10 Aug
2009
When embedding Flash objects such as flickr slideshows in posts on the free WordPress.com blogging platform, you may well run into difficulty. You grab the embed HTML code from the source site, paste the code into your post in WordPress, save your draft then – hang on a minute – where’s the embed code gone? The code gets stripped out.
I was stuck trying to embed this flickr slideshow a few weeks ago so I asked for help on Twitter. Josh R and Warren Pearce pointed me in the right direction, mentioning a workaround using Vodpod to convert the slideshow to video and then posting the video to WordPress.
After some further digging, I found a solution I quite liked within this post by Geeky Coder.
The method
- Go to flickr and login.
- View the photostream or set and choose to view as a slideshow.
- Open the share options and copy the embed HTML.
- Use the VodPod Firefox Extension for WordPress and paste the embed HTML (you’ll need to have already registered a Vodpod account).
- Preview the slideshow as a video.
- Post the newly-created video as a new draft in your WordPress.com blog. (This is my variation to the method described by Geeky Coder. I wanted to add copy text with the slideshow before sending the post live.)
Step-by-step video
Geeky Coder made this useful video with captions to walk you through the process. The embed HTML method starts at 1:00.
Post the Vodpod video to a new draft in WordPress.com
View a flickr set in slideshow mode and click the Post to WordPress extension in your Firefox toolbar. The Post video to your blog options appear in a popup.
Add your WordPress blog details and choose details » in the popup options:
Select the draft checkbox (and any other options you want):
Now choose the Publish button (nothing will go live on your blog at this point despite the confirmation screen in the Post video to your blog popup).
Go to your WordPress.com admin site and look in Posts > Edit. You should now have a new draft post:
Preview the post to see the video display just like an embedded flickr slideshow:
That’s it. You can now edit your post as normal, including the embedded HTML.
This post is a braindump of a workaround. While it’s partly for my own reference, I hope the workaround is useful to others. Please feel free to add any suggestions on making the process easier.
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8 comments
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[...] 15 tags: flickr, gallery, photography, slideshow, vodpod by nsaunders Not work-related but fun: How to embed a flickr slideshow in WordPress.com using Vodpod. Vodpod is new to me and quite amazing; I imagine this method will allow you to post any Flash with [...]
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Wow! this is so helpful! thanks so much! I was stuck for a bit there- thanks for the clear instruction.
Hey Allie, thanks for the comment. Glad you found the post useful!
You lost me at Vodpod FireFox extension. What if you are not using FireFox?
Hi Laurel. The extension works as a bookmarklet. Go to the bookmarklet page on VodPod and drag the ‘Post to WordPress’ button to your browser toolbar. This should work in any browser.
Is there a way I can have an auto-playing slideshow in wordpress.com (I don’t have a paid subscription)?
Also, Can I have in the sidebar (rather than in a post)? Thanks.
Hi Pulkit. I’m not aware of how to make the slideshow auto-play when it loads inside your post on WordPress.com.
I haven’t tried putting the slideshow in a sidebar though it looks possible. Do a draft post as normal containing the VodPod video. If you view your draft post in WordPress and select the HTML view, you can see the embed code for the VodPod video. You could copy this code and paste it into your sidebar.
Just wanted to say – thank you for this! Massive, massive help.
You’re welcome Chris – glad the post is useful to you.