewind, fast-forward, restart, downloads, Picture-in-Picture, and AirPlay. Set autoplay or mute behavior, and choose a poster picture from the WordPress media library. Playback options include VTT subtitle tracks and speed settings from 0.5x to 2.0x.

Presentation settings include 16:9, 4:3, and 21:9 aspect ratios or custom dimensions, glass-style control backdrops, shadows, and border styles. Lazy loading and preloading options control when video loads, and Google Cast supports playback on Chromecast-enabled TVs.

Blocks for video collections and layouts

• Video Gallery: Arrange videos in grid, masonry, carousel, or bento layouts, with category filters and an integrated lightbox player.
• Video Playlist: Pair a player with a clickable episode queue, chapters, automatic advance, and watched-state persistence for sequential viewing.
• Video Lightbox: Open a supported video in a responsive modal from a thumbnail, button, or play-icon overlay. Player assets load when a user chooses to play.
• Video Reels: Show a vertical, swipe-driven short-form video feed on a post, page, or template.
• Video Comparison: Use a draggable before-and-after slider that synchronizes two videos playing side by side.
• Video Testimonial Card: Pair a customer photo and attributed quote with a star rating and an inline video clip.
• Video Transcript: Display a synchronized, clickable transcript so viewers can jump to a moment and search engines can index the spoken content.

Streaming and external sources

For streaming processes, Pro supports HLS (.m3u8) and DASH (.mpd), along with Mux video integration. External sources include Amazon S3, DigitalOcean Spaces, and BunnyCDN, so videos can use those services instead of relying only on files in the WordPress media library.

Adding a player

Install and activate the plugin, then open a post, page, or template in the Gutenberg editor. Insert the Video Player block, choose a source and player presentation, and adjust its controls and behavior. Select a gallery or playlist for multiple videos, a lightbox for a click-to-play trigger, or Reels for a vertical feed.

A shortcode generator can make players for classic content, widgets, or page builders that support shortcodes. Use [video_player id="123"], replacing 123 with the ID of the Video Player post created through the Video Player custom post type menu. Multiple players can be added throughout a website.