New stuff on MeFi.

March 16, 2007 8:33 PM

I finally fixed this, I gussied up the preferences page (more readable, easier to use), and I added inline magical youtube video streaming, which mostly works (enable it then click the icons you see on posts). Full explanation of the YouTube feature.
posted by mathowie (staff) to Feature Requests at 8:33 PM (72 comments total)

I made Beef & Lamb Guinness stew.
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 8:41 PM on March 16, 2007

Inline YouTubery? That should be interesting, but I can already hear the wailing and gnashing of teeth to come.
posted by lekvar at 8:41 PM on March 16, 2007

1) will it ever work on the front page? 2) is that pick a theme setup new?
posted by puke & cry at 8:46 PM on March 16, 2007

Here's what the inline youtube looks like.
posted by mathowie (staff) at 8:46 PM on March 16, 2007

Matt, the youtube thing and the dhtml thing only show up in the "edit profile" link from your own user page but not the "customize MetaFilter" link from the "preferences" page, which confused me for a while when I clicked on the latter and didn't see either of the things you are talking about.
posted by yhbc at 8:54 PM on March 16, 2007

yhbc, the links are one and the same. Perhaps you are getting an old cached version.

As for the youtube thing, you simply link to a youtube video on MeFi, and it magically creates the link. Don't directly link to the player page or try making an icon.

I'll add it to other sections eventually and the front page of mefi, but I wanted to test it out just on MetaFilter comments pages first.
posted by mathowie (staff) at 9:06 PM on March 16, 2007

That embedded you tube thing is really very slick, Matt. Thanks.
posted by Dave Faris at 9:10 PM on March 16, 2007

mathowie, i love it.

small bug: if a youtube video is linked to from a comment in a thread, it doesnt create the dhtml effect (looks more like puke & cry's attempt). however, the youtube video links from the actual poster is smooth.
posted by phaedon at 9:11 PM on March 16, 2007

Kew-uhl.
posted by inconsequentialist at 9:14 PM on March 16, 2007

Go to this thread. You'll see little icons next to the links. They don't appear on the front page (yet).
posted by Dave Faris at 9:25 PM on March 16, 2007

Ah. Now I see. Even if I don't use the in-place popup I still really appreciate an indicator of youtubery without having to hover and look at the statusbar.
posted by Rhomboid at 9:27 PM on March 16, 2007

I didn't get a chance to explain, so here goes:

I was seeing loads of links to youtube all over MetaFilter, often more than one in a single post/comment. I wanted to come up with a way to hover over the link and launch a hidden div or something, so that you could watch the video without having to leave the page.

It was always a drag to open up several tabs of youtube links, watch each one, one at a time, then go back to mefi. With this feature, you just click the icon, watch the video, then click close to hide it and move on.

Be sure to shift-reload a comment thread page to force your browser to get the lastest version of prototype.js that it requires. I've only tested it in Firefox and Safari on OSX and it worked just like my screenshot.

When making posts, you don't have to do anything special, I just have code searching for youtube.com and it grabs the weird hash address of the video then stuffs it into some display stuff on MeFi to make it work.

At the moment, it only works in comment threads on www.metafilter.com. It will be on the front page soon and across the other subsites.
posted by mathowie (staff) at 9:34 PM on March 16, 2007 [4 favorites]

Oh, that's because the uploader disabled embedding on other sites. I see a big giant "the user does not allow embedding of this video" message.

I'm still working on this feature so I'll have to look at YouTube's API to see if I can disable the links for videos where the person uploading didn't allow embedding.
posted by mathowie (staff) at 9:38 PM on March 16, 2007

WCityMike, there is no div hover, I was just explaining the idea for the feature. If you change your prefs to show inline video, then you will see an icon. When clicked, it will launch a floating div like the one in my screenshot and play the video automatically.
posted by mathowie (staff) at 9:39 PM on March 16, 2007

Woo, awesome. You should make this an option for any link, not just you tube links.
posted by boo_radley at 9:40 PM on March 16, 2007

(You did enable the options in your preferences, right, Mike?)
posted by Dave Faris at 9:40 PM on March 16, 2007

For what it's worth, the YouTube thing works perfectly in Camino. Great idea.
posted by danb at 9:41 PM on March 16, 2007

Also, no more timezone crap, because I removed all references to custom timezone labels, and you now simply set an offset from the server time.
posted by mathowie (staff) at 9:47 PM on March 16, 2007

Love it. Thanks!
posted by rtha at 9:50 PM on March 16, 2007

Odd style related bug: the close window link in the youtubery is in the same Metafilter blue as the background for me. I'm using Firefox 2.0.0.2 with the plain theme.

Not really a problem now that I know where it is, but I spent a few minutes dumbfounded that no one else seemed to notice that there was no way to close it. So I moused around until I saw the hover.
posted by sequential at 10:01 PM on March 16, 2007

love it too, and thank you also for the plain option - so refreshing. like opening the windows and letting the air in.
posted by de at 10:08 PM on March 16, 2007

Oh yeah, I need to do a plain theme for the pop-up div thing.
posted by mathowie (staff) at 10:09 PM on March 16, 2007

i also like the fact that you can still scroll through comments while watching the video.
posted by phaedon at 11:22 PM on March 16, 2007

Nice work! Slick and useful.
posted by owhydididoit at 12:08 AM on March 17, 2007

It doesn't seem to be quite working for me: I see the icons and the blue popup div, but don't see an embedded video. I'm getting audio, but no video.
posted by rhapsodie at 12:08 AM on March 17, 2007

I have the same problem as rhapsodie. SP2 FireFox 2.0.0.2
posted by carsonb at 12:56 AM on March 17, 2007

Ths is very cool. Thanks, Matt!
posted by litlnemo at 2:05 AM on March 17, 2007

bug:
running in a low resolution (1024x600, don't ask) causes a problem: the youtube window is too large for my screen -- that is, the top and bottom are cut off enough so that the close window link is off screen.
i can't scroll the embedded youtube window, so it stays on screen forever! (or until i reload)
Otherwise, really neat. Works great in higher res.
posted by bodega at 3:59 AM on March 17, 2007

Don't make Matt regret this, people.
posted by CRM114 at 5:01 AM on March 17, 2007

If I update my preferences, will it wipe out the image in my profile?
posted by Eideteker at 5:45 AM on March 17, 2007

Matt, I went into Preferences to change the YouTube preference. When I saved and went back to the Blue, I realized that when I clicked on a link, it no longer opened in a new window. Figuring I accidently clicked it off earlier, I went back to Preferences, toggled it back on, saved, and went back to the Blue. Same thing. I tried toggling the YouTube preference off to see if that was correlated, but it's not. Any suggestions?
posted by NotMyselfRightNow at 5:49 AM on March 17, 2007

Very slick!

One little problem: in Firefox 2.0.0.2 on OS 10.4.9, using the plain theme, there's no sign of the 'close window' link bodega mentions, so I have to refresh the page to get rid of the video overlay.
posted by jack_mo at 5:59 AM on March 17, 2007

Put me down on the list of getting every thing except the actual video to go with the audio. With the same Firefox version as rhapsodie and carsnob
posted by mss at 6:24 AM on March 17, 2007

What is the little icon supposed to be? It looks like a square with a piece of green pie in it. Now I love square pie as much as the next gal, but somehow I don't think that's the Matt's code style...

Anyhoo, it's very nice, and almost makes up for the denial of the inline img tag. Lord, how I weep for ceiling kitty.
posted by DenOfSizer at 7:06 AM on March 17, 2007

If I update my preferences, will it wipe out the image in my profile?

I have the same question.
posted by terrapin at 7:14 AM on March 17, 2007

OK never mind I fixed it just like I fix most things, it just started working on it's own.
posted by mss at 8:46 AM on March 17, 2007

Cool, love the YouTube toy, thanks Matt!
posted by madamjujujive at 9:35 AM on March 17, 2007

Yes, if you update your prefs you will lose images linked. But I will be adding a profile image thing soon, which would let you grab an image from flickr to associate with your account.

Also, people getting blank video, shift-reload the page and try again.
posted by mathowie (staff) at 9:54 AM on March 17, 2007

I just forced the close link to yellow, so it should show up in the plain theme now.
posted by mathowie (staff) at 10:02 AM on March 17, 2007

New window links should work now.
posted by mathowie (staff) at 10:05 AM on March 17, 2007

mathowie, while you are messing with the preferences page, could you please add/change the geocodeing link to geocode.ca, so that Canadians can use postal codes to find their geographic location? Turns out geocoder.ca works just as well for US zip codes as the site you currently link, and it works for postal codes too..
posted by Chuckles at 10:08 AM on March 17, 2007

Chuckles, the one I link to works worldwide, though it has the address lookup for the US. The geocode.ca doesn't work outside of the US and Canada. I won't be changing the link.
posted by mathowie (staff) at 10:19 AM on March 17, 2007

OK, I see.. It says "OR", but what it means is "AND". If you fill in all fields (postal code, city, and country), it gives useful results. It does work though, which is good.
posted by Chuckles at 10:30 AM on March 17, 2007

After clearing my cache I'm now getting the video to go with the audio. Very spiff, Matt, thanks!
posted by rhapsodie at 11:34 AM on March 17, 2007

I'd encourage everyone to geocode their location, Jimbob has been doing some awesome GIS work with the info.
posted by Mitheral at 1:18 PM on March 17, 2007

After clearing my cache I'm now getting the video to go with the audio. Very spiff, Matt, thanks!

Ah, thank you rhapsodie. Clearing the cache worked for me too (after force refresh didn't). Thanks to mathowie, too. Neat!
posted by carsonb at 1:28 PM on March 17, 2007

Lovely, lovely new feature. Just one little question, is there some way we could substitute the icons? when someone makes two links in one word, like in this comment, it breaks up the word.

Other than that, it's really, really nice. Congrats mathowie.
posted by micayetoca at 3:08 PM on March 17, 2007

Just one little question, is there some way we could substitute the icons? when someone makes two links in one word, like in this comment, it breaks up the word.

Or maybe they could just stop making multiple mystery meat links in a single word which is fucking annoying.
posted by grouse at 4:59 PM on March 17, 2007

Very slick. Thanks Matt!
posted by i_am_a_Jedi at 6:28 PM on March 17, 2007

it's very nice, yes, but not worth losing all those wonderful images that have graced my user page for years. damn. damn and blast. i suppose there'll be no more emptying other mefites bank accounts via the pernicious image tag for me. it's so unfair...
posted by quonsar at 7:46 PM on March 17, 2007

Hmmm...tkchrist...hmmm.
posted by taosbat at 8:01 PM on March 17, 2007

"Yes, if you update your prefs you will lose images linked. But I will be adding a profile image thing soon, which would let you grab an image from flickr to associate with your account."

What if your image is not a photo (since Flickr is very high and mighty about not being an "image" hosting site)? Or, you know, hosted on your own domain, not some Fisher-Price I-can't-do-it-myself bullshit?
posted by Eideteker at 8:29 PM on March 17, 2007

Nicely done! Thanks, number one.
posted by deborah at 9:08 PM on March 17, 2007

Eideteker : Look. He's throwing you image fiends a bone. Take it or leave it.
posted by Dave Faris at 9:38 PM on March 17, 2007

This is sweet
posted by IronLizard at 9:45 PM on March 17, 2007

What if your image is not a photo (since Flickr is very high and mighty about not being an "image" hosting site)?

Flickr's fine with you hosting non-photos so long as it's not the majority of what you put up on Flickr. I realize you may just want to stomp your foot over something, but this is a solveable problem.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 10:46 PM on March 17, 2007

More importantly it's now March 18th. Only two days left for old skoolers to upload any pics they may want to appear in their profile.
posted by Mitheral at 3:09 AM on March 18, 2007

"I realize you may just want to stomp your foot over something"

I prefer to think of it as calling Matt on his unceasing bullshit. First they came for the images in our threads, then they came for the images in our profiles. Next, they'll be coming for the ones on our hard drives.
posted by Eideteker at 4:25 AM on March 18, 2007

Keep throwing yourself on the gears, man. Rage against the machine.
posted by Dave Faris at 6:41 AM on March 18, 2007

I love it.

Any chance of a preference that enables the same effect while browsing posts from the front page?

Great work, mathowie.
posted by defenestration at 10:35 AM on March 18, 2007

If it's an image that's been in our profile for years, there's no reason we should lose it, other than to be a dick about the img tag.
posted by Eideteker at 5:27 PM on March 18, 2007

Yes. Matt's a dick. Because you need your little bunny cartoon on your user page. He's a dick. Because of that. Your bunny cartoon.

You're joking, right?
posted by Dave Faris at 7:29 PM on March 18, 2007

Cool stuff matt! I especially like the theme option.

I've switched to the "plain" theme - while I think I might miss having the "blue", the "green" and the "grey" open in my browser, the plain theme makes it less obvious that I spend waaay too much time on MeFi :)
posted by your mildly obsessive average geek at 8:45 PM on March 18, 2007

Also, no more timezone crap, because I removed all references to custom timezone labels, and you now simply set an offset from the server time.

This might have been an issue before and I never noticed, but I now have to account for US Daylight Saving Time when determining my server offset. i.e. Since the UK did not change their clocks last week, I have to change my time offset in prefs so that I see posts with the correct time-relation. When the UK moves into summer time, I will once again need to change my preferences to adjust the offset.

Not a huge deal I guess, but if I cared about the times being accurate, a bit of a pain to stay on top of.
posted by medium format at 3:29 AM on March 19, 2007

The embedded youtube link in the AFSCME post appears to be broken for me. When I click on the icon the blue window pops in and the audio plays but there's no video. It's happpening on two different PCs, both running Firefox 2.0.0.2.
posted by SteveInMaine at 3:34 AM on March 19, 2007

Weird, it works now. Never mind the last comment.
posted by SteveInMaine at 3:36 AM on March 19, 2007

medium format, you had to do the same thing before, but in addition, there was an improper label on every timestamp on the site reminding everyone and getting people hung up on semantics of standard vs. daylight time.
posted by mathowie (staff) at 7:32 AM on March 19, 2007

I gathered as much. Thanks Matt.
posted by medium format at 8:23 AM on March 19, 2007

Teeny little issue, when the popup pops, it hangs rendering of the rest of the div until the youtube embed has loaded. Would a "Loading embedded video, click here to close" underneath where the video will appear (but logically before it in load order) be possible?
posted by Skorgu at 2:55 PM on March 19, 2007

Shenanigans
posted by prostyle at 4:41 PM on March 19, 2007

Great work Mr. Haughey.

The embedded video works fine in Safari on Mac OS X (10.4.9). But, as the embedded video takes time to load, you might want to put some visual loading indicator in the floating div (or whatever it is). Until the video is roughly 10% buffered, all I see is a blue box the dimensions of the embedded video—then, pop, the video appears 15 to 20 seconds later. Not a big problem though, just a small detail.

Also, I don't like “embedded video icon.” I think it breaks the flow of the text. Hyperlinks are a great solution because the hyperlink only changes the chroma or stylization of the text. While the embedded video icon awkwardly sits between a word and punctuation.

I would suggest making the embedded video button a superscript degree symbol, or superscript embedded video icon. Something that flows with the text similar to a recognized non-alphabetic character.

It's just a suggestion though. Pretty cool feature though. Thank you.
posted by Colloquial Collision at 5:52 AM on March 27, 2007

You realize that with this feature enabled, every post on the main page will be a link to one or more youtube videos (as opposed to the status quo, where it's just 90% of them...)
posted by drmarcj at 7:49 PM on March 27, 2007