Here at The WebVideoZone, we take pride in providing useful tools and information that make it easy for anyone to quickly and easily put powerful, effective video online. And if you're interested in putting video on the web, you won't find a better solution than the Web Video Player™...

This is the place you come to if you're interested in using web video to show and tell the world what you have to offer - without having to squander time and money trying to sort through all of the confusing and overwhelming possibilities.

Although some members of our little community are video professionals, you don't need to be one yourself in order to benefit from this site, or to make web video work for you.

Let's start the tour with this quick overview of the WVZ and the Web Video Player™...

All members of The WebVideoZone have access to informative articles, helpful tutorials, and our private, moderated discussion forum, as well as the most versatile, powerful, and easy-to-use video player available:
The Web Video Player™.

We custom-built the Web Video Player™ from the ground up with exciting features and benefits, keeping the following requirements in mind. It needed to be:

1. Easy to use (for the web site owner and the viewers)
2. Powerful (lots of useful features)
3. Affordable (you don't need to spend alot to get alot)

We're excited with the results. And it's only going to get better.

Introduction to the Web Video Player™

With the customizable Web Video Player™, it's a breeze to add video to a web site or internet auction, and just as easy to edit/update the video player settings.

This is all done in your WVZ account's control panel. This is where you can:

• Create new players
• Change/add features to your players
• Delete players you don't use anymore
• Upload new video files to your web video hosting account
• Check your video player stats
• Grab the code for adding players to your web pages
• Create players your affiliates can add to their pages
• and more...

Three simple steps to get your videos online

1. Upload and Convert Your Video

In your account control panel, you use the WVZ video uploader and FLV converter to easily turn any existing video into the high-quality, fast-loading Flash 8 FLV video format. Web video hosting is included with all WVZ membership plans. You can choose to have us host your FLV video here, or you can even host it on your own server.

2. Customize Your Web Video Player

Using the Web Video Player Maker, you create a player "configuration" which saves all of the particular settings and options for this particular video. For example, you specify the:

• Player color
• Border color
• Start options
• End-of-movie options
• Video size
• Branding options
• Linking options
• and more... (see below)

3. Add Your Video to Your Site

Once you've created your player configuration, you're given a small piece of javascript to add to your web pages. You don't need to know anything about coding or javascript. Simply add the snippet to any web page where you want your video to appear, and you're done! Three simple steps, and your interactive video is live on the web.

Web Video Player™ - Basic Features

The Web Video Player™ is "minimalist" and uncluttered, containing only the most useful, easily understood controls:

• Pause/play button
• "Scrub bar" that can be dragged to fast-forward or rewind the video
• Mute button
• Volume control

Approximately 98% of all computer users have the Adobe/Macromedia Flash player installed on their computer. This is a major reason why we chose to develop the Web Video Player™ in Flash.

When loading on a web page, the Web Video Player™ automatically looks for a Flash 8 player (or newer) on the user's computer. If a newer player is required, a brief message is shown with directions for a fast and easy upgrade.

The video starts playing when the "play" button is pressed, or when the user clicks on the screen area. (Do you want your video to start playing as soon as the page is loaded? Most of the time, this probably isn't a good idea. But the Auto-Start option is there if you need it.)

You can set a buffer time and custom message that displays while the video is pre-loading (e.g., "Your video is loading..."). Buffering your video helps improve the playback quality for your viewers.

When the video is playing, the player displays the current time of the video, and the total running time. This is a useful feature, so your viewers will know how long the video will be.

A recent problem affecting most web video players has to do with a patent lawsuit Microsoft lost to Eolas Technologies. As a result, videos displayed in Microsoft's Internet Explorer web browser don't always work as they should, and usually require additional javascript code to correct the problem.

I'll spare you the gory technical details here. All you really need to know is that the javascript you'll use to add the Web Video Player™ to your web pages also contains the necessary code to fix this problem.

A closer look at the Web Video Player™

From within the control panel, you can check player stats for the past three months to see the:

• number of times the player was loaded
• number of times the video finished playing
• average playing time per video
• number of unique viewers who watched your video

You can also easily customize the look and features of your player...

• Make it blend in with the look and feel of your site by choosing any possible color for the player (you can select from a list of dozens of colors, or add your own).
• You can elect to have a border around your player. You specify the border size and color. A thin border creates a nice contrast between the player and your page's background color.
• Specify what you want your visitors to see in the player screen area before the video starts. This is the Intro Image. You can create your own, or choose to display the built-in "Click to Play" image.
• Take advantage of the Intro Text Message feature to display a short text message in the bottom of your player before the video starts. This can be used for showing the title of your video, your company/web site name, or other short bits of information.
• Make your videos interactive, or "brand" your video by including a Logo Image within the video screen area that displays while the video plays. For example, you can show a "buy now" button or "click for more information" graphic, that when clicked, takes the viewer to the page you specify (e.g., another web site, your shopping cart, etc.). Create your own images, or choose from among the dozens of custom-made graphics in our image gallery.

You have several options for what happens after your video is done playing. You can:

• Show a "Replay This Video" button
• Have the video loop back to the beginning, and continue playing
• Stop the player on last frame of the video
• Have the player pause on a clickable Exit Image which takes the the viewer to a page you specify when clicked
• Automatically re-direct the viewer to a new page

After the video is done playing, you can have an Exit Message display in the bottom of the player. Same as the Intro Message above, but displays at the end.

For new videos...

If you like the look and features of a current player configuration, there's no need to recreate it from scratch new ones. Simply hit the "copy configuration" button in your control panel, and the player is cloned, using the same settings. Just change the video file, add the code to your site, and your new cloned player is ready to go.

The Player That Pays You...

The Web Video Player™ includes a small WebVideonZone logo button at the bottom of the player. When clicked, it takes the visitor to WebVideoZone.com.

In the Player Maker, you can choose to insert your unique WVZ affiliate ID (if you join our affiliate program), turning this button into an affiliate link for you. You'll get paid a commission for any new members, per the terms of our affiliate agreement.

Premium Options

The following player options are only available to silver or gold members:

• Custom Player Logo - The ability to turn off the WVZ logo button link, and replace it with another clickable logo or text message
• "Tell-a-friend" button - When clicked, a small form pops up allowing viewers to send an email message recommending the video to a friend.
• "Add This Video to Your Site" button - When clicked, a small window pops up with instructions for adding the video to the user's web site.
• Video Affiliate Marketing System - If you have an affiliate program, you can invite your affiliates to add your video to their web sites, and get paid for it. The affiliates are able to insert their affiliate ID code into the javascript code you provide them, giving them credit for any clicks coming from the video player on their site.

The Web Video Player™ - Summary

Remember, all changes are made with easy, one-click editing in your account's control panel when you are logged into WebVideoZone.com.

Once you've updated a configuration (e.g., you change the Intro Image), your player is instantly and automatically updated on every web page on which it appears. You never have to touch the web page code to update your player.

You can add a player to as a many web pages as you want, and create as many players as you'd like (per the terms of your membership package).

We're excited about the Web Video Player™, and all it can do. We invite you to give it a risk-free trial run today. Please let us know if you have any comments or suggestions that can help us make it even better for you.

[For more information, please be sure to review the tutorial, How to Use the Web Video Player™ Maker.]