How to Add and Customize Video Headers in WordPress

This article can be a huge help to those who want to add and customize video headers in WordPress without much of a hassle around.

Integrating video materials into your web design can be of great assistance to your marketing efforts. All in all, the promotion of any blog or site, product, service, person, company or something else on the Internet through video materials is one of the powerful digital weapons you can ever use.

Our age is an age of videos and images, the majority of people don’t actually bother reading long texts, when they can just watch something and acquire the same information.

Hence, whenever there is a choice before the Internet user to know about something through the video or textual material, in the majority of cases, video materials win.

Well, if you are running a WordPress powered tiny blog or a wide scale business website, taking care of the optimal quantity of videos showcased in your profile is a must.

However, we are not saying that you need to post videos and make them have large backgrounds or occupy large spaces to be effective. In certain cases, they can be of a smaller caliber and located somewhere in your site, for example, in header.

Why do you need to add video headers in WordPress?

Adding video material to your site’s welcome page in the header area can be a true inspiration for the website visitors to explore your virtual ream further.

It can effortlessly amplify the true message of your site and prove that it’s worth spending time on your profile with more valuable information coming ahead.

Add video headers in WordPress and give your first time or potential visitors a truly excellent visual experience that quickly reveals what your website or blog is about.

How to add and customize video headers in WordPress?

The support of video materials in headers like decorative elements was introduced in WordPress 4.7 with a tag the_custom_header_markup(). From a technical viewpoint, the added video plays automatically on your header without a sound.

Thus, if you are using a relatively new WordPress template that comes with video header support, you are free to add and customize video headers in WordPress.

In order to add videos in header, firs of all, you need to add video support for custom headers:

add_theme_support( 'custom-header', array(
 'video' => true,
) );

The next step is to display your video in header. For this, you need to add the_custom_header_markup () to specify the place you want it to show up.

Once you are successfully done with this part, you can pass on to configuring specific display conditions and more.

In WordPress, you are authorized to set the pages you want your videos to be showcased on. You can even restrict them from certain viewport sizes. In this relation, use header_video_settings filter to set the required values and configure settings.

add_filter( 'header_video_settings', 'my_header_video_settings');
function my_header_video_settings( $settings ) {
  $settings['minWidth'] = 680;
  $settings['minHeight'] = 400;
  return $settings;
}

You can also use the same filter to change different elements of text. Here are all the possible options for you to set and apply:

add_filter( 'header_video_settings', 'my_header_video_settings');
function my_header_video_settings( $settings ) {
  $settings['l10n'] = array(
    'pause'      = __( 'Pause It' ),
    'play'       =__( 'Play It' ),
    'pauseSpeak' = __( 'Video stopped.'),
    'playSpeak'  = __( 'Video started.'),
  );
  return $settings;
}

Currently, mp4, mov files and YouTube videos can be hosted by WP based website’s header. However, if you want to display a video in other format, you can do that as well.

At this point, you have to create custom video handlers to support the needed format and change the validations in the customizer so that those handlers can work smoothly. Use customize_validate_external_header_video and customize_validate_header_video to customize validation functions.

If you think that the steps set below are somewhat tricky for you, you can find an easier way to add and customize video headers in WordPress via the available plugins.

Video Background:

Video Background authored by Blake Wilson is one of the handy tools to get things flowing when it comes to adding video background headers and not only.

This plugin is lightweight and intuitive in usage while letting you add video backgrounds to each and every website element.

This convenient tool is available both in free and premium versions, the second one with YouTube and Visual Composer support. All in all, there are 4 required fields and 5 supplementary options in case you want your video header stand out with a unique charm, color, level of transparency, etc.

Video Gallery – YouTube Gallery:

Easy Video Background WP is the next noteworthy solution to have video backgrounds added across your website or blog.

With this plugin you are going to save tons of nerves since it is surprisingly intelligent and takes care of every detail to showcase your video headers stunningly.

All in all, it comes with YouTube and native video support, pause, play, mute toggle and other controls. It also includes Flash Fallback for mobile devices when they don’t support HTML5 video tag.

YouTube Embed WordPress:

YouTube Embed WordPress is the shortest path to having YouTube videos supported on your WordPress powered site. User friendly and intuitive backend is at your disposal to add and customize video materials to generate more user attention and result in better client engagement.

While this plugin is custom built to add videos on posts and pages, widgets, set YouTube player width, height, autoplay option and more, with this plugin you can also add video materials both in header and footer of your site by the application of YouTube Embed plugin shortcode.

Custom Headers and Footers:

Alternatively, you can rely on Custom Headers and Footers whenever you want to add and customize video headers in WordPress. This plugin is amazingly neat and accurate while working and help you avoid unpleasant visualizations of your video materials.

Elements kit Elementor add-ons (Header & Footer Builder, Mega Menu Builder, Layout Library)

Another way to customize the video header is by using simple yet another WordPress tool known as Elements kit Elementor add-ons. It is a customize video headers plugin in WordPress useful for elementor page builder users.

This tool is useful to customize the header and footer, layout of library and mega menu. This plugin is created by Wpmet. The plugin is updated about 2 weeks ago which has more than 60,000 active installation.

In simple this plugin can be used as an elementor extension. This plugin is coded with the PHP version 5.6. You will get the access to more than 40 custom widgets so that you can create any type of website very easily.

This plugin is considered to be unique and powerful because in a single tool you will get the access to image pickers, advance widgets, Ajax selec2, etc.

Video Slider – Slider Carousel

Video Slider is a customize video headers plugin in WordPress that is open source software. You can create most attractive slideshow with this plugin.

It has rich and responsive designs and layouts that will look awesome on every small and big device. The plugin has countless sliders and video options.

You will get complete access to 200 styling options. You can customize the design as you want. More than 7000 active installation have been made already.

The plugin is multilingual friendly but Marathi language is not supportable. Video Slider plugin supports Safari, Chrome, YouTube, Vevo, Vimeo, MP4 videos, etc.