WebSpawner.com Blog

Welcome back. In Part 1 of this series, the process of creating and activating a free YouTube.com account was discussed. Part 2 covered uploading a video from your computer to your YouTube account. Today, we detail the steps for adding your video to your WebSpawner website.

Open your web browser and go to http://www.youtube.com/, and log in with your selected User Name and Password. Near the top of the window, you will see a light blue bar labeled “My: Videos - Favorites - Playlists - Inbox”… click the ‘Videos’ link.

A list will appear of all videos in your account. Click the ‘Edit Video Info’ button under the video which you wish to add to your website. When the screen refreshes, scroll down past the ‘Video Details’ and ‘Date & Location Details’ sections to the ‘Sharing’ section. Near the bottom, look for the ‘Embed HTML’ box. The box will contain code similar to the following:

<object width=”425″ height=”350″><param name=”movie” value=”http://www.youtube.com/v/Oas_T4adSgY”></param><embed xsrc=”http://www.youtube.com/v/Oas_T4adSgY” mce_src=”http://www.youtube.com/v/Oas_T4adSgY” type=”application/x-shockwave-flash” width=”600″ height=”350″></embed></object>

Click inside the box, and select all of the HTML code within the box (use Control-A on Windows computers or Command-A on Macs), then copy that code (Control-C on Windows, or Command-C on Macs).

Open a new browser window (keep the YouTube window open in case you need it again) and log in to your WebSpawner account at http://www.webspawner.com/ with your Account Name and Password. Under Step 1 select the web page to which you would like to add your video and click the ‘Modify’ button under Step 2… or, if you have an Enhanced WebSpawner account, you can click the ‘Create’ button under Step 2 to add a new page to your website.

Scroll down through the Modification or Creation form to the ‘Body Text’ step and click inside the Body Text box, then paste (Control-V on Windows, or Command-V on Mac) the copied HTML code for your YouTube video. Complete the Modification process by clicking ‘Continue’ at the bottom of the form, and then click ‘I Like It’ at the page preview to save and publish your changes. After completing these steps, your website will display your embedded video file, just as our example video appears here:

With the instructions contained in this 3-part series, you can easily share your own original videos on your website for all to see.

If you do not have your own website yet, we invite you to create a free web page today with WebSpawner.com.

Yesterday in Part 1 of this series, the steps for creation and activation of a free YouTube account were discussed. Today, we will go over the process of uploading a video from your computer into your YouTube account for online sharing.

For the purposes of this article, we will assume that you already have your video file on your computer’s hard drive, as we do with our example video here.

YouTube recommends that the video be in MPEG4 (Divx or Xvid) format, at 320×240 resolution with a frame rate of 30 frames per second; however, some other sizes and formats may be used as YouTube automatically converts the uploaded video to an optimized size and format for viewing. Each uploaded video is limited to 10 minutes in length and 100MB in file size.

Note that YouTube prohibits the upload of copyrighted material for which you do not have ownership rights or permission from the owner to use; if you have questions see the YouTube Terms of Use.

If you are a Mac user, we recommend that you use the free Firefox browser to upload videos to your YouTube account, as it seems to be more compatible with YouTube than Apple’s Safari browser does.

To upload your video, log in to your YouTube account at http://www.youtube.com/ with your selected User Name and Password. Next, at the top of the window, click the ‘Upload Videos’ link.

In Step 1 of 2 of the upload process, you are prompted to provide information about the video file you will be uploading:

1. Enter a ‘Title’ for your video;
2. Enter a ‘Description’ of the video’s content;
3. Enter related keywords, separated by spaces, in the ‘Tags’ field;
4. Select a ‘Video Category’ from the list by clicking an appropriate button;
5. Finally, Select the ‘Language’ from the drop-down menu (the default is English).

For our example we are using a short video clip that we put together entitled “Create a FREE Web Page” so we will complete the Title, Description, and Tag fields with appropriate text which is relevant to our video clip.

When you have finished entering the information about your video, click the ‘Continue Uploading’ button.

In Step 2 of 2 click the ‘Browse’ button, and navigate to the location of the video file on your computer’s hard drive. Select the desired video file and click the ‘Open’ button. Under “Broadcast” select the Public option, which allows anyone to view your video. Then, click the ‘Upload Video’ button.

The video upload process can take several minutes, depending upon the size of the video file and speed of your internet connection. When complete, a message will appear stating “Video Upload Successful!” indicating that the video has been successfully transferred to your YouTube account.

If you wish to upload additional videos, simply repeat the process above for each video file.

Next time in Part 3 of this series, we will explain how to embed your video into your WebSpawner website in a few simple steps.

Did you know that you can quickly and easily add a video to your website… for FREE? Using YouTube and WebSpawner together, you can do it!

YouTube is a free and easy way to share your own videos through the World Wide Web. YouTube allows browsing and online viewing of millions of original videos submitted by members. With just a little know-how, you can take a video from your computer, post it online through YouTube, and then add it to your WebSpawner website.

Today’s post is the first in a three-part series in which we will walk you through the process of adding a video to your web site. We’ll focus today on setting up your YouTube account, while Part 2 will detail uploading a video from your computer to YouTube, and then Part 3 will cover embedding the video into your web site. Ready? Let’s get started.

Pop open a new browser window and go to http://www.youtube.com and click the Sign Up link at the top of the page.

The form will then prompt you for the following information:

1. Account Type - The ‘Standard’ option will work just fine for the needed functionality; however, if you are interested in the other account types see the Help Page for further details on those.

2. Email Address - You must provide a valid email address which you can access, as it will be used later to verify your account.

3. User Name - Enter a unique name, which you will use later to login to your account. Common names are likely already taken, so try combining number and letter characters here.

4. Password - Enter a password which will be easy for you to remember, yet difficult for others to guess. Longer passwords which use both numbers and letters are generally more secure than short ones or common words.

5. Confirm Password - Re-enter the password exactly as it was provided before.

6. Country - Select your country of residence from the drop-down menu.

7. Postal Code - For US, UK and Canada residents, enter your Zip or Postal Code.

8. Gender - Indicate your gender by selecting the ‘Male’ or ‘Female’ button.

9. Date of Birth - Provide your Month, Day, and Year of birth in the drop-down menus.

10. Verification Code - Enter the number and letter text you see in the small image to the right.

Click the ‘Sign Up’ button. By signing up with YouTube you must agree to the YouTube Terms of Use and Privacy Policy as provided on the site.

If your selected User Name has already been taken, you will be prompted to enter a new User Name, enter and confirm a Password, enter a new Verification Code, and click ‘Sign Up’ to complete the process.

When your unique User Name has been accepted, YouTube will send a confirmation email. Check your email to receive it, and click the ‘Confirm your email address link’ provided within. You should then see a YouTube window stating “Your email has been confirmed” and you will have successfully created your YouTube account.

Tomorrow, in Part 2 of this series, we’ll discuss uploading a video from your computer to your YouTube account.

In Part 1 of this series, the steps required to open and activate a PayPal account were detailed. In Part 2, we discussed adding a PayPal “Buy Now” button to your web site to sell an item. Now in Part 3, we will cover the use of PayPal’s Shopping Cart feature.

Using a PayPal Shopping Cart presents a number of conveniences to your site’s buyers as they can take time to look through your entire site while adding items to a virtual “shopping cart” as they wish. When buyers are finished selecting items to buy they can view the contents of their shopping cart and then checkout securely through PayPal, making a single payment to you for all the items purchased.

To add a PayPal Shopping Cart to your site, log in to your PayPal account at https://www.paypal.com/ with your Email Address and Password. Next, click the blue ‘Merchant Services’ tab near the top of the page. After the page has refreshed, go down to the ‘PayPal Website Payments Standard’ section and click the “PayPal Shopping Cart” link under the ‘Key Features’ list.

The next form prompts you to enter details for an item you wish to sell. Enter the Item Name; for example, “Blue Widget.” Next, enter the Item ID Number, if you have one. Then enter the Price of the item; for example, “$4.99.” If you are selling in a currency other than U.S. Dollars or wish to sell to buyers from a specific country, you can make those choices in the drop-down menus; otherwise, leave the defaults of “U.S. Dollars” and “United States” selected.

Next, under the section titled ‘Select an Add to Cart button’ you can keep the default “Add to Cart” button shown by clicking the small round button next to it, or you can click the “Choose a different button” link to see several other button styles, then select the small round button next to your desired style and then click the ‘Continue’ button. PayPal provides an option for you to use your own custom button image if you prefer, but many styles are already provided to choose from which will likely suit your needs.

If you need to add Sales Tax or Shipping Costs for your item, you can click the ‘Add More Options’ button and follow the instructions provided on the form. Otherwise, just click the ‘Create Button Now’ button.

The PayPal site will then provide your ‘Add to Cart Button’ code and ‘View Cart Button’ code. Begin with the ‘Add to Cart Button’ code. Click inside the box with the code, and select all of the code within the box (use Control-A on Windows computers or Command-A on Macs), then copy that code (Control-C on Windows, or Command-C on Macs).

Open a new browser window (keep the PayPal window open as you will need it again momentarily) and log in to your WebSpawner webpage account at http://www.webspawner.com/login.html . Select your desired web page and click the ‘Modify’ button; or to place your button on a new webpage click the ‘Create’ button instead. Scroll down to the ‘Body Text’ step and click in the box, then paste the copied code (Control-V on Windows, or Command-V on Mac). Also add a description of the item you are selling to the Body Text box.

Now return to the PayPal window (but keep your WebSpawner window open too) and get the ‘View Cart Button’ code. Click inside the box with the code, and select all of the code within the box, then copy that code.

Return to your WebSpawner window and paste the copied ‘View Cart Button’ code into the Body Text box, being careful to add it after the contents of the box without replacing the contents already there. Use the Image Upload step to add an image of your item if you wish. Be sure to complete the process by clicking ‘Continue’ at the bottom of the form, and then click ‘I Like It’ at the page preview to save and publish your changes. Your page will now contain two buttons: an ‘Add to Cart’ button to allow a visitor to select the described item for purchase, and a ‘View Cart’ button so the buyer can check the contents of the Shopping Cart.

Repeat the procedures above to create ‘Add to Cart’ buttons for each item you are selling and create a new web page in your WebSpawner account for each item. Add the ‘Add to Cart’ button code, item description, ‘View Cart’ button code and upload an image if you wish. The ‘View Cart’ button should be added to each page of your site to allow buyers to check the cart contents at any time.

Visitors of your site who click the ‘View Cart’ button will be taken to a secure PayPal page, where the Item Name, Number, and Price for all items added to the cart are displayed. The buyer will be able to ‘checkout’ and purchase your items securely online using his or her own PayPal account or major credit card. PayPal will send both you and the buyer an email message confirming the transferred payment, details of purchased items and the buyer’s shipping address, and you can safely ship the items to the buyer with the knowledge that PayPal has moved the funds for the purchased items into your account.

While these steps may seem a little lengthy, they are by no means difficult and will seem even easier with each time you go through the process. With just a little time and effort you can have a site with many pages offering all of your items for sale. Visitors to your site will appreciate the convenience of the Shopping Cart feature, and you may experience more sales as a result.

Keep in mind that PayPay provides a “Help” link at the top-right corner of the PayPal window, which you may use anytime to view frequently-asked questions and answers or to obtain personalized assistance from PayPal representatives if you have a specific question.

Best of luck with your online selling!