Youtube posts could be playlists.

January 2, 2007 3:10 PM

A suggestion for Youtube (music video) posts: playlists. [how-to inside]
posted by Eideteker to Etiquette/Policy at 3:10 PM (11 comments total)

If you're going to make a post comprised mainly (or entirely) of youtube links (esp. music videos), it would be kind of you to include a link to a playlist, so that interested readers can let it run in the background while doing other things. Creating a playlist on youtube is simple. It does require you to register, but if you spend that much time on youtube, you may actually also use some things like the favorites, subscription and history.

Videos listed in the "Related" box to the right of the video pane, including the selection "Now Playing", have a + sign in the lower left corner of the preview image. Clicking on that will add it to your "Quick List". As you view the videos you would like to put in your FPP, the Quick List will help you keep track. At the bottom of the Quick List pane is a series of three links: Manage | Save | Clear. Saving will either take you to a sign up page, or if you're registered and logged in, will prompt you to enter playlist info (title, description, etc.). Once this information is entered, you can proceed to Playlists (via the My Account link in the upper right if you get lost). There will be a link, once you select the playlist in question, that says "Play All". Simply copy this link location and put it in your FPP (at the end seems best). Theoretically, your fellow readers will appreciate it, and meanwhile, you will have a neat list of all the videos you meant to FPP.
posted by Eideteker at 3:10 PM on January 2, 2007

Some basic descriptive criteria for YouTube posts would be nice, especially since textual or graphical links are easy to glance at quickly in order to gauge interest, but video links are not, often requiring full attention for several minutes or more. I can't count how many YT posts I have passed over because the description has been too deliberately cryptic.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 3:15 PM on January 2, 2007

This would be a Good Thing.
posted by matthewr at 3:40 PM on January 2, 2007

I am pretty much a technopeasant but I sort of figured this out after seeing the playlist link in your comment on LinusMines's excellent P-Funk post and will include one if ever I post such again. I would have put one in before had I known that you could do such a thing.
posted by y2karl at 4:27 PM on January 2, 2007

Some basic cryptic criteria for text heavy posts would be nice, especially since pictures are easy to see. I can't count how many posts Blazecock Pileon has passed over, could be a number tho.
posted by econous at 4:37 PM on January 2, 2007

Yes, yes, I say! And hopefully, this thread will answere my question.
posted by soundofsuburbia at 4:45 PM on January 2, 2007

Point well-made and well-taken, Eideteker. I wish the idea had crossed my mind back when I first thought of the post, but I was overly focused on choosing the content.

One note worth mentioning...modifications apparently have to propagate across YT's servers, which makes creating and editing playlists a task without instant gratification. It took a combination of browser reloading and being occupied elsewhere before my playlist was finally in shape.
posted by LinusMines at 6:23 PM on January 2, 2007

So if I link to a playlist I've created, would that be considered a self-link?
posted by nebulawindphone at 8:13 PM on January 2, 2007

I really hate it when I middle-click on all the links in a post to open them in the background (which I do most of the time) only to find out that a bunch of them were youtube clips and now I have the blaring sound of half a dozen videos all overlapped on top of each other. So yeah, definitely do this in the future.
posted by Rhomboid at 12:30 AM on January 3, 2007

Rhomboid, use Flashblock, if you're using Firefox, and that will eliminate the blaring of multiple youtube clips.
posted by drill_here_fore_seismics at 3:44 PM on January 3, 2007

I do use flashblock, but I have whitelisted youtube.
posted by Rhomboid at 6:00 PM on January 3, 2007