The issue of recurring links has been resolved and those links are now correctly appearing in the video front-end. We've attempted to resolve all issues with preexisting links, but if any remain, follow these steps in the admin interface:
1. Open the related text link for editing
2. Set the Repeating/Timed drop-down to 'Timed', then change it back to 'Repeating'
3. Save the changes.
Support for pre-roll exemption is now live in both the embeddable and pop-up players. This is on a segment by segment basis, so you'll see a 'Skip Preroll' field in the segment level of the admin. Select that field to exempt pre-roll for all pop-up and embeddable instances of that segment.
We've recognized the video text links set as 'Repeating' aren't appearing in the front-end of the video player. This will be modified with the roll-out of a few player changes around mid-October. I'll keep you updated on the fix, but in the interim, we'd suggest producers add the text and URL of the links as usual, with the following changes: -- Set links as 'Timed' -- Enter start times for each link. Times should be entered in the following format: 00:15, 00:45, 01:15, etc. Those intervals are just an example, but timed links appear in the player for 15 seconds. Please contact me if you have any questions.
Colorado State of MindDiscussion on end-of-life care and the health care reform: http://www.rmpbs.org/content/index.cfm/program/13117-734
FRONTLINESick Around America http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/sickaroundamericaSick Around the World http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/sickaroundtheworldLouisiana: The State We're InAn interview with Congressman Bill Cassidy on what the health reform should include New Hampshire OutlookWith experts from AARP-NH, the NH Business & Industry Association and the New Hampshire Center for Public Policy Research, analysis on details of the proposed reform. The NewsHour Numerous reports aggregated on Rx for ReformNightly Business Report Numerous reports aggregated on Bill of HealthSearch for Health Care in the Search Related Video box.
FRONTLINEExcerpts from Inside the Meltdown & Breaking the Bank: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/story/2009/09/the-week-that-changed-everythi.htmlThe NewsHourA Paul Solman report on Lehman Brothers under the leadership of Richard Fuld. With experts and economists, a discussion about the future of financial reform. The Business Desk, contributions from economists, financial journalists, and others on the origins and impact of the financial crisis: http://www.pbs.org/newshour/businessdesk/2009/09/a-year-after-lehman-lessons-le.htmlNightly Business ReportLessons from Lehman: http://www.pbs.org/nbr/site/features/special/lessons_from_lehman/Among other reports an interview with Larry Summers on where the economy is one year after the crisis For these and other related video, search for Lehman in the Search Related Video box.
There's been a bit of confusion around what video embed code should be used where. Below are a few guidelines and details on the differences between the two ways to embed video from the player. Because there are limitations to the code found in the player's 'Embed/Share' function, we recommend all stations use the admin to find code. There are two ways to share and distribute code for embeddable video:
I. Video FinderThe main way to find and distribute code for embeddable video is through the Video Finder function in the video admin. This is currently accessed by all national and local producers in the player - and admin log-in information can be given to any local station. Through the video finder, you can pull link or embed code for packages and segments in the player. All local stations should use this method for finding code and embedding video. A few details on this method: -- To access the video finder, you must have a login to the admin -- With this code, you need to include this line of code between the <head></head> tags of the page: <script language="javascript" type="text/javascript" src="http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/js/pap/core.js"></script> -- You can pull code for either the small or large versions of the players -- This code is also customizable - size, play button color, etc. II. Third Party Site VersionThere is also a slightly different version of the embeddable player, specifically built for use on third-party sites. The code for this player can be found in the 'Share' function of the player itself - and is intended for external users, blogs and other non-PBS sites. Here's an example of this player. There are a few limitations to this code: -- Only one embed per page -- Little flexibility with customization of player - size, play button color, etc. Details on this embed version: -- This third-party site version only requires one chunk of code. -- The javascript used for third-party sites now detects the width of the element it is in and automatically resizes the player accordingly. -- As it is intended for third-party site use, the embeddable player will include a 50x50 thumbnail of the brand and a PBS logo. -- You can add a message at the top of the player by entering that text into the "Tune-in Information" in the Brand/Underwriting settings of the admin.
At long last, we've moved the player documentation to MovableType. For updated documentation - admin, implementation, etc - have a look here: http://admin.entropymedia.com/docs/Feel free to email if you have any questions - mwilson@entropymedia.com
This just came up - and I really only just had and executed the idea this morning - but there was a need for a way to get search results out of the system to display on search pages of a site, etc. Up until now this was tough because of some restrictions; browser security prevents javascript from requesting data from any other server - there are workarounds but they all kinda stink. Anyway I did a hack in flash so now you can do this without any security worries. It's in core.js already - use the _pap_search function and use the following arguments:
callback function: a function that will render the results, needs to take an array as an argument. search string: the actual search string brandid: your brand's id code number (or 0 for all) search by date: a boolean - if true it will sort results by date, otherwise relevant
and it returns an array of objects, each with the following variables:
title: the title description: the description idcode: the full player id code for this clip or package thumbnail: thumbnail url if applicable packagetitle: package title (if it's a package) len: length (if it's a segment)
Just one maintenance thing that was annoying me and a bit of a feature change with the publicly embeddable player introduced by popular demand:
- XML generation changes - up until now every file regenerated every 15 minutes. We now only generate things that have changed since the last update. Why does this matter? Because we've been having continuous FTP problems sending our XML files to pbs.org and cutting the number of files increases the likelyhood of a successful transfer. You should start seeing improvements in update times starting today and we're monitoring things closely to ensure that we don't see the delays in updating that have happened as of late.
- Automatic sizing of the embeddable player - by popular and repeated demand the embed.js code that we use for third-party sites now detects the width of the element it's in and resizes the player accordingly - so no more one size fits all strategy. Thanks to Erika from WPT for helping us test this new code.
President Obama sat down with Jim Lehrer for an exclusive interview at Camp Lejeune to discuss the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan - the full interview will air tonight. However, there are two excerpts available nowYou can always find code in the video finder. A few options: Code to link to the package: <a href="javascript:void(0)" onclick="_pap_spawn('news01p79e')">link text here</a> Code to embed the package: <script type="text/javascript"><!--//--><![CDATA[//><!-- _pap_embeddable_43('news01p79e'); //--><!]]></script> The full interview will be available around 8:30 EST tonight. Link and embed code can be found in the video finder.
It's been a while but there are a lot of things afoot with the embeddable player and the system in general. Development has been pretty quick but there's one hitch - the embeddable player is now more advanced than the pop-up player...it'll be a few weeks before the new version of the larger player arrives. Here are the headlines - I'll be doing more detailed posts on a few of them because there's a lot to cover:
- Package support - The embeddable player now supports chapters in two different modes - full programs and a group of different videos. (more about this »)
- An externally embeddable player - if you check the box marked "embeddable" in the admin people can now embed your video on their sites. The code is very simple - it's literally just a javascript call with an ID code on the end of it. (more about this »)
- Password-protected packages - If you enter a password in the password field of a package users will be prompted for it before they can watch anything in that package. (more about this »)
- Pre-roll support - The same pre-roll options available in the larger player are now available in this player too.
- _pap_embeddable() combined embedding call - There are so many options in this thing that we ended up with 10 lines setting options before the actual embed call itself. I added a simplified call that allows you to pass size and all the variables you want (except for js callbacks) into one line of code. We continue to support all the old methods as well. (more about this »)
- Captioning support - If you set _pap_captions to true the player will add 40 pixels of height to whatever size you picked and will give you a pane for captions.
- Enhanced downscaling - if the player is smaller than the recommended size (514x320 or 482x392) - which I continue to not recommend to use if you're designing from scratch, btw - smoothing is enabled which helps a fair amount with the otherwise pretty horrid flash video rendering/downscaling performance. The downside of smoothing is a reduction in frame rate...although so far not noticeable in any testing we've done.
- Volume saving - This is a small thing but volume levels are now preserved across sessions using a flash shared object.
- Javascript API - the existing calls have been joined by calls that allow you to pause/play the video, get more information about the current clip and get notification when a new clip is playing. (more about this »)
- History support - this is off by default (click through to learn why) but when enabled it keeps track of the last few things the viewer has watched in the system so that you can go back a few clips. It keeps track of how long you've watched and tries to get you back to where you left off (which will be a lot easier when we have a streaming server.) Set _pap_recenton to true to see it. (more about this »)
- Simplification of controls - there are now tooltips for all controls.
- Related links changes - they now show up as a pop-up at the bottom of the video (or the top in full-screen mode) as a result of user feedback.
- Arrow on it's own now - the arrow used to be part of a larger black area, now it's in the middle of the screen.
Anyway, here's a quick example of the new player with chapters, captions and recenton enabled...and for a taste of what you can do with the js have a look at this.
This is another feature many asked for and was technically easy...political and legal concerns were in the way... but a lot of those concerns were specific to FRONTLINE and we wanted to open up the possibility for others to do it and also use it ourselves for promotional videos. You should definitely check into whether you have rights to do this sort of thing before you turn it on - we bear no responsibility for such things. Here are the bullet points:
- You can enabled embedding in the admin by package - it's the little checkbox that says "embeddable?"
- The URLs - are simple. They look like this: <script type="text/javascript" src="http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/js/pap/embed.js?frol02o54f"></script> - just the embed.js, a ? and the id. if your video is 4x3 instead of our default of 16x9 add a &4x3 to the end of that url. These URLs are available in the embeddable player now in the share area - when embedding is enabled there's a url to copy and paste to your blog/site/whatever. There's also a partner.js that acts the same way but I'll get into that more in February when we talk about the partner version of the player that also supports tags.
- Security - the only thing preventing people from figuring out that they can just put any ID code they want on there is that you have to enable embeddability for the clips - if you just put random ID codes in there and the clips aren't authorized for embedding they'll get a message saying the clips aren't available for this purpose. The good bit here is that if you need to pull clips later for whatever reason you can.
- It looks slightly different than the player on your site - there's a logo and a p-head by default, it doesn't support all the JS features and if you've entered "tune-in" information in the brand/underwriting settings of the admin you can put a message at the top of the player...keep in mind it takes about half an hour for that information to update in the system after you enter it. We'll be adding a link in there soon as well.
And here it is:
This was a long-awaited feature. There are three modes:
- Package mode (default) - if you give it an ID code of a package straight out of the system - frol02p20f for example - it will start on chapter one and when that chapter is done the player will stop...but you can still select other chapters and watch those. This is best for things like the NewsHour or other groupings of video.
- Full program mode - if you change the p in the ID code listed above to an o - frol02o20f - the player will treat the package as a full program. The information window that slides in from the bottom will start with the package title instead of the name of the segment, the second line will have a segment/chapter number and the name of the segment and the timecodes on the lower right will correspond to your position in the package as a whole. This is best for things, well, like FRONTLINE or POV - chapterised full films.
- Chapter mode - this is a subset of full program mode - if you wanted to start at chapter 2 of the above full program the ID code in the system is frol02sa1bq20f. change that s to a c - so frol02ca1bq20f - and the player will go into chapter mode but start at chapter 2 instead.
There's one caveat here: the chapter selection is only supported if you're using the native resolution of the player, not anything smaller than 482 pixels wide. The reason is fairly straightforward - the chapter pop-up is packing a lot of stuff in there (title, thumbnail, description and length) and to resize that dynamically for smaller instances would probably end up dominating the screen. I'll spare you my rant against small players but there's only so much I can do on that front, sorry.
The way this works is that everything you watch in either player saves to a flash shared object on your computer - the title, thumbnail, time you watched and how much you watched are all regularly updated in an array that flash saves for you. This never goes to the server - it's all local (like a web browser's cookie but bigger) and very common in the industry. Because it never touches the server it's unlikely to tangle with anyone's privacy policy either. Anyhow this recent function is sort of useful now, but three things will make it more useful and until those things change we're not enabling it on FRONTLINE's site - you're welcome to enable it on yours though, it works fine:
- Streaming server - Some of you have them, we don't. When we do the taking you back to where left off will be a lot more precise - in full shows at the moment it'll take you to the chapter you left off at but the real power of this feature will be for people to come back and finish watching things, something our focus groups seem to be keen on.
- "Favorites" - this technology kinda came about as I was working on the favorites/playlisting features where people will be able to save video they like and eventually share that playlist with others (including on facebook, etc.) I just haven't had time to finish that so that'll come in next month - it's not that these features require each other or anything, I just think they make more sense going out together.
- It's only in the embeddable player - as I've mentioned elsewhere there's some further development to be done in the pop-up player where most of our viewing is done. Until it's in both it would be weird to have it just here - and also the pop-up player is more about browsing around video, the embedded player is much more geared to simpler applications: a single video, a package, etc.
FRONTLINE is using this feature for pre-broadcast screening for critics to cut down on DVD costs. This is fairly self-explanatory - you put a password on the package in the admin system and then the system requires a password from users - but there are a few things to note:
- Passwords are plain-text - this is not any sort of high-end encryption or anything, so if you're trying to put up truly confidential things this is not the way to do it. It's a POST operation, that's as encrypted as we get.
- The server won't pass any data without the password - so the call for video won't result in any response if the password isn't sent along with the request. So it's a little secure, I guess.
- This is only on the embeddable player - this isn't going to be the case forever, but if you go to a password-protected package in the pop-up player you'll just get a black screen. I would say in early February a new version of that player will add password support.
This is the first of what will likely be a tedious series of posts explaining some of the new features in the embeddable player. Javascript is useful primarily for applications like this - simple pages that have a number of links to video that all load in the same place. This is using the _pap_videoload function that's been around a while. But you can also do more - this page shows that you can do a "now playing" box that updates as you change things in the player. In itself that's not so exciting but it lends itself to some interesting applications: if you use the _pap_getinfo() function and trigger it on the load of any new segments you can get the ID code and then display additional information elsewhere on the page - say a comment area or a transcript. You can also use the _pap_setlisten callback setter to have the system call whatever js you want - FRONTLINE uses it on chapter pages to put a big "NEXT" button next to the video when you're done with this one but you could easily use it to hide the player or something else along those lines. Anywhere, here are all the JS functions supported:
Callbacks
- _pap_setlisten('function name') - pass this the name of a javascript function you construct and it will fire when the video is done playing.
- _pap_setonload('function name') - pass this the name of a javascript function you construct and it will fire when the player is done communicating with the server initially - then you can start asking for more data like related content, what's playing, pause & play, etc.
- _pap_setonrel('function name') - pass this the name of a javascript function you construct and it will fire when the player is triggering a related link...it passes an object with an element called "headline" for the text of the link and "link" for the URL. One other hack worth mentioning - and something I may make more formal in the system later - is that if you put "js+" before any text of the related link in the admin system it will only show up as a javascript trigger, not on the player screen itself. This allows you to trigger other events on screen without disrupting play - so if you were ambitious you could enter a series of these js-only related links and then trigger, say, a bio of the person on screen to show up next to the video.
- _pap_setseglisten('function name') - pass this the name of a javascript function you construct and it will fire whenever the player loads a new segment. In the sample app I referred to above it takes that as a cue to reload the "now playing" box with updated information.
Actions - make sure the clip has loaded before you issue any of these.
One other important point about the JS interface - it addresses the first instance of the player on the page...if you load three players on a single page any subsequent calls will only be talking to the first one.
As I mentioned in the introduction to the new embeddable player it's pretty annoying to have to push so many variables in before the video embed code. To solve this problem and add flexibility for additional variables there's a new _pap_embeddable function that allows for any size and all the variables you can send through the system in one go (except for javascript callback registration, but I suspect only a few of you folks will ever do that anyway.) a sample call - in fact, the one in the post introducing the embeddable v.2 - looks like this:
_pap_embeddable('frol02o101',514,320,{pap_recenton:true,pap_captions:true});
And here's what each argument means:
- ID Code - ID code from our admin system or XML feeds, must be in quotes
- Width - width in pixels - note that it's the video width + 2 pixels, so ideally this is either 514 or 482 (16x9 or 4x3 respectively)
- Height - height in pixels - this is the height + 32 pixels - ideally 320 or 392 pixels for 16x9 or 4x3 sizings. It's important that the aspect ratios match no matter what the size because otherwise fullscreen will be disabled for geometry reasons. If you turn on pap_captions (below) this number will automatically rise by 40 pixels, you don't need to change this number.
- Other arguments - this is the new bit. If you don't have any arguments just put a {} here, without it the thing won't work. If you do have arguments separate them by commas and use standard javascript rules: everything but true and false need double quotes around them. Here are all the arguments you can use at this point:
pap_captions - enable captioning (even if the video you have doesn't support it)
pap_recenton - enable the recent video function
pap_topoverlay - if you want to put text as an overlay at the top of the player put this in and make sure it's escaped as a javascript should be - a sample one should look like pap_topoverlay:"This feature isn\'t very useful but someone wanted it"
pap_buttoncolor - don't like massive yellow arrows? well, give this a six-digit color code in hex and the big yellow arrow will turn that color
pap_buttonroll - we let you change the other color, might as well let you change the rollover as well. again a hex color code
pap_standalone - there are situations where the player should just be a player - no links to external directories of more video, related links, etc. if you want those things to go away add this directive and set it to true.
pap_shareoff - set to true to disable the share link
pap_localbrandid - set to the brand id number from the admin system (in double quotes) if your site isn't on PBS in order to prevent the player from acting as though it's embedded on someone else's site.
FRONTLINEDreams of Obama - An exploration of who Obama is and what has brought him to this historic moment. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/dreamsofobama/Greater BostonTwo segments on the inauguration: The John F. Kennedy Presidential Library & Museum unveils a new exhibit on JFK's 1961 inaugural address. Members of the 54th Mass. Volunteer Regiment, subject of the movie "Glory," who will march in the inaugural parade on Jan. 20th. The NewsHour The NewsHour launched an inauguration page - http://www.pbs.org/newshour/indepth_coverage/white_house/inauguration2009/index.htmlVideo includes NewsHour coverage of inauguration preparation Barack Obama's inauguration preparation and video archives from Franklin D. Roosevelt, John F. Kennedy and George W. Bush Nightly Business Report A Time for Change: The Obama Agenda reports on Obama's stimulus plan to boost consumer confidence and efforts to stabilize the housing market. Tavis Smiley Earl W. Stafford on the People's Inaugural Project which will bring wounded veterans, terminally ill patients and the disadvantaged Americans to D.C. for the inauguration. http://www.pbs.org/kcet/tavissmiley/archive/200901/20090112.html
The NewsHour pulled together an archived package of analysis and reflections on Watergate and "Deep Throat," including interviews with Bob Woodward, Carl Bernstein and Ben Bradlee. Search for 'Felt' in the admin search or Video Finder.
I want to point out the good deal of local perspectives on the economy - particularly from Here & Now (Wisconsin), About the Money and KCTS 9 Connects (Washington).
ECONOMY
About the Money - An in-depth look at how deeply entrenched local banking giant, Washington Mutual, was in the community and the ways the Seattle area will feel its void.
FRONTLINE - Can You Afford to Retire looks at the retirement outlook for middle-class Americans and Secret History of the Credit Card unveils the tactics used by as well as efforts to reform the credit card industry.
Greater Boston - From 12/8, analysis on unemployment, the state of the economy and Obama's economic stimulus plan.
Here and Now - Wisconsin State Secretary of Administration discusses the budget deficit and what state departments could be affected by the shortfall.
KCTS 9 Connects - From 12/5, panelists discuss layoffs at WaMu, the first casualties of the state's budget deficit, and whether the state will get a bailout.
From 11/21, Republican and Democratic strategists discuss the 1.5 billion dollar deficit in Washington State.
The NewsHour - Discussion and analysis on growing unemployment, how governors and states are handling the economic downturn and the struggling global economy - with reports on Britain and France.
Nightly Business Report - Numerous reports and analysis on the latest economic news - along with curated packages. Package 'From Bubble to Trouble' looks analytically at the financial crisis, its root causes and how will it play out in the coming months.
Another collection 'Fixing the Financial Crisis' examines how Wall Street, U.S. regulatory agencies, and the world financial system will be transformed as a result of this crisis.
NOW - From 11/26, author Robert Kuttner discusses Obama's challenges of reforming the economy and puts forth potential solutions.
Washington Week - From 11/26, analysis on Obama's economic stimulus recommendations.
AUTOMAKERS
Am I Right? - Journalists from The Detroit News and The Detroit Free Press discuss the likelihood of the Big 3 automakers bailout and the future of the auto industry.
FRONTLINE - An excerpt from Heat recounts an earlier visit to Washington from the Big 3 automakers and failed attempts at producing fuel-efficient cars.
Here and Now - From 12/5, Rep. Paul Ryan of Janesville talks about the looming closure of the General Motors plant on Dec. 23 and the potential of a bailout for the auto industry.
The NewsHour - From 12/12, a newsmaker interview with UAW chief, Ron Gettelfinger, on his organization's take on the bailout debate.
Among numerous reports, an interview with Ford CEO Mulally on his company's proposal to avoid bankruptcy.
Nightly Business Report - From 12/10, Anant Sundaram of the Tuck School of Business assesses the financial plan General Motors presented to Congress.
From 12/4, Chrysler CEO Robert Nardelli talks about U.S. automaker efforts to get billions in bailout dollars from Congress.
From 12/9, automotive columnist for The Washington Post, Warren Brown, on the automakers and bailout bill.
Tavis Smiley - From 12/8, Los Angeles Times columnist Dan Neil talks about why the bailout won't work and the union's role in the future of the auto industry.
OBAMA TRANSITION
Bill Moyers Journal - From 12/5, Sen. Russ Feingold on Obama's cabinet picks and what he expects for the next four years.
From 11/14, journalists discuss foreign policy challenges in Iraq and Afghanistan facing the new president.
Colorado State of Mind - From 11/14, with the troubled economy, a look at where health care reform ranks in Obama's priorities and what his plan might look like.
New Hampshire Outlook - Discussion with former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright on her book "Memo to the President," national security issues and the large tasks facing Obama.
The NewsHour - Segments on Obama's economic national security teams as well as picks for Secretaries of Commerce and Health & Human Services.
Tavis Smiley - From 12/1, Alaska Senator-elect Mark Begich on Obama's national security team.
It's been a while since I've a posted a content roundup, so there's a good deal of new and notable content -
INDIA/PAKISTAN
FRONTLINE/World - Joe Rubin speaks with journalist Dev Chatterjee about covering the attacks - as well as with FRONTLINE/World correspondent Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy about Pakistani reactions to the events.
Greater Boston - From 12/5, discussion on "citizen journalists" using social networks like Twitter and Flickr to report on the attacks in Mumbai.
The NewsHour - Beginning 11/26, numerous segments on the attacks, the resurfacing tensions between India and Pakistan and remaining security vulnerabilities in India.
NOW - Pakistan & Iran - With a Pakistani journalist, how the U.S. should approach Pakistan and the challenges facing Obama. Also, with an Iranian author, discussion on how the U.S. should deal with Iran and its nuclear program.
TRIBUNE COMPANY
Chicago Tonight - A package on the Tribune Company's road to filing Chapter 11 - from staff cuts, to redesigns to eventual bankruptcy.
FRONTLINE - A segment from News War was excerpted to highlight the troubles The Tribune Company has faced for years.
The NewsHour - From 12/8, analysts discuss the Tribune Co.'s future after the media conglomerate filed for bankruptcy protection.
There is also a package on the changing landscape of media.
In the Related Video Search or the Video Finder, search for tribune.
GOV. BLAGOJEVICH
Chicago Tonight - From 12/9 and 12/10, reports and analysis on Gov. Blagojevich's political career, what will happen to the senate seat and an example of pay-to play fallout from the Museum of Broadcast Communications.
There is also a package of all Blagojevich coverage - including pieces from July in which the governor denies rumors of being under federal investigation.
The NewsHour - From 12/9 and 12/10, journalists and historians examine the charges facing the governor as well as the history of political corruption in Illinois.
There is now a Video Finder functionality in the admin which allows you to search for any video in the system and find code for linking to or embedding that video.
1. Click on the 'Video Finder' tab to the right of the Statistics tab.
2. Enter a search term.
3. The number of results will appear to the right of the red Search button. Results will pull video from all brands.
4. You can limit the search results by brand in the drop-down menu.
5. To browse all video found, select the 'Next' and 'Previous' red bars.
You can preview the segment or package before pulling link or embed code.
The tagging functionality is now live in the player. Tags are now incorporated in:
- The search function in both the pop-up player and the admin system
- The video finder
- Eventually used in packaging of content
Tags are also used in XML outputs. There are tag feeds for all brand content:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/video/flv/xml/_tags/economy.xml
Replace 'economy' above in bold with the appropriate tag.
There are also brand specific tag feeds:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/video/flv/xml/brandid/_tags/economy.xml
Replace 'brandid' above in bold with the appropriate brand ID.
While there is an existing list of global tags in the system, brands can create brand-specific tags. If there is a tag you think would be a candidate for a global tag, contact Meaghan at mwilson@entropymedia.com
We'll also keep an eye on the system and add global tags as necessary.
Adding Tags to Video
1. Open the package or segment that you want to edit.
2. Scroll down the screen to the TAGS FOR THIS PACKAGE (or TAGS FOR THIS SEGMENT if you're tagging a specific segment) section.
3. Click the purple 'OPEN TAGS +' bar that runs along the bottom of the admin. The list of available tags in the controlled vocabulary will open.
4. Drag the tag(s) that best describe the content of video you are editing, to the Drag Tags Here box.
5. To delete a tag, drag the tag to the 'DRAG TAGS HERE TO DELETE' bar.
Please note: Adding tags to a package does NOT also add tags to the segments within that package.
Creating Tags
If the list of global tags doesn't fit your needs, you can create brand-specific tags.
1. Click the purple "OPEN TAGS +" bar that runs along the bottom of the admin. The list of available tags in the controlled vocabulary will open.
2. Click the '+ Add tag' button and enter the tag. Limit is 72 characters.
3. Select 'Create tag'.
4. The light purple tag will appear in the list.
5. You can also edit or delete tags you've created by clicking '+Edit tags' button.
1. New Content - + Nightly Business Report was added as a national brand. Their archives include both full programs and curated packages. + New Hampshire's More than Money, focusing on financial literacy and smart investing, was added - http://www.nhptv.org/money/ + Greater Boston from WGBH has also included a rich archive of its nightly program. 2. New Features - Geo-filtering is now up in the admin. At the package level, you can now select countries for which to allow or restrict viewers. 3. Reminders -
+ Related video & links The system is amassing a great deal of complementary content, so as you create related video and links, keep your eye on other brand's content. + Creating share pagesIf you haven't done so already, you can find instructions for creating share pages on page 22 of the documentation. This allows users to email video and post to social networks. If the 750 pixel wide player doesn't fit into an existing page design, you can also use the embeddable player in any of the 4 sizes to implement share. See blog post on October 9th for explicit instructions. + Embeddable playerAs you explore implementation options, be sure to review examples of the embeddable player on FRONTLINE's program sites. Instructions and options for emdedding start on page 20 of the documentation. If you have any embeddable questions, don't hesitate to contact Meaghan Wilson at mwilson@entropymedia.com
Bill Moyers Journal - From 11/7, Columbia professors, Eric Foner and Patricia Williams, on
the historical context of the election and the obstacles Obama faces.
Chicago Tonight - From 11/5, panel discussions on Obama's cabinet, transition and the historical context of his election. Obama insiders also reflect on his victory - and an excerpt from Obama's first appearance on the program in 2000.
Colorado State of Mind - From 11/7, discussion on the political climate and the shape of both parties - both locally and nationally - after the election.
Here and Now - From 11/7, Governor Doyle of Wisconsin, an early supporter of Obama, reflects on the election and Obama's priorities of health care and education.
In Wisconsin - From 11/6, reactions from first time voters.
NOW - From 11/7, a mentor of Obama, Harvard Law School professor Charles Ogletree, discusses how the president will lead and prioritize issues. The New Yorker's George Packer analyzes Obama's foreign policy stances.
Tavis Smiley - From 11/10, former White House Chief of Staff, Thomas McLarty discusses Obama's transition and the pressing challenges of the economy, Iraq and Afghanistan.
From 11/5, guests Harry Belafonte and Dr. Norman Francis put Obama's victory in historical context and the high expectations Obama faces.
Washington Week - From 11/7, a look back at how Obama won the election and Obama's transition, priorities as President and campaign promises.
Here and Now - Election special with discussion on campaign issues such as the environment, education and health care.
Nightly Business Report - In a series on economic choices facing the next president, commentary on energy, globalization and taxes. Also, a report on the possibility of a 60-vote majority in the Senate.
NOW - From 10/31, a look at the decisions facing women voters in the swing state of Colorado.
The NewsHour - From 10/31, journalists reflect on the shifting presidential race and poll numbers in southern states such as North Carolina and Georgia.
Washington Week - From 10/31, discussion on the most recent polls, the swing states of Indiana, Missouri, Ohio & Florida - and the impact this election will have on campaign finance reform.
Election & Campaign Issues
Chicago Tonight - From 10/29, a look ahead to Obama's election night plans in Chicago - and discussion on the fate of the Republican party with problems at the local and national level.
Colorado State of Mind - From 10/31, discussion on the rising challenges in Afghanistan and how the newly elected U.S. president should address those issues.
FRONTLINE/World - Kenya: Sweet Home, Obama - A report on how Kenyans are reacting to the U.S. presidential election - and Kenyans' expectations of Obama.
Greater Boston - From 10/29, with Republican and Democratic analysts, a look at recent poll results and electoral college predictions.
In Wisconsin - From 10/30, how job loss and plant closures are impacting Wisconsin, what the presidential candidates are proposing and new local training in renewable energy.
The NewsHour - From 10/31, how the youth vote in Virginia reflects the larger trend of increased youth engagement.
From 10/29, legal experts weigh in on expectations of record voter turnout and potential voter fraud.
Economy
Bill Moyers Journal - From 10/24, economist James Galbraith on the future of the U.S. economy, the European financial collapse and which policies need to change to fix the current economic problems.
Chicago Tonight - From 10/29, discussion on the bank lending rate cut and how Chicago plays into the national economic downturn.
Nightly Business Report - In addition to complete coverage of the economic downturn, 'Anatomy of a Crisis', a 3-part look at the roles the private sector, government and consumers all played in the current crisis.
The NewsHour - From 10/31, a report on recent drops in consumer spending and the likelihood of a recession.
From 10/31, discussion on the lessons from the Great Depression and how those lessons apply to the current crisis.
From 10/28, a report on what the federal government could do to assist the ailing auto industry.
Iraq & Afghanistan
Colorado State of Mind - From 10/31, discussion on the rising challenges in Afghanistan and how the newly elected U.S. president should address those issues.
The NewsHour - New York Times' John Burns discusses recent violence in Afghanistan, the Taliban and a possible troop surge.
Election & Campaign Issues
FRONTLINE - The War Briefing, a look at the foreign policy challenges - among them two wars and an overstretched military - the next president will inherit.
Greater Boston - From 10/27, an update on the campaign and voter registration and expected turnout in Massachusetts.
Here and Now - From 10/24, a report and discussion on Obama's lead in all eight states in the Big Ten Battleground poll.
New Hampshire Outlook - From 10/26, an update on how presidential campaigning and politics are playing out in New Hampshire.
Tavis Smiley - From 10/27, Time magazine's Michael Scherer discusses possible challenges for voters on election day and how the U.S. has altered voting procedures since the 2000 and 2004 presidential elections.
From 10/26, a web exclusive report on drive-through voting in California.
The NewsHour - From 10/28, with newspaper editors a discussion on which candidate received their paper's endorsement and the impact of such endorsements.
*Chicago Tonight aired a complementary segment on 10/20 with editors from the Chicago Sun Times and the Chicago Tribune.
Economy
Chicago Tonight - From 10/27, a report on how the economic downturn is effecting Chicago businesses.
Here and Now - From 10/24, discussion on how the national economic setbacks are impacting consumer spending and Wisconsin retailers.
I rolled out a number of changes this evening, a combination of fixes and a few obscure new features:
- Flash 10 detection - there was an issue with the detection of the Flash Player v10 that disabled full screen for these folks. Not really widespread as an issue but it will become so in the next few weeks as it shows up more widely.
- Multiple _pap_chapters on a single page - it frankly never occurred to me that anyone would want to do this but I was wrong and someone does. It now works.
- Search button change - Due to some user complaints rolling over the search button no longer triggers the menu, you have to click. I'm not entirely sure this is the way to go but it's worth a shot - and I'll be monitoring the search usage closely to ensure there isn't much of a falloff in search traffic.
- Customization of the arrow color in the embeddable player - Not everyone was a fan of the big yellow arrow so we made it customizable. Add a _pap_setbuttoncolor('ff0000'); to the javascript before the _pap_embed line in the javascript to make the button red. Use _pap_setbuttonrollcolor('ffcc00'); to make the rollover color white, again before the _pap_embed line. Any 6-digit HTML hex color code will work.
Pres. Election & Campaign Issues
Bill Moyers Journal - From 10/17, Mark Crispin Miller on voter fraud - and the capacity for voter suppression and election fraud in the upcoming election.
From 10/17, Robert Lovato and Linda Chavez on the latino vote.
Colorado State of Mind - From 10/24, discussion with local and national reporters on the media coverage of the campaign and what the ongoing stories will be after election day.
FRONTLINE - Heat, a look at the global energy landscape, what big businesses are doing to re-shape operations and international efforts to stop global warming.
In Wisconsin - From 10/23, a report on presidential candidate proposals to manage the deficit along with exercises by local university students to balance the budget.
Nightly Business Report - From 10/21-10/23, three reports on the issues facing voters in the battleground states of Pennsylvania, New Mexico and Virginia.
Tavis Smiley - From 10/22, Gov. Kathleen Sebelius discusses the state of the Obama campaign and places the VP pick of Sarah Palin in historical context.
The NewsHour - From 10/22, analysts discuss the impact that race may or may not have on the election.
From 10/14 and 10/20, interviews with Ralph Nader and Bob Barr, on their bids for the presidency and economic plans.
Washington Week - From 10/24, discussion on both campaign's efforts in Pennsylvania, Obama's fundraising and surge in polls. National reporters also discuss McCain's shifting strategy and Palin's impact on the GOP ticket.
Economy
Bill Moyers Journal - From 10/17, Prof. Michael Zweig on the economic downturn and the neglect of working-class Americans.
Chicago Tonight - From 10/22, what the daily stock market drops mean amidst weeks of volatile trading and the likelihood of a prolonged recession.
From 10/21, a look at how the global economic crisis is impacting the city of Chicago's budget and proposed cuts.
Nightly Business Report - From 10/20-10/23, coverage of the week's economic news.
Tavis Smiley - From 10/21, Paul Krugman, Nobel Prize-winning economist and op-ed columnist, talks about the current financial crisis and its impact on the presidential election.
The NewsHour - From 10/23, a report on former Fed chairman Alan Greenspan's congressional testimony.
From 10/22, an interview with new AIG CEO, Edward Liddy, on what it will take to return to successful business strategy.
From 10/21, Paul Solman discusses the future of the credit crunch with two top theorists, Nassim Nicholas Taleb and Benoit Mandelbrot.
New & Notable Content
1983 Beirut Bombing:
FRONTLINE posted two excerpts from Retreat from Beirut, which feature congressional debates on U.S. involvement in peace-keeping efforts in Lebanon. The excerpts including commentary from John McCain and Joe Biden.
The NewsHour archived two reports on the 1983 Beirut barracks bombing. One report details marine duties in Lebanon before the bombing with now U.S. Senator Jim Webb and the second is coverage and analysis on the bombing that killed 241 American soldiers.
Search for Beirut, Lebanon.
Infrastructure Series: Both NOW and The NewsHour reported on the nation's failing infrastructure. On 10/10, NOW reported on the conditions of the nation's roadways. Throughout the week of 10/20, The NewsHour looked at the state of bridges, ports, air traffic system, urban sprawl and Boston's "Big Dig" project.
Campaign
Bill Moyers Journal - From 10/10, Kathleen Hall Jamieson on how dirty politics will play out in the last weeks of the campaign.
From 10/3, Brooke Gladstone and Kathleen Hall Jamieson on the media's coverage of the campaign.
Chicago Tonight - From 10/20, with editors from the Chicago Tribune and Chicago Sun Times, a segment on how newspapers choose which candidate to endorse.
Greater Boston - From 10/15, a report and discussion on Republican Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin rallying New Hampshire.
In Wisconsin - From 10/16, a report examining the health care plans of both candidates and a look at the uninsured in Wisconsin.
NOW - From 10/17, a update on the bailout with an AFL-CIO representative, a report on the battleground state of Virginia and the issue of the economy on undecided voters.
Tavis Smiley - From 10/20, an interview with former Secretary of State, Madeleine Albright, on Powell's endorsement, the role of the vice president and the most pressing issues facing the next president.
From 10/15, a panel on the third presidential debate in light of the recent economic turmoil and effect on undecided voters.
The NewsHour - From 10/17, a look at the candidates' efforts in swing states and a report on voting irregularities in New Mexico.
From 10/16, experts analyze the candidates' style and rhetoric in the last presidential debate.
From 10/15, a report from the battleground state of New Mexico and how the issue of health care will play out in the state.
UNC-TV - In-depth candidate profiles for both the North Carolina gubernatorial race and the U.S. Senate race.
Washington Week - From 10/17, discussion on the candidates' appeal to middle-class voters and the controversy around voter registration fraud.
Economy
Bill Moyers Journal - From 10/10, George Soros on the global economic meltdown and what can be done to fix it.
From 10/3, Georgetown University's Emma Coleman Journal dissects the initial defeat of the bailout bill, misallocation of money and what sector is most negatively effected in the economic turmoil.
Chicago Tonight - From 10/20, a report on how the economic downturn is specifically impacting Chicago businesses.
Colorado State of Mind - From 10/17, discussion on how Colorado will fare in midst of the global economic crisis.
Greater Boston - From 10/9, Massachusetts state treasurer discusses the local economy and a report on how local Massachusetts businesses are being affected by the recent economic downturn.
From 10/7, Rep. Barney Frank on the battle over the Wall Street bailout.
Here and Now - From 10/17, reports on economic issues facing Wisconsin including GM closing a Janesville plant, rising state unemployment numbers and the impact of taxes in the upcoming state elections.
The NewsHour - From 10/16, a report and discussion on the international panic as economies all over the world slide.
Washington Week - From 10/17, both the broadcast and the Webcast extra, discussion on the federal government's efforts to secure banks and when the bailout's impact will be felt by average Americans.
Notable & Upcoming Content
FRONTLINE - On 10/21, Heat looks at climate change and how big businesses are re-shaping their operations and approaches to address the shifting global climate.
KCTS 9 Connects - From 10/3, reports and discussion on the impact of the health care crisis both locally and nationally.
P.O.V. - Soldiers of Conscience reveals the inner moral dilemmas of soldiers when they decide whether to kill or not.
Tavis Smiley - Robert Baer, a former CIA officer and author, discusses the U.S. relations in the Middle East, the policies of McCain and Obama and either candidate should approach Iran.
The Campaign & Election Issues
Chicago Tonight - From 10/7, profiles on both candidates with a closer look at the early lives of Obama and McCain.
From 10/13, a segment on the anticipated record number of early voters in Illinois.
FRONTLINE - The Choice 2008. The biographies of John McCain and Barack Obama and what their candidacies say about America.
FRONTLINE/World - From 10/7, a look at how Arab-Americans are reacting to the campaigns of Obama and McCain.
Here and Now (Wisconsin) - From 10/10, top economic advisors to both campaigns discuss the candidates' economic proposals and the leadership needed to solve the economic crisis.
In Wisconsin - From 10/9, a segment on the impact of the economy on Wisconsin families and what the candidates have proposed as assistance to working-class Americans.
Tavis Smiley - From 10/13, Tom Brokaw on the format and significance of second presidential debate.
From 10/10, Wall Street Journal columnist Peggy Noonan discusses patriotism and candor in the presidential candidates and debates.
The NewsHour - From 10/9, a report on both candidates campaigning in key battleground states.
Throughout the week, reports from New Mexico on the state's political landscape, campaign tactics being used locally and the economic inequality facing the state's northern region.
Washington Week - From 10/10, discussion on the latest news on the campaigns from journalists following both candidates.
Economy
Chicago Tonight - From 10/13, two segments on how the credit crisis has impacted Chicago & Illinois businesses.
From 10/8, a panel discusses possible solutions to the foreclosure crisis.
Here and Now - From 10/3, two segments on how the recent economic turmoil has impacted Wisconsin financial institutions, businesses and residents.
The NewsHour - Reports and analysis on the turmoil on Wall Street, international efforts to aid in the U.S. and European economies, and new plans to stabilize banks.
Washington Week - From 10/10, how the U.S. government, Wall Street and American voters are responding to the global economic crisis.
Notable content:
NOW - Driven to Despair, a look at the nation's infrastructure and how high gas prices and the mortgage crisis are linked.
P.O.V. - In the Family, one filmmaker's experience being diagnosed with the "breast cancer gene", is available in the system until 10/31.
Updates to most of the system have slowed down due to my preoccupation with the FRONTLINE redesign but I've just launched an interim update to the embeddable player with two new (albeit esoteric) features.
- Embeddable version of the share page This was requested recently and it wasn't a big deal to do - a lot of sites have an issue where they can't quite fit a 750 pixel wide player into an existing page design. You can now use the embeddable player in all four sizes to accomplish the same task: there's a new function in pap/core.js called _pap_embedshare() that works the same way the full size share page works. there's one possible argument to _pap_embedshare which is a number indicating the size and aspect ratio of the player. 1 is full size 16x9 (514px x 320px), 2 is full size 4x3 (482px x 392px), 3 is small 16x9 (322px x 212px) and 4 is small 4x3 (322px x 272px). As always I recommend the larger player size if at all possible - the resizing doesn't always look great especially at a 350k bitrate.
- Javascript callback at the end of playback Remember, I warned you earlier that this was esoteric. There might be instances with the embeddable player where you want to change something on the page when the video is done playing - hide the player, put up a "next" button, etc. - we'll be using this feature on FRONTLINE's Choice 2008 site next week to put a next button up at the end of a clip. To do this create a javascript function doing what you'd like done at the end of the clip and then declare _pap_setlisten('name of the function you want run at the end'); before you have your _pap_embed function. To see this and other odd javascript functions visit this page and view source.
Tavis Smiley - From 10/7, with Rep. Maxine Waters, journalist Mickey Kaus and columnist Gregory Rodriguez, analysis and reaction to the second presidential debate.
From 10/6, Ryan Lizza, Washington correspondent for The New Yorker, discusses the post-debate spin wars and the importance of being considered the debate winner.
The NewsHour - From 10/8, a re-cap of the second presidential debate and discussion with a panel of journalists in three battleground states on the remaining four weeks of the campaign.
From 10/7, with political analysts, Mark Shields and David Brooks, a preview of the second presidential debate.
In Wisconsin from Wisconsin Public Television and a few segments from Nightly Business Report and New Hampshire Outlook from NHPTV have been added to the system.
Economy
Chicago Tonight - From 9/30, a discussion with House members on their votes for or against the bailout bill.
From 9/30-10/1, discussions on consumer credit and the bailout package.
The NewsHour - From 10/1-10/6, reports and reactions to the Congressional voting on the bailout plan and international reactions to the continuing financial crisis.
Washington Week - From 10/3, analysis on the passing of the bailout plan.
Campaign
Chicago Tonight - From 10/1, an interview with CBS veteran Bob Schieffer on the state of the campaign, the Palin interviews and the debates.
From 10/2, a look at voting behavior and the cultural divide between the notion of red and blue states.
In Wisconsin - From 10/2, a report comparing the youth involvement in the 1968 and 2008 elections.
NOW - New Voters in the New West looks at the fight for voters in the Western swing states.
Tavis Smiley - Journalist Ron Brownstein talks about the presidential candidates' bipartisan track records.
Zbigniew Brzezikski, former national security advisor to Pres. Carter, discusses the foreign policy issues the next president will have to address.
The NewsHour - From 10/1, a report on McCain and Obama courting Hillary Clinton supporters in Florida.
From 10/3 and 10/6, campaign snapshots with candidates focusing on the economy, the recent attack ads and preparation for the upcoming presidential debate.
Debate
New Hampshire Outlook - Analysis on how Gov. Palin and Sen. Biden fared in the debate and discussion on vice presidential politics.
Tavis Smiley - 60 Minutes producer, Don Hewitt on how the first televised presidential debates impacted that election.
The NewsHour - From 10/2, profiles on Gov. Sarah Palin and Sen. Joe Biden before the only VP debate.
From 10/3, Shields and Brooks analyze the performances of the vice presidential candidates in Thursday night's debate.
Washington Week - From 10/3, a analysis on the vice presidential debate and state of the campaign during both the broadcast segment and the Webcast Extra.
Iraq
Tavis Smiley - Journalist Farnaz Fassihi on her book about the impact of the Iraq war on the country's civilians.
The NewsHour - From 10/1, author Dexter Filkins on his book "The Forever War" which chronicling his time covering the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Notable content:
FRONTLINE/World - Sri Lanka: A Terrorist in the Family uncovers the LTTE, a guerilla organization in Sri Lanka and it's suicide-bombing operations.
Economy
Chicago Tonight - From 9/29, reports on the House rejection of the bailout bill and the Stock Market dive in addition to analysis on the historical Market drop and failure of bailout plan.
The NewsHour - From 9/30, Congressional members discuss support or opposition of the bailout proposal and a look at what the Market dip means for personal finances.
Search terms: bailout, market
Presidential Race
Nightly Business Report - Profiles on Obama and McCain's proposed policies on business taxes.
The NewsHour - From 9/30, the second in the Florida close-up series, focusing on efforts to register new voters.
Search terms: taxes, florida
Campaign Issues
P.O.V. - "Critical Condition" - a look at four critically ill and
uninsured Americans and more broadly at the country's health care
crisis.
Streaming rights through Nov 11.
Rx for Change - With campaign officials and health care experts, a look at the American medical system and the candidates' proposed health care plans. This is a MacNeil/Lehrer Productions special.
Notable Content:
FRONTLINE/World - Video dispatch on the recent Taliban threats to Pakistani media and the impact of the U.S. presidential election on the Taliban and Pakistani public opinion.
Tavis Smiley - From 9/30, Col. Peter Mansoor, past advisor to Gen. Petraeus, reflects on mistakes in Iraq as well as on McCain and Obama's assertions on Iraq and Afghanistan from Friday's debate.
The Economy
The NewsHour - From 9/29, a report and analysis on the House's rejection of the bailout proposal and the consequential stock mark plunge.
Tavis Smiley - From 9/29, New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine, former CEO of Goldman Sachs, reacts to the bailout bill rejection and possible implications.
Washington Week - From 9/26, the Webcast Extra discusses the White House bailout meeting and impact on the average American.
The Campaign
The NewsHour - From the battleground state of Florida, a report on the state's economy and the possible impact on the election. This is the first in a series of three reports on Florida voters.
Presidential Debate
Washington Week - From 9/26, with political journalists, excerpts from the debate and analysis on the candidates' debate performance.
With just 5 weeks to the election, we're making one last push to get as much local election content in the News & Public Affairs player as possible. This could be any election video - either on your local Senate or gubernatorial race or local perspectives on the presidential election. There's already a good deal of content in the system around the election, but this is a great opportunity to create an even bigger network of complementary video. See the content updates posted to the project blog. Along with making video relations across brand, producers are featuring other brand's election-related video: The NewsHour has linked directly to UNC-TV's coverage of the gubernatorial debate. Rocky Mountain PBS has linked directly to Washington Week's coverage of the Democratic National Convention. Next Steps If you're ramping up player efforts, we'd like you to consider setting election-related video as a priority. As you're working to establish workflow for the N&PA player, we'd suggest you start with creating an election package and focus on entering election segments. Please keep Anna Shoup and I updated on your progress. If you're already fully in the player, as you're adding content, please email Anna and I as you enter election-related video. This will help Anna feature your content in the NewsHour/NPR Election Map and assist us in informing all producers in the player of available election content. What do YOU want? With all of the great content in the system, we'd like to create a cross-brand election package and offer it to stations. To feature this video package, you could either link to the pop-up player of the collection or embed the player in your site. NET has a good example of embedding the NewsHour Vote 2008 video package. We're curious - Would you use this? And if so, how? What additional resources would you need to feature this package - a promotional graphic?
Presidential Debate
Chicago Tonight - From 9/24 and 9/25, 2 segments of analysis on the days leading up to the debate and the bailout's impact on the debate.
The NewsHour - From 9/25, a preview of the debate and what it means for Mississippi - and Shields & Brooks look ahead to the first presidential debate.
Washington Week - 9/26: With political journalists, a preview of the first presidential debate.
Economy
Chicago Tonight - A panel discussion on what's at stake in the bailout negotiations.
NOW - From 9/26, Behind the Bailout - Discussion with an associate general counsel at the AFL-CIO and a look at what the banking crisis means to the average American.
The NewsHour - From 9/25 and 9/26, re-cap and analysis on the federal bailout proposal, the White House meeting and the takeover of Washington Mutual.
The Campaign
The NewsHour - From 9/25, the final piece in a series on the candidates' leadership and decision-making styles. This one is the last look at Obama. There are a total of 4 segments in this series.
Also, discussion on both candidates' reactions to the bailout negotiations and the White House meeting.
The Economy
Chicago Tonight - From 9/22 and 9/23, analysis on the necessity of the government bailout and reports on how the bailout is affecting Illinois companies and the future of investments.
The NewsHour - From 9/23 and 9/24, reports on the Capitol Hill debates on the bailout plan and local editors reflect on local effects of Wall St crisis.
Search terms: bailout, wall street, capitol hill
Politics & the Campaign
Tavis Smiley - Writer and critic Thomas Frank on what conservatism in power looks like, as opposed to conservative rhetoric at the grassroots level.
The NewsHour - From 9/22-25, profiles on decision making and leadership styles of Sens. McCain and Obama. There are two segments focused on each candidate.
From 9/24, reports and political analysis on McCain suspending his campaign and both campaigns' reactions to bailout.
UNC-TV - Gubernatorial and Lt. Gubernatorial debates and documentaries on the candidates.
Search terms: conservatism, campaign, McCain, Obama, gubernatorial
Economy
The NewsHour - From 9/22, with Sens. Dodd and Kyl, congressional reaction to the recent Wall Street bailouts.
Bill Moyers Journal - From 9/19, a discussion with New York Times business and financial columnists, Gretchen Morgenson and Floyd Norris, on the winners and losers of the Wall Street crisis. Also, a conversation with Kevin Phillips on his book Bad Money which examines the relationship between the financial sector on the American economy.
From July 2008, an interview with journalist William Greider on Wall Street and the financial crisis.
The Campaign
The NewsHour - From 9/22, in the first in a series of reports on the leadership capabilities of the candidates, a look at how John McCain makes decisions.
Also, political reporters assess how the candidates are reacting to the government financial bailout.
Washington Week - 9/19's Webcast Extra, analysis on the candidates reaction to the economic crisis.
Notable content:
Tavis Smiley - From 9/22, an interview with Admiral Michael Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, on the state of the U.S. military, the recent Pakistan bombings and efforts in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Looking ahead:
POV - On Sept 30, POV will stream Critical Condition, a look at the nation's health care crisis.
Already available are stories from two families struggling without insurance -
http://www.pbs.org/pov/pov2008/criticalcondition/special_videos.html
FRONTLINE - On October 14, The Choice 2008 examines the biographies of McCain and Obama as well as what their candidacies say about America.
Economy
Tavis Smiley - Tonight, economist Joseph Stiglitz on how the recent U.S. economic woes are undermining the country's security.
The NewsHour - From 9/17-9/19, segments on the AIG rescue plan, the role of government in assisting Wall Street, the impact of the financial meltdown on the average American and a historical look at the recent unprecedented shifts in the U.S. markets.
Chicago Tonight - From 9/18, analysis on the DOW's climb after a week of turmoil.
All 4 segments from 9/17 are dedicated to the downturn on Wall Street, the AIG bailout, the housing market crisis and impact on citizens.
From 9/16, analysis on the ripple effect of the financial market plunge.
Washington Week - Tonight, analysis on the impact the crisis on Wall Street is having on the national and global economy.
Politics & The Campaign
NOW - Considering Hillary Clinton and Sarah Palin's historical political rise, a look at how women are changing the face of politics.
Washington Week - Tonight, discussion on McCain and Obama's proposed solutions to the recent economic troubles.
Tavis Smiley - Bart Gellman discusses his new book, Angler, which investigates how Dick Cheney has reshaped the role of the U.S. vice president.
The NewsHour - Segments on the candidates' reactions to the week's economic bailouts and confidence crisis.
Chicago Tonight - From 9/16, "Obama's Neighborhood," a look at recent security efforts in Barack Obama's Chicago neighborhood.
From 9/18, a reflection on the city of Chicago's documentary on the violence surrounding the 1968 DNC.
Campaign '08
Bill Moyers Journal - From 9/12, with media analysts, a look at how the media has covered the campaign. Also, how the "Shock Jock" media alters the nation's political discourse.
Tavis Smiley - Bing West, former assistant defense secretary, reflects on the next president's responsibilities in Afghanistan and Iraq.
The NewsHour - Segments on candidates' reactions to the Wall Street turmoil and their proposals of tighter regulation.
Economy
Chicago Tonight - From 9/15, 2 segments on the Wall Street meltdown and it's influence on politics.
Tavis Smiley - Maria Bartiromo explains the crisis in the financial services industry.
The NewsHour - From 9/15 and 9/16, with analysts and reporters, discussions on Lehman Brothers collapse, the Merrill Lynch buyout and the goverment's efforts to stabilize Wall Street.
More great content on the state of the campaign, the issues facing the next president and the economy -
Presidential Race & Campaign Issues
Colorado State of Mind/RMPBS - A look at Palin's impact on the presidential race and what her name on the ticket and Clinton's run mean for women seeking office.
NOW - With a Democratic political consultant, a look Obama's strategy and mistakes he could be making. Also, a report on the evangelical vote.
The NewsHour - Numerous reports and analysis on candidates' messages of change, troop levels and education policy. Also, reports on the political landscape in the battleground state of Virginia and a look at attack ads.
Bill Moyers Journal - Democratic Direction: Promises from the DNC and Obama's strategy and how demographic will influence the election.
Washington Week - Update on the campaign: Obama's strategy and the impact of Palin. Also, a look at the troop reductions in Iraq and the state of the war in Afghanistan.
Chicago Tonight - From 9/10, how campaign rumors in blogs are effecting the election.
Economy
Washington Week - From 9/12 broadcast and Webcast Extra, a look at strategy around Fannie, Freddie and Lehman Brothers.
The NewsHour - From 9/8 and 9/9, reports and analysis on Fannie and Freddie bailout and senators' reaction to the takeover.
Chicago Tonight - From 9/9, a report on the bailout on Fannie and Freddie and the unstable economy.
The NewsHour has numerous segments on the 9/11 anniversary. From 9/10, a look at the newly dedicated Pentagon memorial and from 9/11, a reflection on the resonance of the 9/11 attacks and extended interview with victims' family members on the Pentagon memorial.
Republican Party & the RNC
NOW on PBS - Reinventing the Republican Party with Christine Todd Whitman
Chicago Tonight - From 9/4, a RNC re-cap and from 9/8, a wrap-up of both conventions with local reporters.
Bill Moyers Journal - Kathleen Hall Jamieson on the GOP convention & Palin
Washington Week - From 9/5, a look at the RNC, McCain & Palin
The NewsHour - Analysis on McCain & Palin speeches
Sarah Palin
NOW on PBS - Meet Sarah Palin segment in the Alaska: The Senator and the Oil Man package. Focuses on her efforts to clean up corruption.
Tavis Smiley - From 9/5, with reporters, a look at gender in the campaign and the Palin choice.
Chicago Tonight - From 9/4, Spotlight on Sarah Palin
Washington Week - From 9/5, a look at the RNC, McCain & Palin
After a fair amount of messing about tagging is now available in the admin system for both packages and segments. Look at the bottom of the browser window for a little purple bar that says "open tags" - click on that and then when you open a package or segment drag the tags from the tag bar below to tag whatever item you're looking at. Adding tags is easy as well - just click "add a tag" in the tag bar at the bottom. In keeping with the bullet-point spirit of this blog here are some bullet points.
- Tags are not currently used in any public way. This will change shortly - they'll shortly be added to the search feature to better organize results. This will solve a considerable shortcoming - the package vs. segment dilemma. Right now packages take precedence over segments so hits on packages will mean the underlying segments never show up if they share a keyword...but with tagging if you want the segment to show up just tag it, it will come up before the package does. We'll also be using tags as sort of an overarching package structure that will allow us to put many packages together - those of you attempting to use the NewsHour's Vote 2008 package will appreciate this feature a great deal. These tags will also appear in Google Video Sitemaps which will help external search results for brands that have share pages in the system.
- There are public tags and private tags. Why would you want a private tag? Well, two reasons: 1) You may not be done with the tagging process and don't want to show things until you are. 2) We'll be using tags to aid in syndicating groups of packages + segments to affiliate sites - we need to see the tags and apply them but we may not want those to show up in public listings.
- There are global and brand specific tags. Global tags are shared between brands - if you create a tag you'd rather not let anyone else use (like if FRONTLINE/World wanted to tag all their "Rough Cut" content) just make it a brand specific tag as nobody else should show up in that. Which brings us to the last and potentially most annoying point:
- Once you've created a global tag you can't delete or change it. Presumably they'll be in use by multiple brands - we're trying to keep duplication of similar themes to a minimum across brands and this global tagging idea will help that immensely - so at that point no one brand should not be able to wipe out other people's tagging efforts. That said we can still edit or remove them if the need arises - if you've made some sort of error let us know and we'll make it right.
One other totally random addition to the admin system is search of packages...we've long had that for related content but there was no easy way to quickly dig up a package from what in some cases is a list of several hundred. Well, ask no more, it's here. It uses the same search mechanism as the related bit so it will return packages with segments that also fit the search - so if you search for something that isn't in the title or description of a package but does match a segment it will return the package that segment is from. A small thing but hopefully it will help.
Another week of content around the election, the RNC and Gov. Sarah Palin. Here's a re-cap:
Tavis Smiley - Interviews with Ron Paul, Mike Huckabee - and former Governors Christine Todd Whitman and Jane Swift on Gov. Palin's experience and speech.
The NewsHour - Numerous segments from both nightly regular broadcasts and RNC coverage including reports on Gov. Palin, McCain's political career and Republican party unity.
Video reports also include convention speeches - from Lieberman, Romney, Palin and McCain, among others.
NOW - Attacking Affirmative Action - A look at what Obama's nomination might mean for affirmative action.
FRONTLINE/World - Pakistan: Taliban Key Challenge for Next President
Washington Week - On 8/29, from Minnesota, a look at Obama's speech, a preview of the RNC and Gov. Sarah Palin.
On 9/5, a look at Palin's nomination and ahead to Election Day.
Colorado State of Mind & Colorado Matters - With Colorado Public Radio, Colorado coverage of the national party conventions.
Chicago Tonight - More coverage from the DNC with reactions to Obama and Biden's speeches. RNC coverage includes analysis and expectations of Sarah Palin as the VP pick.
UNC-TV - From 9/2 and 9/3, RNC segments with North Carolina delegates and a look at the role of the convention.
We managed to deal with the pop-up problem referred to earlier - the solution in turn caused problems with Safari which led to an additional fix. Anyway, the end result is that pop-ups are now restored in IE7 for both the embedded player and the chapter/segment selector.
More great coverage from the DNC:
Last night's Tavis Smiley interviews with both Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine and Indiana Sen. Evan Bayh are posted.
The NewsHour profiled the vice-presidential nominee, Sen. Joe Biden, and analysts assessed the stakes for the Delaware senator. Biden's convention speech will also be available.
Chicago Tonight from WTTW has a few convention segments - Conventions 101, a look back at the '68 DNC, and reaction from Mayor Daley and Sen. Dick Durbin to Hillary Clinton's speech.
FRONTLINE/World - The Hillary Factor and Brazilians Fixated on Obama.
One additional piece on Hurricane Katrina to mention:
The NewsHour spoke last night with New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin on the rebuilding process along the Gulf Coast and the threat of more tropical storms.
Democratic National Convention
A quick overview of the great deal of convention & election coverage included in the system:
The NewsHour
Numerous segments from both nightly regular broadcast and DNC coverage including reports on Clinton delegates, Democratic party unity and Obama's economic strategy.
Video reports include convention speeches - from Michelle Obama, Sen. Hillary Clinton, Sen. Edward Kennedy, among others.
Tavis Smiley
Nightly coverage from the DNC this week, including interviews with Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano, Reps. Charles Rangel and Deborah Wasserman and upcoming interviews tonight with Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine and Indiana Sen. Evan Bayh.
Bill Moyers Journal
From 8/22, Convention(al) Concerns - Looks at the tough economic times hitting suburban Denver communities.
FRONTLINE/World
Watching the Watchers - Covering the Foreign Press at the DNC
Reports from Iran, Afghanistan and Lebanon - A look at international views and interest in the U.S. election.
Washington Week
8/22 - From Denver, a preview of the DNC and the state of the 2008 campaign.
8/29 - From Minneapolis, a preview of the RNC and the state of the 2008 campaign.
UNC-TV
Democratic Convention Preview: A look at delegates from North Carolina.
Hurricane Katrina
Looking ahead, here are a few pieces around Hurricane Katrina:
Tavis Smiley
This week, Margie Perez, a New Orleans based singer, who spoke at the DNC discusses Hurricane Katrina and rebuilding efforts.
On August 8, Alden McDonald, President and CEO of New Orleans' Liberty Bank & Trust discusses renovation efforts in the city.
Bill Moyers Journal
From 11/2007, Katrina Recovery Gone Wrong and from 8/2007, Katrina Revisited.
The NewsHour compiled a collection of reports from 8/2005 and 9/2005, profiling the hurricane's disastrous effects and efforts to rebuild.
Search for Katrina or Hurricane in the admin search.
After the announcement that Democratic Sen. Joe Biden was selected as Sen. Barack Obama's running mate, here are a few segments focused on the Senator from Delaware:
The NewsHour
Judy Woodruff spoke with Sen. Joe Biden, outlining his bid for the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination in November 2007.
In February 2008, Biden spoke to The NewsHour on the U.S. policy on South Asia.
Washington Week with Gwen Ifill
On August 22, from Denver, Washington Week looked at Barack Obama's vice presidential choice and previewed the Democratic Convention.
Search for Biden or vice president in the search box on the right.
With the release of v2 - which so far seems to have gone well - I thought it would be a good idea to lay out other things we're keen on adding - feedback on this list is welcome.
- Tags are the next big priority. They'll be a big help with the search, related content and affiliate relationships. It'll likely go into the admin interface first and then into xml feeds - and finally it'll show up in the player. Part of the process will also be working with FRONTLINE's web archivist - someone we've brought in to manage FL's taxonomy who will help us try to map everyone's keywords together that will allow for better content sharing.
- SOAP. Still working on this API interface to bypass the admin interface for folks with CMSs.
- More modules. We need some feedback on what people want before we'll build any more though.
- Refinement of the embedded player - it's clear that we want to put full package support in so it's easier to push out to affiliate sites. Right now it's a single clip with JavaScript control to put more clips in - it would clearly be helpful for producers to be able to pick several clips and/or full shows and put that in an embedded player for third party sites.
- A link with the NPR API. Once the tags are rolling we can map tags in the system to the NPR tags and offer the ability to show related NPR stories.
- Mapping segments to in and out points in a single file. FL has to do this anyway because of PBS's COVE project but it may prove useful for others as well. Think of them as virtual segments.
- Refinement of related content. There are a few areas we want to work on here - allowing producers to tell the admin to automatically update the related video information for some clips/packages if they choose (as opposed to the present system where you can only pick what's related.) We're also looking at alternate placement of the related web links in certain circumstances. And finally we're interested in exploring whether there are better ways to represent relationships between content - and cycle through more related content when available. It's a little vague at this point but we're still in the early stages.
- Playlisting and saving your place - it's a big hit to the database but clearly something we'd like and it's not that tough to add. I'm particularly keen on stealing an idea from NPR's player setup where you can click on a button on a story to "listen later" - ideally we'd build a quick tool to allow that in this system as well.
The NewsHour pulled together a package on Pervez Musharraf's political career including a number of interviews with Musharraf himself.
Search for Musharraf in the search box in the admin.
Related to that is FRONTLINE's Return of the Taliban which investigates Taliban and Al Qaeda presence in Pakistan under Musharraf's rule - and FRONTLINE/World's Pakistan: State of Emergency and Pakistan: Men in Black.
Numerous segments focused on Georgia & Russia - Washington Week's 8/15 program and Webcast Extra, FRONTLINE/World's Georgia: The Last Red Line and numerous NewsHour segments. Search for Georgia or Russia in the search box in the admin.
On 8/15, RMPBS's Colorado State of Mind spoke with former Gov. Dick Lamm and former U.S. Senator Gary Hart, among others, to preview the Democratic Convention. On 8/5, Tavis Smiley spoke with Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter Jr. also about the upcoming convention in Denver. Search for Convention in the admin to find these segments.
On 7/25 and 8/7, Bill Moyers and Tavis Smiley, respectively, spoke with Jane Mayer on her new book and investigation into the war on terror.
BTW, not that it's come up that much but I just wanted to point out we're aware of an issue in the chapter picker and embedded player that's preventing opening other windows in IE7 when the user has the latest version of Flash (9,0,126). I've tried numerous workarounds and none of them actually do anything. So it's clearly on our radar - hopefully we'll find a fix soon.
Update: this is now resolved.
After a fair amount of testing v1.95 of the pop-up player is ready to launch - and after considering all the features added to the system I think it's worthy of being called version 2. It'll launch on Monday at noon eastern or thereabouts. In addition to all the things mentioned below there's pre-roll underwriting message support now and a new feature in the admin to go with it that will also have some other benefits. To wit:
- Pre-roll underwriting messages are meant to be fairly short (ideally 15 seconds or less) and while the video is playing the player turns a different color and prevents the user from fast forwarding, rewinding, etc. One useful (at least to users) benefit is that once you've sat through the underwriting message once you'll never see that one again within that session - so if you watch 5 episodes of the NewsHour in a single sitting you'll see the Vestas message just once. Once this launches I'll post an example of it.
- Some of you can now control brand information whereas before you had to ask Meaghan or I to do it. That said there is one thing to note: not everyone has this capability at this point, so if you'd like to be able to alter information and/or manage pre-roll messages please let us know and we'll turn it on for you. For those that have it there's a button that says "Brand/Underwriting settings" next to the "Add a package" button.
- Within that new brand settings area you can configure pre-roll messages on a brand level. The three options are: Enabled - Manual (by Package), Enabled - Brand-wide and Disabled. Enabled - Manual simply turns on the ability to have pre-roll messages configured at the package level. Enabled - Brand-wide means that pre-roll messages are automatically shown across the entire brand (although you can still go to the package level and disable pre-roll for that package.) If you have more than one message in there it will cycle between them automatically. Disabled is unsurprisingly the setting to keep pre-roll entirely off for your brand, to the extent that it even overrides any attempts to add pre-roll at the package level.
- All pre-roll clips are entered at the brand level first. It's an important point - if you want to add pre-roll to a package add it to the brand first and then you can select it at the package level.
On 8/1, Washington Week discussed campaign strategies, the Sen. Stevens indictment and the anthrax attacks.
Moyers on America: Capitol Crimes (originally aired Oct 2006) was just added to the system which looks at the Jack Abramoff scandal and Washington lobbying.
Throughout the week of 8/4, The NewsHour has reported on China & the Olympics, the AIDS epidemic and progress reports in Iraq.
Use the "Search Related Video" function on the right-hand side of the video admin system to locate these segments.
On Friday, 8/1, NOW on PBS profiled the indictment of Alaska Senator Ted Stevens and the ongoing political scandal around the VECO Corporation in Alaska.
The NewsHour aired related segments on Stevens on Tuesday, 7/29 and Thursday, 7/31.
Also, on the NewsHour on Friday, Aug 1, Mark Shields and David Brooks discussed the presidential campaign, Sen. McCain's campaign ads and the Sen. Ted Stevens indictment.
On Friday, 8/1, From Rocky Mountain PBS, Colorado State of Mind profiled the Democratic Convention and whether Denver is ready to host tens of thousands of people and media representatives.
On 7/28, Tavis Smiley re-aired an interview with Bertie Bowman, the longest serving African American on the Capitol Hill staff.
On Friday July 25, Bill Moyers Journal looked at the recent Congressional torture hearings and speaks with Jane Mayer, a journalist, on the debate over torture and the war of terror.
It's not a major component but it could prove useful to some - there's now a module available through the system that lists chapters/segments in the same way as it renders in the player - so you can offer live chapter listings on your site. Here's an example of it in use. It requires Flash 9, is 218px high and scales to fit any horizontal space (although it's going to look really bad if it doesn't have at least 300px in width.) It also dynamically resizes so if you resize the page itself it'll compensate without a reload. This hasn't been added to the documentation yet but it will be shortly - in the meantime here's how to use it: First make sure that the option to publish an XML feed for this package is enabled in the admin system. If you have just turned it on for the first time it will take about 20 minutes for the xml to appear. Then make sure you have the core javascript library included on your page. Finally use this code:
<script type="text/javascript"><!--//--><![CDATA[//><!--
_pap_chapters('your 4 digit brand code','the id code of the package in question as entered in the admin interface'');
//--><!]]></script>
In NOW's 7/25 broadcast, David Brancaccio talks with John Edwards about
how he plans to achieve his goal of cutting poverty in the US by 50 percent in 10 years - and what role it may and should have on the upcoming presidential election.
Again, this content is available and easy to link to any coverage - just search for Edwards in the "Search Related Video" box on the right hand side of the video admin system.
The NewsHour's 7/29 broadcast included a "newsmaker interview" with Pakistani Prime Minister Gilani. You can search for Pakistan or Gilani in the video admin.
There are loads of bugfixes and new features in this interim release:
- The biggest feature addition is Search. See below for more details on the implementation of this. It's available in all modes - playback, reports and chapter/segment mode.
- iTunes links - a button appears saying "Buy From iTunes." I'm pondering changing this to "Get From iTunes" or something to deal with video podcasts but I'm hesitant because the language is so vague. FRONTLINE, Now on PBS & Nova sell their shows, FRONTLINE/World & Bill Moyers Journal do video podcasts which might be nice to link to as well. Leave a comment if you have an opinion - this is one downside of trying to accommodate several different models in a single player.
- Continuous play - viewer feedback to FRONTLINE shows that a significant number of people want to be able to watch the whole program straight through. It's not turned on by default but in the chapters/segments view you can enable it...that choice was dictated by two things: 1) trying to keep bandwidth costs down and 2) segmented programs may not make sense in continuous mode. We'll see how the users like/dislike this...there's still a pause between segments because the player still has to start downloading the next one; I suspect that will be an annoyance to some.
- Share fixes - allows us to control the share url without changing the skin file. We'll be exposing this functionality to admin users soon as part of a general update but in the short term we can change your URL much more quickly than before. We also now support URLs with query strings in them already - like WTTW and probably other folks have.
- Additional log point - this is a little nerdy but worth mentioning if only because it will increase the accuracy of our callbacks used in the statistics - at the end of every segment the player calls back the server now; before it only did so as part of a timed loop. This should extend some of the time viewed figures in the longer term.
- Resizing fix - if you're adding old video smaller than the specifications state the player attempts to resize the video to either 480x360 (for 4:3 content) or 512x288 (for 16:9 content.) In some ways this isn't optimal - resized video isn't the highest quality - but I tried to balance quality with the fact that you may not have the resources to re-encode all your video to the size we want.
- I warn you that this is super obscure (although so is this blog for that matter) - Date suppression. Many have noted that when they use the date as the package name by default the date shows up in the date field which is a bit duplicative. I've been pushing people to set up packages and disable the dates in those but nobody has taken me up on it. Out of annoyance with hearing about it I've taken a new step - if the player sees date fragments at the end of your package title indicating that it's close to the same as the date it'll suppress the display of the date.
What's missing at the moment? Pre-roll. Here's why: we need to change the back-end and the admin to better deal with this. It works in the player now but some experimentation made me realize that on the brand level it was too annoying to put into play - at the moment it's a package-level thing. That's fine but it makes considerably more sense to allow you to configure it at the brand level and then override/remove on the package level. In the admin that's a whole new set of issues - right now brands don't control their own setup and I need to add a method for you to do so, we need separate designation for pre-roll messages, etc. As such this 1.95 release may be a reallly interim one because changes to the back-end are more complicated than changes to the flash.
LAUNCH PLAYER
Wanted to note that there are three great pieces in the system now about Karadzic - The NewsHour has a package of some amazing interviews with him from the 1990s as well as coverage of the efforts to prosecute him. FRONTLINE/World has done two iWitness reports - one focusing on the reaction from a translator who survived the Srebrenica massacre and the other a conversation with a reporter who believes General Ratko Mladic's capture is weeks away.
All of this content is available and easy to link to any coverage you may be doing about this topic - just search for Karadzic in the "Search Related Video" box on the right hand side of the video admin system.
Search has always been a big goal for us - it's taken longer than we thought because the first version was fairly slow and we were afraid of overloading the server. Fortunately thanks to Tom (the programmer for the backend) we've gotten past that point and I'm now integrating search into the pop-up version of the player as well as some modules for stations and producers to present video search results. I thought I'd give you an early look at how it works. But first a few details: - It presently searches titles and descriptions. Eventually it will search tags as well (as soon as tagging is turned on in the admin interface.) It ranks searches by the amount of hits it finds on the search term and then within that by date. If you're searching while in a specific brand (like from the FRONTLINE report listing) it will favor results from that brand. Note that the form below is the generic version and isn't tied to any brand.
- If the system finds a package and a segment within that package it'll eliminate the segment from the results to reduce duplication. I'm interested in what everyone thinks about this because there are potential drawbacks but without this filter things were potentially quite confusing.
- If you're in a specific brand the thumbnails will be the thumbnails from the video, otherwise it will be the logo of the brand. This is a deliberate effort to make sure people see that this video result is from a different source.
- Right now we don't support putting quotes around search terms. We'll get there - tags are a bigger priority in this system.
Along with the release of this blog there are a few new features worth mentioning in the admin interface: - An Automatic Thumbnail feature to generate full-size thumbnails for segments that don't yet have them. With the release of the embeddable player there's a big need for full-size thumbnails - if you don't have one the 200x160 thumbnail is loaded instead, resized and blurred. We realize since there's so much data already in the system it isn't feasible to go back and make thumbs for everything so we now offer this option - press the button in a segment and after a brief wait you can select from one of three images grabbed from your video file. Click on the one you want and the file will be uploaded to PBS and the url will appear in the Full Size Thumbnail field for that segment. Then save changes and your thumbnail will be ready
- An Expiration Date for packages. This was requested by a few folks to automatically disable packages (and underlying segments) that you no longer have rights to stream. Once a day the system looks for video that's expired and disables the package, disables the segments, removes the segments from any other packages you may have dragged them to and removes all links to any of the video you or others may have made as related content.
- iTunes URL - for brands that offer iTunes downloads (both via free podcasts or paid) you can now add a link that will appear in the next version of the pop-up player.
- Editing of related video text. In the past once you had dragged a clip over to related it to a package or segment you had to use the title of the segment or package as set originally...now if you click on the item in question you can edit the link so it shows up as something more contextually useful. Note that by changing this link text it's specific to this link alone - you aren't changing the title of the underlying segment or package.
Welcome to our new blog. We plan on using this space to announce new features and discuss the development of the News & Public Affairs Player project. In the next few weeks we'll be beta testing a new release or two of the pop-up and embedded players, some updates to the admin system and a whole new way to add and manage video metadata - a SOAP interface. We're always interested in feedback and requests; just use the comments.
| This blog exists to track and discuss development of the News & Public Affairs Player video framework and talk about recent content additions. RSS |
