Video source and URL
Which URLs are recognized, what the type field is for, and what happens with anything else.
The type field
Lesson video type offers three choices:
| Choice | Meaning |
|---|---|
| YouTube | The video is on YouTube |
| Vimeo | The video is on Vimeo |
| (empty) | Any other source, embedded directly |
The empty option's label says it plainly: leave it selected for other video sources.
The URL usually decides
Recognition is based on the URL. A link that is clearly YouTube or Vimeo is treated as such regardless of what the type field says, and many URL shapes are accepted for each provider.
That has two practical consequences:
- Pasting a normal watch URL is enough. You do not need to convert it into an embed URL.
- A stale type field is harmless when the URL is recognizable — which matters on lessons created before the current behavior.
Set the type field anyway. It is what handles the cases the URL cannot express, and it documents your intent.
URLs that work
For YouTube, the usual forms all work: a standard watch link, a short share link, an embed link, and the shorts and live forms.
For Vimeo, the standard video links work, including the player form and the channel and album variants.
Copy the URL from the browser's address bar, or use the platform's share option. Both give you something recognizable.
Other sources
A URL that is neither is embedded directly in a frame.
That covers self-hosted players, institutional platforms and providers with their own embed URLs — but the URL must be one that works inside a frame. A page designed to be visited, rather than embedded, will not render usefully.
For those sources, use the platform's embed URL rather than its page URL.
Common problems
| Symptom | Cause |
|---|---|
| Empty player | Embedding is disabled on the video's platform settings |
| Works for you, not for students | The video is private or unlisted and you are signed in to the platform |
| Nothing renders | The URL field is empty, or the URL is a page rather than an embeddable address |
| Player is the wrong size | The source's own embed sizing; check on a phone |
| Thumbnail is wrong | Set on the video platform, not in POM LMS |
Keep one provider per course
Mixing providers within a course produces different players, different controls and different behavior on mobile. Students notice.
Choose one for the course — ideally for the site — and stay with it.
Privacy and embedding
The video is served by its platform, which means that platform's tracking and cookie behavior applies to your lesson pages.
If the site publishes a cookie or privacy notice, make sure it covers the video provider you use. Some platforms offer a privacy-enhanced embedding mode; if you use it, test that lessons still render.
Verify
- Paste the URL and set the type.
- Open the lesson as a student and confirm the player appears.
- Play it while signed out of the video platform, in a private window.
- Confirm the thumbnail is right.
- Check it on a phone.
- Repeat once per provider you use.