Block – Classic Editors more information
At the moment, January 2023, the Classic editor is turned on by default. You can set the blog to use the block editor instead or set it up to have one or other as the default with the choice to switch. More details on the blocks page.
In the future WordPress will be transitioning to the Blocks Editor, we hope to transition to defaulting to the Blocks editor but suport the classic editor while we can.
Brief instructions to using the classic editor and the blocks editor follow.
Media Files more information
WordPress can store many types of media files, but whether they play in a visitor’s browser depends on the format and codec, not just the file extension.
A media file has two parts:
- Container (the file type, e.g.
.mp4,.mov,.m4a) - Codec (how the video or audio is compressed, e.g. H.264, H.265, AAC)
Browsers support different codecs. For example, a .mov file using the H.265 (HEVC) codec may play in Safari but fail in Chrome or Firefox. The file extension alone does not guarantee compatibility.
Similarly, audio files such as .m4a must contain a recognised audio codec (typically AAC or ALAC). If the codec is missing, unusual, or not declared correctly, WordPress may refuse the upload or browsers may not play it.
Best Practice
To make sure your media works on as many devices and browsers as possible:
- Video: Upload files saved as .mp4
- Audio: Upload files saved as .mp3 or .m4a
- Images: Upload .jpg, .png, or .webp
If a file will not upload or will not play:
- Try exporting or saving it again as .mp4 (for video) or .mp3 (for audio).
- If you recorded it on a phone and it doesn’t work, use your device’s “Share” → “Save as…” or “Export” option to create a more compatible version.
- If you downloaded it from somewhere else and it doesn’t work, the file may not be in a web-friendly format. Ask the person who created it for an .mp4 (video) or .mp3 (audio) version.
In general, if you stick to .mp4 for video and .mp3 for audio, you will avoid most problems.
Blocks
Video and audio are added by adding a Video and audio block.
Audio
Audio Block – Documentation – WordPress.org
Embed audio into a post. Audio can be uploaded to your media library or from an external source.
An audio file will included as an enclosure in the blogs RSS feed and can be consumed as a podcast.
There are very few setting for the audio block: Autoplay, Loop & preload, these can be set from the settings sidebar.
We more details on our blocks blog: audio block post.
Video
Video Block – Documentation – WordPress.org
For display video by upload or via a URL. Not used for Youtube, vimeo etc which need a embed block.
When you add media as a link, a URL is created and even when the media & link are removed from a page or post the URL still remains available if a user copied this – how can I remove the URL when a media is no longer to be available?
I have removed the link from the page and media from the library but a user had saved the URL for a document that is no longer to be available!!!
Any help appreciated, thanks.
Jo answered this one herself and let us know in an email.
it seems that once you remove media and link it takes a few days for the URL to stop working
We have been getting a message saying our storage quota has been reached. Is there anyway round this other than deleting media? We have only been using the class blogs and school blog since August and are already full 🙁
As always, any hints or tips would be appreciated.
Hi Pam,
Yes you can request more space through your LA, they need to contact the RM help desk. Make sure to include the blog URL.
There is more info here:
https://blogs.glowscotland.org.uk/glowblogs/glowbloghelp/portfolio/how-much-space-do-i-have-on-my-blog/
Longer term it may be worthwhile thinking about which images to display rather than uploading a large number. A few well chosen and captioned images may be of more interest that a huge gallery.
Great, thanks as always for your spot on help, John. I will get on the case! 👍🏻😁