Written by Jackson West
Posted Wednesday, January 23, 2008 at 10:30 AM PT

 

WordPress.com Now a Video Publishing Tool

In addition to receiving a generous new round of venture capital, Automattic, the company behind WordPress.com (and the backend provider for NewTeeVee and the rest of the GigaOM network), has announced a storage upgrade for users. Combined with the beta video player, server-side transcoding and a new Flash-based uploading interface due to be released shortly, this makes the $20-a-year WordPress.com pro account a simple, turnkey solution for videoblog and podcast publishing.

Pro users will be able to store up to 8GB of media, and as Automattic founder Matt Mullenweg told me in a phone conversation, can be assured that the storage will be reliably archived. One potential problem is that uploads are limited to 70MB, which means individual videos will be limited to about 15 minutes — presumably to reduce technical and copyright violation complications.

What WordPress.com still doesn’t do is produce iTunes-compatible RSS feeds — for that, users will still have to run their feed through FeedBurner or similar services (it does produce mRSS feeds suitable for Miro). And free accounts, though also getting a space upgrade to 3GB, will still be limited to image and document uploads. Still, as Podcasting News noted, the price point is significantly less than other host-blogging platforms.

WordPress, the free, open-source software, has long been one of the top choices of videobloggers who choose to host their own sites and video. It’s extensibility has led to a number of video-specific add-ons and plugins, such as Show in a Box and PodPress. WordPress.com has focused on limited features but maximal ease-of-use, something my usability engineer of a mother would appreciate as a democratizing factor.

As a free account user myself, I generally host my video on the more feature-rich blip.tv and then embed clips in my WordPress blog. But I often get asked for advice (and just as often offer it, unsolicited) as to where and how to publish video, so for those of you looking to get started with a videoblog but who don’t have much technical expertise, this is an interesting new option.

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Comments & Trackbacks

  1. Interesting news, Jackson, thanks! I kinda wonder what good blog-hosted media does. Marketing one’s site/show is hard enough in social network-based media sites (like YouTube), I wonder who’s going to pay extra to get a package like that when it seems like it’d be a disadvantage and they can get better services from, say, Blip.tv for free.

    Mark Schoneveld on January 23rd, 2008 at 11:29 am - Permalink

  2. check out http://www.compressmyvideos.com

    HWA on January 23rd, 2008 at 11:52 am - Permalink

  3. I’d say this is yet-another simple solution. I’d still recommend Blip for more fully-formed shows, and something like Seesmic for people who just want to send video messages to their friends. This would fall somewhere in between, and would probably fit best with someone who both writes and posts audio and/or video — as it wouldn’t require a separate account on Blip or YouTube to post.

    If starting a “show” as a business, I’d probably want my own domain, and would go with a regular WP install with Show in a Box or another video-focused set of tools, with hosting provided by Blip or even the Internet Archive. Ultimately, I’d recommend hosting one’s own video for all sorts of reasons, most of which involve being free from another site’s terms of use.

    Jackson West on January 23rd, 2008 at 1:22 pm - Permalink

  4. If you host your own WordPress installation, you may want to check out the Revver Video WordPress Plugin – which includes video responses, user account management, direct uploads from your blog, automatic playlist creation, and of course video monetization. It’s very full featured yet really easy to use.

    We’ve been getting some great feedback on it, but if you have any other suggestions or recommendations, just drop me a line at asi at revver com and we’ll do our best to get your feedback implemented.

    Asi Behar
    VP, Software Engineering – Revver

    Asi on January 23rd, 2008 at 2:30 pm - Permalink

  5. [...] Read more… [...]

    KUT-FU on January 23rd, 2008 at 8:11 pm - Permalink

  6. [...] his post today: In addition to receiving a generous new round of venture capital, Automattic, the company behind [...]

    SWEET! WordPress.com Now a Video Publishing Tool « Movin’ Ahead on January 23rd, 2008 at 10:17 pm - Permalink

  7. This seems a little backwards.
    Why would I not want my video on YouTube and other video sites so it can be found there and not just on my Blog. And if thats the case what is the advantage of using the wordpress one?

    James

    James Gardiner on January 23rd, 2008 at 11:35 pm - Permalink

  8. Technology is changing rapidly and the evolution of Internet and Live Streaming has just squeezed all the TV channels into one site. Check the link for Details

    Online TV Directory

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    I am sure you would like it.

    Pakipics on January 29th, 2008 at 8:35 am - Permalink

  9. good question James.
    Its smart to just use Youtube is you assume that Youtube will always be THE video site. This is like assuming you can just have a Facebook page, and not your own blog.

    Eventually, everything changes, and it’s nice to create your own place on the web that you control. Host your videos where ever you want, be everywhere, but the long view says make your own blog.

    jay dedman on February 4th, 2008 at 4:29 am - Permalink

  10. Thank You Very Much man …..

    www.aharrouy.info on February 4th, 2008 at 2:15 pm - Permalink

  11. Thank You very much ….

    www.paroles-clips.com on February 5th, 2008 at 5:03 am - Permalink

  12. I have been a frequent visitor of this blog for some time now, so I thought it would be a good idea to leave you with my thanks.

    Regards,
    Jim Mirkalami

    Jim Mirkalami on February 6th, 2008 at 3:09 pm - Permalink

  13. [...] WordPress.com Now a Video Publishing Tool. Nice upgrade for WordPress.com’s pro customers and more evidence that publishing just gets easier and easier. [...]

    Notes from a Teacher: Mark on Media » Thursday squibs on February 6th, 2008 at 7:21 pm - Permalink

  14. Interesting. There are some good ideass presented here. I need to do spend some time reading more about these topics.

    Doug Steele on February 17th, 2008 at 6:50 pm - Permalink

  15. Dear,

    Thanks for Valuble News

    Yunus on February 22nd, 2008 at 8:41 am - Permalink

  16. Interesting. There are some good ideass presented here. I need to do spend some time reading more about these topics.

    Chicago Plumber on February 25th, 2008 at 8:05 pm - Permalink

  17. I like your blog theme. I want to use it on my blog.
    Can you please tell me from where I can download these theme?

    Many thanks

    Dan owner of the future gadgets blog future gadgets and inventions

    Dan (future gadgets blog) on February 29th, 2008 at 6:40 am - Permalink

  18. http://www.nachatmix.net Cinema Enligne

    Thanks you Very ……….

    www.nachatmix.net on April 18th, 2008 at 10:51 am - Permalink

  19. Thanks for the info Jackson!

    moguling on May 5th, 2008 at 1:02 pm - Permalink

  20. Thanks for the info Jackson!

    hosting on May 6th, 2008 at 11:08 pm - Permalink

  21. Is it possible you could blog about TV Links

    Rhys on May 17th, 2008 at 10:59 am - Permalink

  22. thank you http://www.frmedya.com

    www.frmedya.com on May 18th, 2008 at 2:41 am - Permalink

  23. Congratulations! you’ve done very good work in your blog .. It is very useful and intersting.

    cesar on July 29th, 2008 at 10:13 am - Permalink

  24. Thanks you have no idea how much this helps us absolute beginners (Ok I’ll speak for myself) and yes my name is Mrs Palm Reader! (well nickname anyway).

    Mrs Palm Reader on August 29th, 2008 at 9:36 am - Permalink

  25. I will be setting up a travel related blog and this is the perfect way to present the videos

    ovwatch on September 2nd, 2008 at 1:31 pm - Permalink

  26. Thanks for sharing , useful information. 287

    the new empire on October 11th, 2008 at 11:12 am - Permalink

  27. all ready read.

    notebook on November 8th, 2008 at 5:46 am - Permalink

  28. who choose to host their own sites and video. has focused on limited features for that, users will still have to run their feed through installation, you may want to check out

    lottodash on December 20th, 2008 at 6:39 pm - Permalink

  29. Thanks for the info Jackson!

    Tadukau on January 6th, 2009 at 3:42 pm - Permalink

  30. Invite to all.. Come join our free networking community. Business, dating, friendship and just getting your information out to the largest community. Come have fun at the best online community.
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    Crissy on January 15th, 2009 at 7:27 am - Permalink

  31. Great artical Jackson!

    kattie

    xx

    Snickers Trousers on February 12th, 2009 at 8:26 am - Permalink

  32. güzel bir sistem.

    Örnek CV on March 14th, 2009 at 11:50 am - Permalink

  33. I agree with a commenter here. Technology is really changing a lot. I mean few years back it was a dream for a business company to add some business videos on the website. But now look at the PropaTube like websites, which as a huge collection of business videos, hotel videos and how to videos.

    business videos on May 3rd, 2009 at 11:28 pm - Permalink

  34. good plugin.Thanks for this…

    Haydar Dümen on May 4th, 2009 at 9:40 am - Permalink

  35. good plugin.Thanks for this

    HP Notebook on May 22nd, 2009 at 5:07 am - Permalink

  36. Good plugin i use this plugin.

    Haydar Dümen on June 28th, 2009 at 5:23 am - Permalink

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