Post by Eric Tracz on
Hi guys! Video uploads have entered a hardcore testing stage. Meaning, we're pretty much spending most of our time uploading videos, testing, fixing, improving, polishing. This is one of those features that does NOT KNOW what compromise means. There are 2 options, your server can either handle video uploads or it can't. That's it. The release is scheduled for about 2 weeks from now or so but right now I want to make sure you're all ready and so that there are no surprises. Video uploads are an advanced feature that comes with a number of strict technical requirements and limitations. Video conversion requires an external cron job, advanced PHP functions and a special library. It is also prone to consume a lot of server resources. A LOT OF SERVER RESOURCES. If you don't have the necessary level of understanding when it comes to the requirements listed below you must talk to your hosting. So, what's required? Powerful server As a rule of thumb, the video uploads and conversions will most likely not work in a shared server environment. Please make sure to be using a good VPS or a dedicated machine. FFmpeg This library is absolutely necessary in order for the video conversion to work. Ask your hosting provider about this library and the executable path. PHP: exec() & shell_exec() Make sure these two PHP functions are not blocked on your server. Your hosting provider should be able to give you all necessary information. If it is not possible to enable these functions on your server, the video uploads will not work. PHP: other settings Make sure that your server is able to receive big uploads. Ensure there are no configuration settings that prevent big files from being uploaded. PHP maximum execution time needs to be adjusted in order to accomodate bigger conversion jobs. PHP safe mode will most likely interfere with the conversion process. External cron job Video conversion is too intense for the WordPress cron and requires a scheduled worker (cron job) to be executed periodically by the server. We'll provide details on configuring it. Make sure you have your server ready. Check with your hosting on the above topics and when video uploads are released you'll be ready to go pretty much out of the box. FAQ: Q: Will video uploads work on shared hosting environments? A: Most likely not. Q: Why not? A: Because that's one of those features which requires a lot of processing power, bandwidth and server space. Q: Will you support shared hosting video uploads? A: No. NO. GOD NO. Q: Why? A: Because that's an ADVANCED feature not designed for cheap hosting Q: How much server resources? A: Depends on how many videos will be uploaded to your server, what format, how big will be the files, how many people will try to upload videos at the same time and a billion other factors. Q: Do I really need to have those thingies on the server? A: Yes. Q: What if I don't have the thingies? What if I wish really hard that video uploads work? A: Well, if you really, REALLY WANT IT and really, really wish... it won't make any difference, you need the thingies. Q: What about server space? Can we have Amazon S3 or other external videos hosting? A: We made sure that all uploaded videos go through the native and built-in WordPress media library, that means you can use whatever works with WordPress media library. Q: Really? A: Yea, really. Should you have any more questions, feel free to ask in the comments below! #Videos #VideoUploads #Server #GETREADY … Read more
