Our SmartVideo plugin for WordPress has arrived!
Although SmartVideo has already been installed by users on countless WordPress sites, today, it’s easier than ever. WordPress users can now install and manage SmartVideo right from their WordPress dashboard.
No more messing around with JavaScript or your site’s header 🙌
What to expect when using the SmartVideo plugin
With SmartVideo, users can expect lower bounce rates and higher engagement, because the player loads without ad or tracking overhead and adapts bitrate mid-stream instead of stalling. Users can also expect reduced traffic leaks as site visitors are no longer pulled to YouTube by links within the video player.
This leads to more conversions, clients, bookings, or sales 💰
A quick walkthrough
After installing the plugin, WordPress users will encounter the Dashboard. On this page, users with a SmartVideo account can begin configuring the SmartVideo plugin. Those who do not have an account yet can sign up for a free trial.
Once a user has a SmartVideo account, they can set up SmartVideo on the Configuration page. All that is required to get up and running is your unique Swarm CDN Key.
On the Settings page, users are able to toggle SmartVideo on and off, as well as control a few options.
What happens next?
Once SmartVideo is enabled, SmartVideo will begin scanning the site for videos. Vimeo videos on the site are automatically converted to SmartVideo and displayed in a clean, fast-loading player, requiring no extra work on the user’s part. Auto-conversion from YouTube has been retired — YouTube’s download restrictions made the import method unreliable. Its replacement is the library import: you choose which videos to bring into your SmartVideo library.
When a page with a video loads for the first time, SmartVideo fetches that video, encodes it, and stores it on Swarmify’s network. Depending on the length and resolution of the video file, a video can take up to 30 minutes to convert to SmartVideo. After the conversion process is complete, the video is hosted on our global delivery network and served via our accelerated playback technology.
This means users can keep publishing Vimeo videos on their site, as SmartVideo will continuously look for new videos and convert them as visitors load the pages those videos sit on. Anything else comes across through the library import.
