Can I play an audio or video file directly on my site?

Yes. You can play an audio or video file directly from a page in your site.  This requires inserting HTML code which embeds a media player into your page. There are two primary parts to this process:  encoding and installing (embedding).

Your file must first be encoded in a web-compatible format such as flv, wmv, mpeg, mp3. 

 

If your file is currently on a CD, you can insert the CD into your computer's optical drive and then use Windows Media Player or iTunes to "rip" the file onto your computer's hard drive in virtually any format including mp3 (see help information in these programs for instructions).

 

If your file is currently on a DVD, you can insert the DVD into your computer's optical drive and then use a special program (see list below for examples) to encode the file in the desired format.

There are a variety of web-based media players and file types.  The most common is Flash since the plug-in to play Flash files has the largest installation base across both PCs and Macs.  Others, such as Windows Media and Quicktime will have more incompatibilities since fewer users as a whole group have the software needed to operate them already installed and up-to-date.

 

Here are a couple of resources to use for embedding audio and/or video in your page:

Once you have the HTML code for the media player, you will simply copy and paste it into your page by clicking the Source button  on the editor toolbar to see the code view of your page.  It is easiest to paste the code at the very top or bottom of the page if you are unfamiliar with HTML, then click the Source button again to return to the WYSIWYG view of the page and move the media player around just like you would click, drag, and drop an image.

 

Alternatively, you can create a link to your audio/video file from your page which will cause the file to play in the default media player of the viewer's computer when it is clicked.