YouTube and Vimeo videos

A video card can point to a video hosted on YouTube or Vimeo instead of a video uploaded into Beedeez. The learner watches it inside the capsule, in the host’s own player. This choice changes what the learner can do offline, what the statistics record and which options remain available on the card, so it is worth making deliberately.

Add a video link to a card

1. Open the capsule in the editor, then select a Video card or create one with Add a card.
2. In the Content video block, under Original video, click Add a video. The Insert a video window opens.
3. Open the Add via URL tab.
4. Paste the link into the URL field, which prompts you to “Copy/paste the link to your video”.
5. Click Add a video. The window closes and the video appears in the card.

The Add via URL tab appears only when this window is opened for a video. Its other tabs accept files you upload or files already stored in the Media library, not links. To embed a page that is not a video, use the Web content block described in Embedding a web page or web tool.

Which links are recognised

You never choose between YouTube and Vimeo. The platform is deduced from the shape of the link.

For YouTube, these forms are recognised: the address shown in the browser address bar (youtube.com/watch?v=...), the short link (youtu.be/...), the embed link (youtube.com/embed/...), a Short (youtube.com/shorts/...) and the mobile address (m.youtube.com/...). Anything added after the video identifier is dropped, including a timestamp (&t=42s), a playlist (&list=...) and the share suffix (?si=...).

These YouTube forms are not recognised: a playlist link (youtube.com/playlist?list=...), a channel link, a live stream link (youtube.com/live/...) and a link in which v= is not the first parameter, such as youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=....

For Vimeo, use the ordinary video address (vimeo.com/123456789) or the player address (player.vimeo.com/video/123456789). A showcase, album or event address does not identify a single video and is not recognised.

⚠️ An unrecognised link is accepted without any error message. The field runs no validity check, so the link is saved as typed and the learner opens an empty card. Check the preview displayed in the editor after adding the link.

💡 Tip: open the video in a browser and copy the address bar, or use the share button of the platform. These two forms are the ones the editor recognises.

What the learner sees

The video plays inside the capsule, in the YouTube or Vimeo player, with the controls and the fullscreen mode of that player. Playback stays inside Beedeez on the web application and on the mobile application: the learner is not sent to the YouTube app or to a browser.

Autoplay follows the setting defined for your account. It does not apply when the learner opens the capsule in Safari on a mobile device.

Private, unlisted and restricted videos

On YouTube, an unlisted video plays. A private video does not, and neither does a video whose embedding is disabled or restricted to a given domain.

On Vimeo, use a video that is publicly viewable. A private link that carries a token, in the form vimeo.com/123456789/abcdef, is accepted when you paste it, but only the video identifier is kept, so the player is called without the token and the learner sees nothing.

In both cases Beedeez displays no message of its own. The card shows a black frame, in which the host may display its own refusal, in its own language. When the player does not load at all, the frame stays black and empty.

⚠️ A video that cannot play blocks a card that requires full viewing. When the option Learners must watch the entire video when first viewing is enabled, the Continue button is unlocked by the end of the video. If the video never plays, that signal never arrives and the learner cannot move on.

Offline mode

Downloading a capsule keeps the files uploaded into Beedeez. A video hosted on YouTube or Vimeo is not included, and the learner is not warned before opening the card. On the mobile application the player itself is loaded from the network, so nothing is displayed without a connection. A video uploaded into Beedeez travels with the capsule and plays offline. See Offline mode.

What a hosted video does not provide

Viewing is not measured. No percentage watched and no playback duration is reported. The player reports one single event, the video reaching its end, and that event is used by the Learners must watch the entire video when first viewing option.

A capsule counts as completed when the learner has been through all its cards, not when the video has been watched. So these columns are fed by a capsule built around a hosted video: Number of attempts, Learners who started, Learners who completed, Penetration rate, Completion rate, Total time spent and Average time spent. These columns stay at zero as long as the capsule contains no scored activity: Success rate, Number of successful attempts and Learners who succeeded. The columns are described in Content statistics.

Subtitles are not displayed by Beedeez on a hosted video. Subtitles are read from the video files stored in Beedeez, so a YouTube or Vimeo video only shows the captions offered by its own player.

The video is not added to the media library, so it carries none of the information attached to a stored media, and it cannot be reused from the library in another capsule.

A SCORM export carries the uploaded videos only. In the exported package, a hosted video still requires a network connection and access to the host.

Points to check before choosing a link

⚠️ The player sets the cookies of its host. It is loaded from youtube.com or from player.vimeo.com, and Beedeez adds no consent step before that call. If your policy requires one, the decision belongs to your organisation.

⚠️ Network access is not guaranteed. YouTube is blocked on many corporate networks and on managed devices. Test the capsule from a device and a network representative of your learners.

⚠️ The video can change without notice. YouTube may play an advertisement before your content, and a video that is deleted or made private breaks the card silently. Check the cards that rely on a hosted video periodically.

For mandatory content, regulated content or teams with poor connectivity, upload the video into Beedeez. A link is suited to supporting material, an illustration or a piece of news. To know whether the content was understood, add a scored activity to the capsule.

Going further

• The media library: the other route, the uploaded file, its formats and its size limit.
• Offline mode: what the learner takes along, and what they cannot.
• Content statistics: where to read the columns listed above.
• Embedding a web page or web tool: the neighbouring block, for anything that is not a video.