Vital Video is a WordPress block plugin designed to improve Core Web Vitals performance when displaying YouTube videos.
Instead of traditional embedding, it provides a lightweight, performance-optimized solution that first loads a clickable video thumbnail.
The Vital Video Block doesn’t play videos in the WordPress editor. It’s designed to prioritize performance and user experience on your frontend. To test video behavior, simply preview your post or page.
Features
- Performance-first YouTube video display.
- Automatic video thumbnail and title retrieval.
- WebP image support for faster image loading.
- Customizable aspect ratios (4:3 and 16:9).
- Displays the video title in the image.
- Multiple thumbnail quality options.
- Minimal initial page load impact.
- Option to disable WebP images if unavailable.
- Advanced video playback controls.
- Uses YouTube's no-cookie thumbnail service.
- Respects modern browser autoplay policies.
- Alt text matches the video title.
-
Thumbnail dimensions set based on selected image size:
-
HQ (480x320): Default size
- SD (640x480): Standard size
- MAX (1280x720): Highest available resolution
Vital Video Settings
- Aspect Ratio: Choose between 16:9 and 4:3.
- Mute Toggle: Control video playback behavior.
- Thumbnail Quality: Select from High, Standard, or Maximum resolution.
- Disable WebP: Turn off WebP usage if unavailable.
Mute Toggle
The Mute Toggle feature is designed primarily for mobile devices, adhering to browser autoplay policies.
Mute Toggle Off (Sound On):
Videos require two clicks to start playing:
- The first click loads the video.
- The second click begins playback. Ideal for maintaining user control and preventing unexpected audio.
Mute Toggle On (Sound Off):
- Videos play with a single click.
- Automatically starts muted.
- Perfect for situations where immediate video playback is desired.
- Complies with browser autoplay restrictions.
Disable WebP Images
- WebP is enabled by default. Most thumbnails will use the WebP format.
- However, if you encounter a dummy placeholder image, try selecting a different thumbnail size to see if another WebP version exists.
- If no WebP images are available, you can enable the “Disable WebP Images” option as a last resort. This - will use fallback formats like JPG instead.
Only use “Disable WebP Images” when absolutely necessary!
You can install Vital Video in two ways:
Usage
- Activating the plugin
- Add a new block to your post or page.
- Select the "Vital Video" block.
- Paste a YouTube video URL.
- Customize Vital Video settings in the block inspector.