The video streaming and video sharing landscape has been significantly transformed by technology, reaching an estimated $154 billion in over-the-top (OTT) video revenue in 2022, with the United States holding the largest share worldwide. The number of OTT users has risen to around 3.5 billion as of April 2023. This has been due to the ease of accessing content without the need for cable or satellite subscriptions. Subscription video-on-demand (SVOD), a service allowing users to stream unlimited digital video content at a fixed rate, reached a global total of 1.2 billion subscriptions in 2021, a figure projected to grow by over 400 million within six years.

What is Video Streaming and Sharing Website?

Video Streaming and Sharing Websites are basically Online Video Platforms (OVPs). They are a product of video hosting services, allowing users to upload, convert, store, and playback video content on the internet. This is often facilitated through a large-scale, structured server system with specialized capabilities. Users typically upload video content via integrated video hosting services for mobile or desktop applications, or other interfaces such as APIs. The video content uploaded can be shared with other users and platforms through internal or external APIs. These video files can range from short clips to full-length TV shows and movies. An example of a video streaming and video sharing website is YouTube.

Model and Infrastructure

These Video Platforms can operate on various business models, including software as a service (SaaS), eLearning, do-it-yourself (DIY), or user-generated content (UGC) models. They come equipped with an end-to-end infrastructure for uploading, sharing, encoding, managing, playing back, styling, delivering, distributing, downloading, publishing, and measuring the quality of service or audience engagement quality of the experience of online video content. This is usually manifested as a User Interface with login credentials.

Playback and Analytics

They also provide a custom video player or a third-party video player that can be embedded in a website. Video Platforms not only collect data for themselves but are also required to provide online video analytics to video publishers. It contains detailed insights into video performance, such as the total number of video views, impressions, unique views, video watch time, stats on user location, visits, and behavior on the site.

Security

Some video platforms with premium content require encryption of content with DRM, which increases the cost of using the service. Videos may be transcoded from their original source format or resolution to an encrypted format which further uses a dynamic key exchange mechanism during the playback. For maximum security, the key does not reflect under network and other transfer mechanism and get stored in a device-enabled black box.

Preliminary Considerations for Video Streaming and Video Sharing Website

Before launching into the creation of a video streaming and video sharing website, it’s essential to lay down some groundwork. Here’s what some objectives to ponder over:

Defining Your Target Audience

Your target audience is the group of people who will be most interested in your product. A target audience profile typically includes specifics such as location, age, gender identification, job title, industry, education level, household income, interests, hobbies, and platform usage. For example, brands like Nike and Starbucks target influential individuals and higher-income professionals, respectively, tailoring their marketing strategies to these specific groups. You can hold a consumer analysis survey to know answers about user needs, pains, and gains.

Identifying Your Niche

Identifying your niche involves defining what makes your platform unique. In the video streaming market, there are over 3.5 billion users worldwide as of April 2023, with the highest share of revenue generated by Subscription Video-On-Demand (SVOD) channels. Yet, other video streaming options also exist such as pay-per-view, broadcaster video-on-demand, ad-supported video-on-demand, and hybrid platforms like HBO Max, Disney+, and Netflix. Understanding these nuances can help you carve out a unique space in the market. This niche can be language localization, regional content, field-specific training videos, etc.

Studying the Competition

Look at what successful competitors are doing right. By April 2023, the number of OTT video users worldwide stood at around 3.5 billion, with major streaming services like Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, and Disney+ leading the market. Also, consider video-sharing platforms such as Utreon, Dailymotion, Metacafe, TikTok, Facebook Watch, Twitch, and others. Examining their history, strategies, and algorithms can provide insights into what works and what to avoid.

Building Your Brand Identity

Your brand identity is how your business presents itself to and is perceived by the world. It should be built around your target audience and unique selling points. For example, the video-sharing platform TikTok is known for its short-form video content, appealing to a younger, more digitally native audience. Moreover, the brand identity must be consistently communicated across all channels and touchpoints to create a unified and recognizable image for your platform. Keep in mind the concepts of positioning and messaging before spreading the word about your brand identity.

Technical Aspects of a Video-Sharing Website

Understanding the Technical Infrastructure

Video streaming and video sharing website require a complex technical infrastructure to function effectively. Crucial components of such a video platform include a content management system for backend and end users, a video player, API or SDK-based integration, and a streaming server. The content management system allows backend handling via a dashboard, and frontend application for user upload, storage, management of videos, and also for displaying analytics. The video player enables users to view the videos, sharing functions can be easily integrated via APIs, and the streaming server delivers the video content to the user’s device.

Many advanced methods of video delivery like adaptive bitrate streaming (ABR), delivery via CDNs, and CMAF are also utilized to enhance user experience with fast and optimal delivery. ABR works by dynamically adjusting the quality of a video’s delivery in real-time, based on the network and device capabilities of the viewer. Similarly, CDNs use a large network of servers that make copies of the video content to deliver it from the nearest requested node.

Choosing a Domain Name and Hosting Provider

The domain name being the online identity of your business should be memorable, easy to spell, and reflect your brand, niche, or the content of your site. You can purchase your desired domain name from domain registries, provided it’s still available. Some popular hosting providers include Google Domain (Now Squarespace), AWS Route 53, Bluehost, HostGator, etc.

Considering Storage and Bandwidth Requirements

Storage and bandwidth are two different and critical factors to consider when setting up a video streaming and sharing website. Storage refers to the amount of space required to store all the video files, while bandwidth refers to the amount of data that will be transferred from your server to your viewers during the playback.

The storage requirements mainly depend on the number, size of the videos, frame rate, resolution, and bitrates of videos. For example, UHD videos will require more storage space than HD videos. As for bandwidth, you’ll need enough to handle the maximum number of viewers you expect to have at any one time. You can basically think of it as if you have a 1GB video and it gets watched once till the end, then the bandwidth consumed will also be 1GB.

Additionally, if your video URLs are getting leaked due to security issues, then it might add to your bills because of bandwidth leeching. This means that unauthorized users will keep utilizing your bandwidth and the cost need to be borne by you.

Choosing the Right Platform and Technology

Website Development from Scratch vs. Using a Platform

When launching a video streaming and video sharing website, choosing between developing from scratch or using a Content Management System (CMS) platform is a critical decision. A custom-built website created by an in-house or outsourced team of developers allows for a unique design and functionality but is often more costly and time-consuming. On the other hand, CMS platforms offer templates that can serve as a basis for your website, saving time and financial resources​.

While a custom-built website can be tailored to your unique needs and potentially yield greater profits over time, a CMS-based site provides quicker development and user-friendly templates. Concerning security, a trusted team of developers could even implement basic encryption and further maintenance of the custom site could be outsourced. Alternatively, even with a CMS-based platform, a company could manage its video security at a very affordable cost by outsourcing it to a secure video hosting platform.

Performance-wise, a custom-built site only includes necessary code, potentially leading to improved speed and performance. In contrast, with a CMS, certain elements in templates and plugins could slow down the website. For plug-ins and extensions, control over their features is usually limited, and your site could become dependent on the updates and security of the company that created the extensions. Also, there are many CMS like Django admin which can provide scalability and speed.

Review of Popular CMS and LMS

When considering a platform for video streaming and sharing, both WordPress and Moodle come with distinct advantages. WordPress, a popular CMS, offers flexibility and numerous plugins for live streaming like WpStream, VdoCipher, and various others. These plugins enable you to integrate third-party solutions, apply DRM encryption to your videos, stream live content directly on your site, and bring your streaming audience to your website.

On the other hand, Moodle, a leading LMS, provides integration with advanced video hosting solutions like the VdoCipher plugin and live streaming plugins. It also supports video embedding from YouTube and other third-party websites, facilitating easy video sharing in an educational context.

Understanding Video Encoding and Formats

Video formats refer to how video information is stored on digital devices or servers, which consists of two main components: the Codec and the Container. The Codec, an acronym for compressor/decompressor, reduces the storage required for each video file. Codecs can be either lossy or lossless, impacting the quality and size of the video file​.

The Container keeps all the elements of a file together for synchronous playback, holding data related to audio and video. Some containers can also hold metadata and subtitles, identifiable by their file extensions like .mp4, .mov, and .avi​.

Among the many video formats, MP4 and MOV are quite common. MP4 is universally compatible and capable of storing various data types, making it a popular choice for online platforms like YouTube and Facebook. MOV, developed by Apple for QuickTime Player, is highly regarded in the film industry due to its multi-track capabilities, high quality, and ease of editing. However, it’s not as widely playable across devices as MP4, and its high quality comes with larger file sizes. Also, technologies like CMAF can also be used to combine file formats like mp4 and mpd to mp4d.

Considering Mobile Responsiveness and App Development

When building a video streaming and sharing website, it’s crucial to consider mobile responsiveness and app development. Today, a significant portion of video content is consumed on mobile devices, and your platform must cater to this audience.

To ensure mobile responsiveness, choose a platform that supports adaptive designs. For instance, WordPress offers a variety of mobile-responsive themes. The WPtouch Mobile Plugin makes your WordPress website mobile-friendly and provides a simple, elegant mobile theme for mobile visitors.

For developing an Android or iOS mobile app, using a hybrid mobile app development framework like React Native or Flutter can help you create an app for multiple platforms (Android, iOS) using the same code base.

Designing the User Interface and User Experience

Principles of Effective UI/UX Design

When designing the UI/UX for your video streaming and video sharing website, keep the following principles in mind:

Simplicity: Aim for a clean and minimalist design that allows users to focus on the content. Avoid cluttered layouts or overwhelming visual elements.

Consistency: Maintain consistency in typography, color scheme, and overall design across all pages. Consistent design elements help users navigate the website effortlessly.

Responsiveness: Ensure your website is responsive and adapts well to different screen sizes and devices for users on desktops, laptops, tablets, and mobile devices.

Accessibility: Include accessibility features to your website, app, and video like multi-language text support for a wide range of users, including those with disabilities. Consider incorporating features like keyboard navigation and alternative text for images.

Creating Intuitive Navigation and Search Functions

Here are some tips to achieve an intuitive navigation system for users to easily find and explore content.

• Include a text field and a search button: In the search box users write their queries, and with a search button, users click to initiate a search. Visitors should also be able to launch their search by either clicking the search button or pressing the “Enter”/“Return”/”Go” key when the search box is in focus.
• Place in an expected location: Websites that allow site searches tend to place the search bar in either the top-right or top-center of the web page. Also, it’s likely your users will want to conduct searches on other web pages besides your homepage. Placing the search bar in your header across most pages ensures users can do this from any site location.
• Include the search icon: Designers use icons to visually convey what a button or other page element does. The magnifying glass icon is a widespread symbol of search, so it’s recommended to include it in your interface. There are a few ways to add this icon to your bar: place it on the search button, inside the search box, or on a button that hides/reveals the entire search bar.
• Size appropriately: The size of your search bar will depend on its importance on your site and the expected length of a typical query.
• Clear Menu Structure: Organize your website’s content into logical categories and create a clear menu structure. Use descriptive labels for menu items, ensuring users can quickly understand where they will be directed.
• Search Functionality: Implement a robust search feature that allows users to find videos based on keywords, tags, or categories. Provide relevant search suggestions and filters to help users narrow down their search results.
• Breadcrumbs: Include a breadcrumb trail to show users their current location within the website hierarchy. Breadcrumbs enable users to backtrack and explore related content easily.

Designing Effective Video Thumbnails and Previews

Engaging video thumbnails and previews can significantly impact user engagement. Consider the following when designing them:

High-Quality Thumbnails: Use high-resolution images or video frames that accurately represent the content of the video. A visually appealing thumbnail can capture the user’s attention and entice them to click and watch.

Playful Previews: Offer short video previews that automatically play when the user hovers over or clicks on a thumbnail. These previews should provide a glimpse of the video’s content and pique the user’s interest.

Customizable Thumbnails: Allow video uploaders to select or upload their own thumbnail image. This enables them to showcase the most compelling frame or image that best represents their video.

Enabling User Profiles and Social Interaction Features

User Profiles: Allow users to create profiles where they can manage their uploaded videos, create playlists, and customize their preferences. Profiles help users establish an identity and facilitate personalized experiences.

Social Sharing: Enable users to share videos easily on social media platforms, expanding the reach of your website’s content. Use professional tools-Hootsuite or Hootsuite alternatives to better manage and plan all types of content and interactions. Incorporate social sharing buttons for popular platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. For mobile apps, you can use OS advanced sharing options, that allow you to share to nearly all messaging apps available in the device.

Comments and Likes: Implement a commenting system that allows users to leave feedback and engage in discussions around videos. Additionally, provide a like or thumbs-up feature to allow users to express their appreciation for videos. Such engagement can be motivated through external triggers like notifications and also by internal triggers of boredom, etc.

Recommendations and Playlists: Leverage algorithms and user data to provide personalized video recommendations and allow users to create and share playlists. This enhances the user experience by offering tailored content suggestions.

Implementing Video Upload with required technicalities

To enable users to upload their videos to your website, you need to implement robust video upload and processing features. Here’s how you can accomplish this:

• File Upload: Create a user-friendly interface that allows users to select and upload their video files. Use appropriate file size and format limitations to ensure compatibility and optimize storage space.
• File Import: Many times users need to transfer all video files from their existing video hosting setup to a secure and advanced option. In such a scenario a video streaming platform must allow importing video files from various options like Drive, Vimeo paid, etc.
• Video Validation: Implement a validation process to ensure the uploaded video meets the required specifications. Validate the file format, size, and duration to prevent the upload of corrupted or inappropriate files.
• Cloud Storage: Utilize cloud storage services like S3 to securely store and manage uploaded videos. Cloud storage offers scalability and ensures the availability of videos across different devices and locations.
• Video Encoding and Transcoding: Convert uploaded videos into different formats and resolutions to support various devices and internet connection speeds. Use video encoding and transcoding techniques to optimize file size and maintain video quality.

Note: Setting up video upload, streaming, encoding, CDN, import modules, custom video player, ABR, DRM, and other such things requires above-average technical skills. Even then creating a bug-free code takes time. Thus, it is advised to use a third-party video hosting solution like VdoCipher with more features than what is being described here.

Creating Video Playback and Streaming Capabilities

To deliver high-quality video playback and streaming experiences, consider the following features:

• Video Player Integration: Integrate a reliable and customizable video player into your website. HTML5 video players with support for adaptive streaming protocols like HLS (HTTP Live Streaming) and DASH (Dynamic Adaptive Streaming over HTTP) are recommended.
• Adaptive Bitrate Streaming (ABR): Implement ABR techniques to dynamically adjust the video quality based on the user’s internet connection. ABR ensures smooth playback by automatically switching to the most suitable bitrate for the user’s network conditions.
• CDN Integration: Utilize Content Delivery Network (CDN) services to distribute and deliver video content efficiently. CDNs store and serve videos from multiple geographic locations, reducing latency and improving streaming performance.
• Video Playback Controls: Provide essential video playbacks controls such as play, pause, seek, volume, and fullscreen options. Consider adding additional features like playback speed adjustment and subtitle support to enhance the viewing experience. You might also need a custom and secure video player as per your branding needs.

Ensuring User Privacy and Security

Implement the following measures to safeguard user information:

• Secure User Authentication: Use strong encryption and security protocols to handle user authentication and session management. Implement mechanisms like two-factor authentication to enhance account security.
• Secure Data Transmission: Encrypt user data during transmission using SSL/TLS protocols to prevent unauthorized interception and ensure data integrity. For video security, it is best to use a multi-DRM-enabled video hosting solution.
• Privacy Policies and Consent: communicate your website’s privacy and data policies to obtain user consent for data collection, third-party cookies, storage, and usage.
• User Data Protection: Implement measures to secure user data, including robust access controls, Geo-restriction, data backups, etc. Plus, use Excel alternative that can safeguard user data effectively, ensuring comprehensive protection beyond what traditional spreadsheets can provide.

Ensuring the security of your video content is crucial to prevent unauthorized access and distribution. While DRM offers significant protection, understanding its limitations is also important. Learn more about why is DRM not enough to protect video piracy.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) for Video Websites

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) plays a critical role in the success of video-sharing websites. Video SEO, in particular, is often underutilized but can significantly contribute to an overall SEO strategy. Video streaming web pages should align with your overall SEO strategy and generate a return on investment (ROI).

In general, video SEO works by optimizing video content, tags, descriptions, and video sitemaps to make them more discoverable by search engines. The key is to make your video content visible to the right people. It’s important to note that while YouTube SEO focuses on optimizing videos for the YouTube platform, video SEO is platform-agnostic, aiming to enhance video visibility across various platforms.

Alternatively, google also provides an option to add a video schema object via JSON-LD on all pages with video content. This helps Google index the video with all relevant information like title, description, etc. This schema let Google display your video content as rich snippets on queries related to your videos.

Monetization Strategies for Video Streaming and Video Sharing Website

Creating a successful video streaming and video sharing website involves more than just providing engaging content. It also involves implementing strategic monetization models that generate revenue while maintaining a positive user experience.

Monetization model choice depends largely on your target audience, the type of content you offer, and your overall business goals. For instance, if your platform hosts exclusive content, a subscription-based model might be most profitable. On the other hand, if your audience is broad and diverse, advertising could be a more effective strategy.

With Advertising as a monetization strategy, you can avail of several formats at your disposal. Banner ads can be strategically placed on your website to attract attention without disrupting the user experience. In-video ads can be implemented in pre-, mid-, or post-roll positions throughout your streams, providing a direct way to monetize your content.

Sponsored content and affiliate marketing are other viable options, which involve partnering with brands or companies to create content that promotes their products or services. This not only provides a revenue stream but also offers added value to your viewers if the sponsored content placement aligns with their interests. Affiliate marketing involves promoting a third party’s product or service in your video content, and earning a commission for any sales made through your referral.

Other modes like Paid memberships and Pay-Per-View (PPV), are effective for platforms with high-quality and exclusive content and users can get access to content for a monthly or yearly fee. PPV, on the other hand, charges users for individual pieces of content. This model is ideal for one-time events or exclusive content that has a high perceived value, like a live concert or a high-profile interview.

VdoCipher as a solution to piracy

One of the major concerns that video streaming websites and video content creators often face is video piracy. A solution to this concern is implementing a multi-DRM-enabled secure video streaming like VdoCipher.

VdoCipher is a video hosting and streaming service that offers the highest level of security against piracy. The platform ensures that your content is protected from unauthorized downloads and distribution, which are common issues faced by video-sharing platforms. The security is based on a combination of multiple technologies including DRM (Digital Rights Management), dynamic watermarking, screen capture protection, and IP and geographic restrictions.

DRM is a technology used to protect the copyright of digital media. VdoCipher provides Google Wideine and Apple Fairplay DRM to ensure that your videos are encrypted and can only be played as per your authorization.

Dynamic watermarking is another layer of security VdoCipher provides. It overlays a user-specific watermark (like email or user ID) on the video, which discourages users from recording the screen and distributing it, as it could lead to the identification of the source.

Screen capture protection and IP and geographic restrictions further enhance the security of your content. The former prevents viewers from recording the video using screen capture tools, while the latter allows you to control where and by whom your content can be viewed.

The integration of VdoCipher into your video-sharing and streaming website is made easy with APIs and SDKs provided for various platforms.

FAQs

How to stream video from AWS S3 bucket?

Create an AWS account, then create an S3 bucket, upload your video, make it public, and then use the S3 object URL to stream the video.

What does OTT stand for?

OTT stands for “Over The Top”, which refers to content providers that distribute streaming media directly to viewers over the internet, bypassing traditional cable or satellite television platforms

How much does it cost to make a website like Netflix?

As of 2023 web development project cost, it can range from $10,000 to $50,000 for a basic version, and for a more advanced version with more features, it can go up to $50,000 to $100,000. Remember that this figure is only for website development and not app development.

How much does it cost to develop an OTT app in India?

The cost to develop an OTT app in India in 2023 can range from $25,000 to $60,000 depending on the complexity and features of the app.

Vishal Sharma

My expertise focuses on DRM encryption, CDN technologies, and streamlining marketing campaigns to drive engagement and growth. At VdoCipher, I’ve significantly enhanced digital experiences and contributed to in-depth technical discussions in the eLearning, Media, and Security sectors, showcasing a commitment to innovation and excellence in the digital landscape.

The post How to make a Video Streaming and Video Sharing Website appeared first on VdoCipher Blog.

Domain

The domain name is the address of your website on the internet. It is how people will find your website. Just like YouTube, You need to choose a domain name that is easy to remember and spell.

There are a few steps you need to follow in order to create a domain for your website:

• Choose a domain name that represents your brand or website. It ideally should be short and easy to remember.
• Check for availability and register your domain name with a reputable domain name registrar.
• Configure your DNS settings to point your domain name to your web hosting account.
• Upload sample html files to your web hosting home directory for testing.
• Test your website to make sure it is accessible from your domain name.

Video Hosting

There are a number of video hosting platforms available on the internet, each with their own unique set of features. A video hosting service allows users to upload, view, and share videos. These videos can be either public or private. Public videos can be viewed by anyone, while private videos can only be viewed by users who have been invited by the video owner. Such restrictions get placed through encryption and access management via licensing authority. We have only included options that are highly scalable and also with DRM Encryption features like VdoCipher to prevent video piracy.

Best Hosting for Video Website

Best Option of Video Hosting for those looking for a YouTube-like experience is AWS. This video hosting platform offers a variety of technical features and options for both creators and viewers, and is a great option for those who want to share their videos with a large audience.

Another best option if you’re looking for a video hosting platform that is specifically designed for businesses, then you may want to check out Google Cloud Storage. It must be noted that AWS and GCS do not provide DRM encryption with storage and it must be separately implemented via platforms like VdoCipher.

VdoCipher – Secure Video Hosting

VdoCipher is a popular secure video hosting platform that offers high quality video playback and a variety of features for creators and viewers alike. One of the great things about VdoCipher is that it offers DRM encrypted Video Streaming. It also provides a trial account and usage calculator, so you can choose the level of service that best suits your needs.

VdoCipher video hosting offers a great video streaming experience to your users while ensuring that your videos are well protected. The videos hosted on VdoCipher are encrypted using the most secure Google Widevine and Apple Fairplay DRM Encryption and the video player offers seamless playback on any device.

Apart from the security features, they have Dynamic Watermarking with logo/image/viewer details, AWS powered server and CDN infrastructure with adaptive bitrate playback and multi-language subtitles support. They have also included OTP-based playback, Easy to integrate APIs, SDKs and plugins for WordPress, Moodle, etc.

Key Features to have for Video Hosting

When it comes to video hosting for large websites like YouTube, there are a few key features that are absolutely essential. Here are some of the must-have video hosting features for large websites like YouTube:

• Video Security – If you want your videos to be protected from piracy, then your video hosting solution must have encrypted streaming preferably via DRM. This means ensuring that your videos are properly encrypted and have dynamic keys for access moderation.
• Scalability – The ability to scale up your video hosting solution as your website grows is essential. You don’t want to be stuck with a video hosting solution that can’t handle the traffic and demand of your website.
• Reliability – Your video hosting solution must be reliable. Your website’s visitors won’t tolerate videos that constantly buffer or freeze. Make sure your video hosting solution can handle a large number of concurrent connections and has a robust infrastructure.
• Video Analytics – Having detailed video analytics is important for understanding your website’s visitors and their viewing habits. With video analytics, you can track things like the average viewing time, completion rate, and which videos are being watched the most.
• Flexibility – Your video hosting solution should be flexible enough to accommodate different types of videos. For example, you should be able to host both live and on-demand videos.
• Customer Support – If you run into any problems with your video hosting solution, you’ll want to be able to reach customer support easily. Make sure the video hosting provider you choose offers 24/7 customer support.

Backend and Website Technology

Backend is like a backbone of your website. It is server-side and is the section that users don’t see. Backend-end development is the process of building and maintaining the technology needed to deliver content, services, and applications over the internet. Any site or application you use that delivers content, services, or applications is built on a backend.

The backend consists of three parts: a server, an application, and a database. A backend developer builds and maintains the technology needed to power the components which enable the user-facing side of the website to exist.

Popular Language/Technologies

Here are some popular backend technologies with a capacity to scale.

PHP – It is a programming language that is used for server-side web development. PHP is a widely used, free, and efficient alternative to competitors such as Microsoft’s ASP. It is mainly focused on server-side scripting, so you can do anything any other CGI program can do, such as collect form data, generate dynamic page content, or send and receive cookies. But PHP can do much more.

Python – Python is a versatile language for backend development, allowing developers to build a range of applications and services. Python is known for its ease of use and readability, making it a great choice for beginners. One of the key advantages of Python for backend development is its wide range of web development libraries like Django and Flask. Python libraries can help you with everything from parsing data to building complex applications. Another advantage of Python is its scalability. Python applications can be deployed on a range of hardware and scaled up or down as needed. This makes Python a good choice for developing large-scale applications.

Node.js – It is a popular backend technology that enables developers to create scalable, high-performance applications. It is built on top of the JavaScript V8 engine, which makes it extremely fast. Node.js also has a large and vibrant community, which makes it easy to find support and resources.

Golang (Go) – Golang is an excellent choice for a backend project like YouTube. It is fast, efficient, and has excellent support for concurrency. Additionally, the Golang standard library includes a rich set of libraries for working with video and audio files, making it an ideal choice for a video streaming website. Django and Golang are both getting used by YouTube currently.

Other Server-side setup & Database

To manage the content, users and their data, a website like YouTube needs a vast database. The chosen database stores the content of a website in a structured format for CRUD operation or to retrieve, organize, edit and save data. Additionally the backend runs on a remote computer known as Server. Some popular web servers used for backend development are Apache HTTP Server, Nginx, and Microsoft IIS. Some popular databases used are MySQL, PostgreSQL, and MongoDB.

Frontend

The frontend of a website is the part of the site that visitors see and interact with. It allows users to interact with the website and play videos, highlight text and much more. This includes the design, layout, and content of the site, UI elements like the navigation bar. In this stage, you can already use the best Figma mockup plugin to try out various designs, do A/B testings, and come up with the best visual possible. The main difference between the front end and the back end is the programming language. Front end developers primarily use HTML, CSS, JavaScript while backend developers use PHP, Python, Ruby, Java, Golang (Go) and .Net. Secondly, the front end is the user interface while the back end is the server, application, and database that store or process data.

The frontend for a website like YouTube is important for creating an appealing and user-friendly interface. It includes everything from building a basic HTML text page to responsive HTML5 websites designed for access via various devices and screen size. Front End Developers use HTML, CSS, Javascript, and their relevant frameworks to develop the website smoothly. It basically concerns the UI and user experience of the end user. The best possible frontend features include accessibility, simplicity, proper UI and clarity.

The front end of a video website like YouTube must include a search bar, video player, and related videos section. The search bar allows users to search for specific videos whereas the video player allows users to watch videos. The related videos section provides users with a list of videos that are related to the video they are currently watching.

If you are using CMS like WordPress or Joomla, you can also use pre-built front-end templates that look like YouTube. Otherwise a front-end developer can create the YouTube-like design using HTML, CSS and Javascript.

Search, Categorization & Filters

Video hosting websites typically have a search function that allows users to find videos based on keywords. The search functionality on a website is important because it allows users to quickly and easily find the information they are looking for. A good search can make a website more user-friendly and can help to increase traffic. This is important because it allows users to find the content they are looking for quickly and easily.

• There should be a search bar on the website where users can type in the keywords and the website will show the results that are relevant to the keywords.
• The search should be placed in a location that is easy to find and use. A good rule of thumb is to place the search near the top of the page.
• Categorization on a website helps to organize the website’s content and make it easier for visitors to find what they’re looking for. Categories can also be used to highlight certain types of content, making it more visible to visitors.
• In addition, search engines use the categories to index and rank the website, so it is important to have well-organized category pages to ensure that the website is properly indexed and ranked by search engines.

There are many reasons why it is important to add filters to a website. Filters can help improve the user experience by allowing users to find what they are looking for more easily. They can also help to improve the quality of the content on the site by allowing users to filter out content that is not relevant to them. Creating sections like latest and trending are part of providing a filter on the basis of timestamp and views. Additionally, filters can help to protect the site from spam and other malicious content.

Social Sharing

A social sharing icon on a website is a small icon that allows visitors to share content from the website on social media platforms. The social sharing option is one of the most important features of a video website like YouTube.The social sharing option on a website allows visitors to share content with their social networks. It allows users to share videos with their friends and followers on social media platforms. This can increase traffic to the website, as well as create word-of-mouth marketing for the site This, in turn, helps to increase the visibility of the video and also helps to promote the website.

Every website has different needs and preferences for its social sharing options. However, some tips on how to choose social sharing options for a website include considering which social media platforms are most popular with the website’s target audience and providing share buttons for those platforms. Additionally, it is important to make sure that the share buttons are prominently displayed and easy to use.

Social buttons have the potential to increase your website reach but can also impact the website load speed, thus making it less user-friendly and less sustainable as well. Developers should explore the possibilities to minimize the impact of social buttons on the website’s performance.

Some factors to consider while designing social sharing options on a website include:

• Size and placement of the social sharing buttons
• Number of social networks to include
• Whether to include a share count
• The design of the social sharing buttons
• The functionality of the social sharing buttons

Comments and Review Sections

Comments are important in websites like YouTube because they provide a way for viewers to interact with the content and the creators. They can help to improve the quality of the content by providing feedback and suggestions. They can also help to build relationships between viewers and creators.

Most video hosting websites allow users to leave comments on videos. Comments can be either positive or negative. Positive comments can help to promote a video, while negative comments can discourage others from watching it.

Comments are also a vital part of any website that relies on user-generated content, like YouTube. They provide a way for users to interact with each other and the site itself, and they can offer valuable feedback and insights.

Without comments, YouTube would be a far less engaging and informative experience. They help to create a sense of community, and they can also be a great source of information and amusement. So if you’re not commenting on YouTube videos, you’re missing out!

It is advisable to allow comments only after authentication or login as this prevents spam and helps you increase your user database.

Login/Signup

Login/Signup on the website allows users to create a profile and log in to the website. This allows them to access their account information, create and manage their account, and view their account history. The best way to build a login/signup system on a website will vary depending on the specific needs of the website. However, some tips on how to build a login/signup system on a website include using a secure server for storing user information, using strong password requirements, and providing a way for users to recover their passwords if they forget them.

Signing in and logging on to a website is the first interaction users make with your site and business. The user onboarding experience is as important as other features. It is essential to make this beginning step easy for the user by designing usable sign-up and login forms. UX designers often consider this a simple step and ignore the minute detailing. Ignoring small features can hamper the overall experience of your website. Below are the features to consider while designing the onboarding page of your website.

• Allowing users to create an account
• one-click registration via social media accounts
• instant input validation
• Verifying user identity and account activation
• log in to an existing account
• Granting access to account features
• Collecting user information
• forgot password functionality, and log out
• Indicate clearly why the password is invalid
• Make login easier by providing remember me option
• Easy to remember security questions

There are many different ways that a login/signup page can be laid out, but a common layout includes input fields for a username and password, with a button to submit the login/signup information. There may also be links to other pages on the website, such as a forgot password page or a terms and conditions page. The following points are important while designing the login/signup page of your website.

• Should be visually appealing and match the overall theme of the website.
• Easy to use and have a clear and concise layout.
• Responsive and should work well on all devices
• Highly secured with a robust security system

Launching Websites like YouTube

Launching a website can be pretty challenging and stressful. Once your website is ready to go live, there are many minor to significant issues that you may have forgotten to address. It can be the wrong text, broken links or improper site redirects. Here are a few points you need to evaluate before the website launch.

Good Search Engine Optimization (SEO) implementation

SEO is important in website designing because it helps improve the visibility of a website on search engine results pages (SERPs). This can lead to more website visitors and potential customers. Good SEO affects the usability of a website, making it easier for users to find the information they need. Here are the SEO elements to check before launch:

• Proper keyword research to identify the most relevant keywords for your content
• Clear title tags for brief, accurate descriptions of the page’s content. They should encourage the visitor to click.
• A meta description is an attribute within your meta tags describing your page. It should be preferably 160 characters or less. Google and other search engines often show the meta description as a summary of the page. It should be clear, SEO optimized and describe what the visitors will see on that page.
• Internal linking is important for a website as it helps to improve the site’s overall link popularity and search engine ranking. Additionally, internal linking may increase the traffic flow to a website by providing links to popular or related content.
• There shouldn’t be multiple H1 tags on the page.
• There should not be thin content on a website. The content should be high-quality, unique, relevant and solve the user’s queries.
• Have an XML Sitemap to ease crawling of your website by search engines.
• A proper mix of anchor text pointing to your website. 20% branded anchors, 20% exact match, 20% topical match, and probably 20% naked URLs.
• All canonicalization issues must be fixed.
• Use compressed images to reduce page load time. Images must be optimized with keyword phrases in the file name and alt text.
• Videos on the website should not Miss Schema Markup. Add transcripts for videos on the page.
• The site load time must be ideally less than a second. Google recommends 2-3 seconds page load time.

Connect to Google Analytics or similar

Once your video website is launched, you need to monitor and analyze traffic to your website. Google analytics gives enormous information about how users interact with your site. Google Analytics 4 offers a new user interface and machine learning for improved data accuracy.

The following data is given by Google Analytics for your website:

• Where your visitors are coming from (location, age, gender, interest and more)
• How visitors found your website (traffic source)
• Keywords people are searching for to reach your webpage. It is an important consideration for SEO
• Average session duration
• Pageviews and bounce rate

Important Points

• Some video hosting websites also allow users to create and share video channels. Channels are collections of videos that are organized around a certain topic or theme. For example, a channel could be created for funny cat videos, or for cooking recipes.
• Some video hosting websites also have a rating system, where users can rate videos on a scale of one to five stars. This can be helpful in determining whether or not a video is worth watching.
• Check whether your website is crawlable. Using third-party tools, crawl your website and look for any errors on Google Search Console. You can also check whether your page is mobile-friendly on the Online Google Mobile Friendly Checker tool.
• All pages must display the correct status and show what that status is. This avoids crawling and indexing conflicts.
• A Content Delivery Network (CDN) can make the site speed faster.

FAQs

What are some common features of a video website?

A video website typically has a home page with featured videos, a video gallery, a search function, and categories for different types of videos.

How can I make my video website stand out from the rest?

You can do a few things to make your video website stand out. First, consider having a unique and interesting design. Second, make sure your site is easy to navigate and has a user-friendly interface. Finally, offer unique and high-quality content to keep viewers coming back for more.

What are some common mistakes developers make when designing a video website?

When designing a video website, some common mistakes include using too much text, confusing navigation systems, and not having good quality video content.

What are some things to keep in mind when implementing social sharing on a website?

It is important to consider which social platforms your audience is most active on. Additionally, make sure that your sharing buttons are placed in a prominent and easily accessible location on your site. Finally, your shared content must be of high quality and engaging to encourage social users to share it.

How can I make sure my website’s search feature is effective?

You can do a few things to make sure your website’s search feature is effective. First, make sure the search box is easily visible on your site. Second, make sure the search box is easily accessible from anywhere on the site. Third, use simple and clear language in the search box. Finally, test your search feature regularly to ensure it is working correctly.

Vishal Sharma

My expertise focuses on DRM encryption, CDN technologies, and streamlining marketing campaigns to drive engagement and growth. At VdoCipher, I’ve significantly enhanced digital experiences and contributed to in-depth technical discussions in the eLearning, Media, and Security sectors, showcasing a commitment to innovation and excellence in the digital landscape.

The post How to Create Video Hosting Website like YouTube as Streaming Platform appeared first on VdoCipher Blog.

For most of us, gaining knowledge is about collecting little chunks, snippets in day-to-day life. This knowledge is in the form of watching videos, accessing YouTube, Facebook and Twitter. Everything comes to our mind quickly and in small chunks. People now learn in a way that is most natural and comfortable to them. For many people, learning from texts can be pretty challenging. Video and audio dimensions to eLearning content development make the learning more easy and engaging. This is the demand now, so let’s start with different terminologies & checklists to help you set up your own platform.

1. Choosing your Backend, Frontend & other Server-side setups

Even as a beginner you would have known that Web Development is a combination of two dependencies namely, Frontend Development and Backend Development. Both facets have their respective set of mechanisms, tools and technologies.

1.1- No Code or Little Code Methods

Also, there is not a necessity that you need to go through the coding part. You can even do all the course and website creation by choosing a content management system. Different CMS or content management systems are available, having a different set of approaches and scopes.

For example, you can use an application-based LMS like Moodle or CMS like WordPress and Joomla where you require little to no coding. We can also achieve customizations via themes and available plugins. You can even use ready-to-launch teaching sites like Teachable, Thinkific, and Kajabi which we have also discussed here.

On the contrary, if you are looking for specific customizations you can develop your own backend and frontend with a language of your choice. Frameworks like Django gives you access to unlimited customization and even the scope of integrating technologies like machine learning.

Note: As per data of the top 10,000 websites, nearly 10% are built using WordPress CMS and 75% of websites use their custom CMS.

1.2- Backend Development of your eLearning video platform

Backend is your website’s server-side and is the portion that users don’t see. It stores and organizes data and ensures everything on the client-side or front end works fine. The backend connects with the front end and sends/receives information for displaying on the web page. Users access the back-end indirectly through a front end application. The backend includes writing APIs, scientific programming, creating libraries and much more. The prevalent languages which we can use to build backend are PHP, Python, Ruby, Golang (Go), Java, C++, Node.js and Javascript. The common backend frameworks are Django, Spring, Laravel and more. There are a lot of JavaScript development companies, the most popular ones you can find here.

1.3- eLearning video platform Front End Development

The front end or Client-side is the section of your website for eLearning where the user directly interacts with the browser. It includes everything users experience directly such as images, tables, graphs, buttons, navigation menu to text colours. All these features about Frontend Development of a website for eLearning come mainly through 3 key components – HTML, CSS, and JavaScript.

In today’s world, the main objectives of front end development are responsiveness and performance. The website for eLearning should appear correctly on all screen sizes and resolutions. Also, it must use all performance improving compatibilities like lazy loading and page speed.

Some popular frameworks and libraries like bootstrap, AngularJS, React JS, jQuery, Flutter, SASS, Semantic-UI support front end development.

1.4- Other Server-side setup while building an eLearning video platform

To manage the users and other course or content information, a website for eLearning needs a database. The database stores the content of a website in a structured format to retrieve, organize, edit and save data. This setup runs on a remote computer known as Server. The most widely used databases are MySQL and PostgreSQL. Other databases like Oracle and Sybase are not preferred unless you have a very big infrastructure and also they are costly.

Other server-side setup includes setting up a server software like Apache or Nginx (preferred). Setting up CDN distribution and even a continuous deployment pipeline.

1.5- Important points to consider when setting up your own eLearning website

• LMS or CMS like Moodle, WordPress and Joomla are built as an application and are not object-oriented.
• Absolute beginners can start with options like Teachable, Thinkific and Kajabi.
• LMS and CMS mostly provide you with a level of customization using basic HTML, CSS and Javascript.

2. Video Hosting & Security

eLearning videos require a considerable investment of time, effort and money. You cannot just limit it to the creation of videos. One must store videos online on a video hosting server that has very high uptime, is secure, encrypted and budget-friendly. It must also enable adaptive bitrate streaming and even stores your content in various locations. This is helpful when trying to reduce time to first byte and latency.

The biggest problem with putting your original or premium eLearning content on the web comes with potential video piracy. Also, we know that websites like YouTube and Torrent have an abundance of pirated videos from premium resources. There are video downloader tools that can easily download videos from a video hosting platform. In general, video content is pirated in multiple ways like password theft, password sharing, unauthorized download, copyright violation, screen recording, and much more.

2.1- Video Protection Methods

The best ways to secure your eLearning video content is through secure login, membership, protecting videos from plugins and downloaders, Domain (URL) whitelisting, Real-Time Messaging Protocol Encrypted (RTMPE), HLS Encryption, IP/GEO Restriction, Video DRM, Dynamic watermarking and Screen capture block.

We can easily address all of these security concerns by choosing secure video hosting providers like Vdocipher. Such providers not only address your security and piracy concerns but also provide you with flawless uptime, adaptive bitrate streaming and even distribute your encrypted content globally via CDN.

3. eLearning Content Development & choosing type of platform

Though we discuss creating your own eLearning video platform, we hope you are also informed about the MOOCs. After the analysis of your target customers, one needs to focus on choosing the type of eLearning video platform, be it LMS/CMS or MOOC.

Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) are open to all which means people from across the globe can access or create courses on your eLearning video platform, making it an eLearning marketplace. In the majority of the cases, these courses are free and available all over the internet. Udemy is one such example. They even provide you with free branding and paid marketing opportunities.

Learning Management System or LMS comes with restricted access, meaning it is available only within an organization. LMS is designed for a specific customer and does not necessarily have a robust architecture like a MOOC eLearning video platform. The basic LMS architecture enables admins to upload learning content, assist and deliver lessons, enable notifications and share content with authorized users. LMS can be free, commercial, cloud-based, pre-written CMS, individual or enterprise.

3.1- Content Development for eLearning Website

Once done with choosing the right type, we should move forward with eLearning content development. For an eLearning video platform content development is crafting relevant course content based on your niche, audience knowledge, business goals, idea and mode of content delivery. Each video content and its accompanying text comes with its own piece of knowledge and information. These contents cumulatively form a course. A course may have video, audio, PDF and more.

The learning path is another term that is gaining popularity. It comprises of digital content formats or virtual classrooms aimed at delivering flexible structured learning. One example is self-paced digital content comprising documents, videos, webinars, and online assessments. This help users meet their learning goals and master the subject. Slide-based courses, training videos, quizzes, webinars, embedded or standalone videos, study material, ebooks, blogs, augmented reality (AR), case studies, interviews are some of the content development formats eLearning video platforms use.

4. eLearning Website or App or Both

Often learning apps provide a better user experience compared to a mobile website. Presentations, courses, videos become more responsive, menus and filters are smooth enough, better UI, there are other customizable options and more. But this does not mean all eLearning video platforms are doing that great with a mobile app. Apps are platform-dependent and nowadays, we need to access our data from any device and any browser, which is not the case with most mobile apps.

Most online learning platforms are designed for the web as it is platform-agnostic, open and ubiquitous. With the website for eLearning, you don’t have to install anything. Visitors will appreciate your app if nothing stands in their way to get the knowledge. The user flow must be smooth and attractive. Also, with every update to the chosen CMS and generic backend/frontend technology, web applications are getting more and more like apps.

Even platforms like Twitter are using PWA or progressive web apps and are experiencing more user influx and engagement. Thus, the choice of study apps or website or both depends on your expectations, requirements and developmental needs. A self-starter, after learning about the video market through YouTube, Moocs and similar giants might want to progress with the website first approach. Make the website responsive, implement basic SEO and video SEO, move forward with application development for enhanced experience to existing users and compliment the high influx with PWA.

5. Search Logic, Categorization & Filters

The easier users find video content and courses on the portal, the faster their user journey will be. This is where search, categorization and filtering can provide a huge boost to an online eLearning video platform.

5.1- Categorization

Start with categorization as it will tell you what might be searched and filtered. Also, categorization requires you to make required headers like ‘tags’ in your database, which will require a migration. Planning for it and implementing it in the initial model setup stage will even help in data collection as well as better filter and search setup.

Website categorization defines the type of content on a specific web page. The use cases of website categorization are content filtering, brand safety, network security and firewall, ad-tech, parental control and more. The SEO of your pages becomes imbalanced without categories and pages start competing for the same search keywords. Category pages are an important area of opportunity for boosting organic traffic.

5.2- Filters

After categorization logic, start with product filtering, use category-specific filters as users prefer them over generic parameters. With respect to a particular course, the placement of an array of tags in your database helps filter more dynamically. Such filter mechanism placement in the initial stage also helps you implement deep learning and machine learning opportunities as more data comes in. Using multiple filters allows users to shortlist down to the smallest details. For the smooth experience of a mobile website, the developer needs to customize the CSS code to fit standard desktop filter displays into mobile-ready formats. Filter placement requires A/B testing to find the perfect spot on the web page.

5.3- Search Logic

Now when you have captured most user-specific choices by categorization and filters, there comes search. Search can be of many types like single word search, linear search, and full-text search, accompanied by different search logic based on various search algorithms with variable output. Different math equations used to calculate the closest and best match for a search term are the main reason for having variable output

If you are using a pre-created platform-specific service or an app-based CMS like WordPress, you will most likely stick with the inbuilt search logic. If you are planning to go with frameworks like Django, you have plenty of options available as python libraries to enhance your search and their respective logic. For advanced usage, do maintain a database of your search terms as they will help you enhance your search in future.

6. Complementary and Supplementary Recommendations

With numerous resources on a portal, users need to decide which courses or content to opt for. Hence, the recommendation system applies in the eLearning video platform to help learners get personalized services by identifying their complementary and supplementary preferences. Basically, there are three recommendation techniques, content-based, collaborative filtering (CF)-based and knowledge-based.

Content-based recommendation profiles users with their past behaviour and recommends content similar to their profile. The CF-based recommendation assumes similar users preferring similar content and generates recommendations with users collaboration.

We can apply the knowledge-based recommendation scenarios where the content is not frequently visited and that is why it relies mostly on the pre-defined knowledge structures like ontology. Ontology is a systematic knowledge representation that contains entities, and their relationships in a particular domain. It is also encoded by language such as web ontology language (OWL). Also, user queries can be further modelled and trained as new concepts if previously unavailable in the pre-defined ontology through enrichment.

7. Integrating Payment Gateway

If a platform’s eLearning model is a subscription or paid courses, there should be a convenient method for students to pay and tutors to collect their earnings. And when dealing with money, the payment gateway transaction must be secure and give users a seamless checkout experience. The most popular payment mediums are Debit/credit cards, PayPal Master/Visa/Maestro/Amex, and UPI. Most payment gateways like Razorpay and Paytm allows all of these mediums after complete verification and even allows you to accept international payments. An LMS will usually have it integrated and we can do the custom integration easily using the payment gateway’s API.

8. Support & Live Chat Features

Online customer support helps in better communication, solving user problems, collecting customer feedback and suggestions to fine-tune the system and solve unexpected issues. Online customer service answers customer questions by digital tools like email, messaging apps, live chat and social media.

Live chat support is now the most dynamic and popular way of communicating with customers. It’s the best way to go beyond customer’s expectations and satisfaction to gain higher traffic and conversions. In an eLearning video platform, text chat helps in maintaining smooth communication between attendants and lecturers. For a platform based on pre-recorded videos, implementing a Q&A section is better.

9. Social Sharing

Social sharing has enormous potential for social media marketing to boost sales and increase the visibility of a business. It is a cost-effective tool for increased brand recognition and promotion and can be used to convert customers. From the perspective of content marketing, social media helps in building links organically. Google uses ranking signals for search results linking by determining how much time the content is shared, liked, tweets or posted to social media. The ideal placement of social media icons is on the top half of the webpage or ‘above the fold’.

10. Business Model

Before starting the development process of your eLearning video platform, you should take into consideration the different ways of monetizing your content. One of the popular monetization methods is that of Udemy which charges as per the specific course. Some courses on such platforms are free, while others are in paid form.

The subscription-based model is one more commonly used monetization way. It is based on monthly payments or a one-year subscription with lower monthly rates. Many eLearning providers even implement a Paid certification model wherein, courses are free but students need to pay to earn certification of the course. Some eLearning business models run on sponsorships and advertising.

11. Login/signup

The login page is the first place to deliver the best user experience to a visitor with a website. For the same, it requires authenticating the user before giving access to a platform’s secured pages. Designing a website login page requires working on tiny details. Be it making the page responsive and not a pain to use, else lose users. Developers need to work on the bounce rate of their login page and make the transition smooth, easy, and error-free.

The login form should be simple, short with a clean design. There should be a clear distinction between login and registration forms and have options of logging through external accounts. There should be clear ‘Forgot password’ and ‘Remember me’ options.

Note: Do include ‘Sign In with Google’ & ‘Sign In with Facebook’ as a medium in sign up and sign in as data shows that they are the most used modes. Also, if making your own CMS then do check for logic on merging mail ids signed up using ‘Register’ input forms and using ‘Google’ or ‘Facebook’.

How VdoCipher Helps In Building Your Own Elearning Video Platform

A major part of setting up your own video platform for education includes the video infrastructure. This includes video storage, encoding for different formats and video quality, embedding, encryption, and more. VdoCipher takes care of all this and more. All you have to do is upload your video to our platform, once the video has been transcoded, you can just copy the embed code and paste it on your website.

On top of the video hosting, you get access to DRM-based security, which ensures that your videos are not downloadable by anyone. This puts a stop to piracy online, ultimately giving you a substantial boost in revenue. As new users would have to sign up and pay for your premium courses in order to access them. Other security features which further safeguard your premium content are Dynamic watermarking to deter screen capture, Screen recoding protection on iOS and Android. You can even block geolocation, IP address and put time restrictions as well.

FAQs:

What are the benefits of using LMS?

Centralized content, up-to-date courses, easy tracking & reporting, cost-saving and more. Other benefits include employee satisfaction, retention, better ROI on training, economical remote learning.

How VdoCipher offers video protection and piracy control?

VdoCipher offers Hollywood grade DRM encryption which prevents illegal downloads using any hacks or plugins. The other video piracy features offered are dynamic watermarking, server to player package, screen capture restriction in mobile apps and customizable online video player.

How does a Progressive Web App (PWA) work?

A PWA is a web application installed on your system. It works offline in times of no internet connection. On Chrome, when you visit a website having PWA, you will be prompted to install the app. The advantages of PWA are mobile-like experience, offline availability, reduce loading time and give a better user experience.

Vishal Sharma

My expertise focuses on DRM encryption, CDN technologies, and streamlining marketing campaigns to drive engagement and growth. At VdoCipher, I’ve significantly enhanced digital experiences and contributed to in-depth technical discussions in the eLearning, Media, and Security sectors, showcasing a commitment to innovation and excellence in the digital landscape.

The post Guide To Building Your Own eLearning Video Platform with Content Development appeared first on VdoCipher Blog.

We generally recommend WordPress-based sites as they offer a mid-way between efforts and customizability options. Our integrations with WordPress are also quite good and we have written a few WordPress-related blogs explaining how to use LMS themes + plugins to build good course WordPress sites. One more detailed video blog will be released soon to make it very clear.

But in certain cases, course creators like popular ready-to-use course-selling sites, as it is quick and easy to launch. So, this article is intended for those people and explains our iframe integration with popular ready-to-use e-learning websites. But, let us first discuss the need for DRM-based video security for eLearning.

Need to Integrate a Secure Video Hosting for LMS, CMS & eLearning Platforms

There are many reasons for wanting to manage the rights associated with intellectual property. Authors and artists wish to control what can be done with their creations, scholars wish to ensure that they receive proper attribution, commercial enterprises wish to support business models that involve licenses and fees, and consumers want an environment free of legal worries and unexpected costs. Although rights themselves are not technological – they are defined by laws, beliefs, and practices – technology can be used to transmit, verify, interpret, and enforce rights as they apply to digital content and services. This is called digital rights management, or simply DRM.

In a distributed networked environment, multiple rights associated with multiple objects come into play as content and services are created, distributed, aggregated, disaggregated, stored, found, and used. This is particularly applicable to e-learning, where standards and technologies are being developed specifically to support the sharing and reuse of learning resources, for example via the collaborative and distributed generation of learning objects, the aggregation of smaller objects to create larger objects, and the creation of resource-sharing networks. In addition, managers of significant collections of learning objects (or metadata records of learning objects) are exploring ways to offer searches and other services. For e-learning to function in this type of environment, appropriate models and implementation of DRM are needed.

But when it comes to application, the DRM video protection is still hard to integrate. This is where service providers like VdoCipher come into play with easy embedding for every eLearning platform, LMS, and CMS. So let’s discuss How?

How to Integrate VdoCipher Player in Major eLearning Platforms and LMS

The 6 ready to use, course video selling websites whose integration will be discussed here are –

• Teachable
• Learnworlds
• Thinkific
• Uscreen
• Webanywhere
• TotaraLMS.

Disclaimer – We are not reviewing these businesses, nor do we suggest using any particular of them, nor do we have any partnerships with them. We picked these 6 because either we had experience with our customers asking for them or they were popular. The article is to help our customers who are already looking to sell vides online on these sites. We explain in detailed steps with screenshots, how to have VdoCipher secure video streaming integrated with all these portals.

Overview: The general idea for integrating VdoCipher in these sites is to search for where to embed the iframe option. Which is generally mentioned as these words or icons – ‘html embed, iframe embed , <> , </> ‘ . And iframe is generated from our dashboard for each video with a whitelisting option. The domains provided to you by these sites should be in HTTPS for html5 secure player to work, else it will ask for Flash. So, please ask these companies for a https domain, most of them do provide that.

Details for step by step integration on each particular website is mentioned below, so that it is clear and quick to use. Screen shots for all the steps are included.

1. LearnWorlds

Go to Dashboard> Courses> EMBED URL (Do Not Select Video option)> Iframe. Don’t choose video option while integrating, always choose embed url and use iframe.

2. Teachable

 Go to Course > Curriculum > Add text > Choose < > iframe sign.

Detailed IFrame security settings & Teachable Embed tutorial.

3. Thinkific

Go to Add content > Add Text > </> icon for iframe embed

Detailed IFrame security settings & Thinkific Embed tutorial.

4. TotaraLMS

Go to – Create Course  > Add activity or resource> Add Topic > Go to Link icon + URL to external page

5. Uscreen

Go to – Content > Programs > Content > Embed

6. Webanywhere

It is Moodle based web portal specially suited for schools and colleges.. Our moodle plugin with player version 1.4.5 fits in there.

Ask the Webanywhere support team to integrate our Moodle plugin with 1.4.5 version and use short code as documented.

7. CourseCraft

Go to – Landing page >  <> HTML sign > edit

Find more details about VdoCipher’s DRM infrastructure and our integration of Widevine DRM for Hollywood-grade security, which helps us protect your premium content.

For a free full version 5 GB Trial with VdoCipher, please register

References

ResearchGate – link

Siddhant Jain

CEO, VdoCipher. Writes about video tech, ed tech and media tech.

www.vdocipher.com/

The post Integrate VdoCipher Secure Videos in LMS, CMS & eLearning Platforms appeared first on VdoCipher Blog.

In this blogpost I discuss how you can build an E-learning website. I make the recommendations on the basis of the following five parameters:

1. Technical Skills required to create the website
2. Features and Customization available
3. Cost of solution for building website
4. Time to build solution
5. Expected Number of students and scaling with increasing numbers

The four methods that you can use to create your E-learning website are:

1. Coding using PHP/ ASP/Jave/ Node.JS
2. Content Management Systems – WordPress, Joomla, Drupal, Moodle
3. Website Builders – Weebly, Wix, SquareSpace
4. E-Learning Website builders – Teachable, WebAnywhere

Here is a video explaining in full detail all the options. A text version of video is also included below.

Coding Using PHP/ ASP/ Node.JS

Technical Skills required

A website may be built from scratch using PHP, ASP and Node.Js. Naturally building these websites would either require an in-house website developer or should be outsourced to web designer. Which of the coding platforms – PHP, ASP or Node.JS you opt for would depend largely on the preferences and comfort levels of the developer in your team/ the web designer that you hire. PHP is one of the most popular scripting languages, while Node.JS is the newest website runtime environment which has seen massive adoption for websites. Alongside choosing the language, you would need to setup the server and database as well. For building a large website you can use a custom solution with a dedicated server on Amazon Web Services. For single-website usages (the more likely scenario) for E-learning websites, you can opt for shared web server hosting, using for example GoDaddy.

Features and Customization

Since your website is being built from the ground up, you have the widest possible options for customization for features that you wish to incorporate. For instance, as a security mechanism against sharing of login credentials, you may set an upper limit on overall time a student may be logged in to the system. Such a solution can be implemented while building the website code.

One thing that you should make clear is to ensure that the code is well documented. Good documentation ensures continuity between different developer teams.

Cost of Solution

Such a solution would require a dedicated software development team to build. Support and maintenance are also additional issues that you would need to work on.

Time to Build Solution

Keep a time period of 2-3 months for such a website to build. To minimize site development time you should have developed a good understanding of the design and structure of your website, and communicated that to the developer. This would ensure minimal confusion in the website development process

Scale of website and Expected Number

1,000+ expected annual users – You would be able to incorporate features specifically on the basis of user requirements. It is important to make sure that appropriate security features are installed in the website framework.

Content Management Systems – WordPress, Joomla, Drupal, Moodle

Technical Skills required

Such an option mainly requires familiarity with the CMS interface. These skills can be learnt quite easily by beginners. A number of our clients – independent artists and individual teachers – have easily setup their WordPress and Moodle websites for hosting their E-learning courses. There would be a one-time effort in setting up the server though. Moodle video player must be customizable and should be available as a plugin.

Features and Customization

Moodle is an LMS, and is therefore designed as an E-learning platform. WordPress on the other hand is a Content Management System, to which you can add LMS functionality through WordPress plugins.

Cost of Solution

Costs of building websites on Content Management Systems include cost of plugins for adding functionalities. WordPress and Joomla offer plugins such as Sensei, Guru and eMember, which simplify the process of course-creation considerably. Many of the useful plugins available are paid, while a lot of them are free as well (generally free plugins offer specific solutions, while paid plugins bundle a whole lot of useful features together). Cost-wise this is the cheapest solution, as the CMS itself is free – the only costs are the plugins and the server hosting.

Time to Build Solution

Expect a time to launch between 15 to 30 days for a fully functional CMS hosted site.

Scale of website and Expected Number

Such a solution would work pretty good upto a number of 10,000 students. There is no lower limit to the number of students, as costs are low.

Website Builders – Weebly, Wix, SquareSpace

Technical Skills required

In this solution the website hosting company uses a basic website template that they use.

Features and Customization

Such a website would follow a basic template, and there are not many options to customize additional features.

Cost of Solution

The cost of building websites include purchasing the website template and server hosting.

Time to Build Solution

Fast – You need very little time to deploy such a video hosting solution. Server setup and configuration of the website would take time between 7-10 days.

Scale of website and Expected Number

Implementing such a website is best for the case of fast-deployment of your e-learning platform. Because time of launch and costs are priority in this, such a solution would be appropriate for upto 100 users paying for the course. Beyond this number this solution fails to add the customizations you need to cater to the growing list of users.

E-Learning Website builders – Teachable, WebAnywhere

Technical Skills required

There is no coding required. Most features can be implemented using drag-and-drop

Features and Customisation

Teachable and WebAnywhere offer ready-to-use E-Learning themes, Student management options, Media and text addition, Membership Access, Server hosting and Database management.

The features that these sites offer are sufficient for most e-learning website creators. These sites however are not very customizable in terms of additional security features or tweaks in User Interface. UI additions such as adding comment sections to pages, and security restrictions such as restricting login time on page, are not available when you opt for this solution.

Cost of Solution

Costs are dependent on the features you integrate, and the number of students enrolled. Because the websites are designed specifically for e-learning such a solution is somewhat more expensive than the case of ready-to-make websites.

Time to Build Solution

7-10 days

Scale of website and Expected Number

Such a website solution would be appropriate for upto 1000 annual users. This is the approximate number of students you can manage without the need to alter your User Interface and backend. Beyond this number you should explore CMS hosting or creating your own website.

Suggestions

When you set about creating an e-learning website I recommend that you check other websites in similar areas. You can use the tool BuiltWith to analyze the tech stack on which any website is made. If you find that 8 out of 10 of your competitors use a particular tech stack, then implementing that stack would be the most reliable way to build an e-learning site.

Streaming E-Learning Videos And Protection From Piracy

The reasons I am specifically writing a different section on video streaming for e-Learning is because:

1. Video courses are typically the lifeline of any e-Learning portal and second
2. Video streaming and safeguarding the video content from piracy is a major technical challenge, which the 4 options discussed do not solve inherently themselves. Most of E-Learning sites use some premium video streaming provider to cater to their streaming needs.

Streaming bufferless for HD worldwide and ensuring smooth delivery to regions in Africa and India with slow connections is a major problem. YouTube is quite good in this aspect, but lacks business friendly customization. Vimeo has a B2B offering that is quite popular and is okay in terms of streaming experience. YouTube and Vimeo use standard streaming protocols to deliver video content, and thus a lot of free plugins and downloaders are able to grab and download the videos. For this reason, a more custom video player, providing higher security and flexibility to manage video related features, is needed for premium videos. Here is the link to implement and compare secure technologies used in video hosting for education. Many of the top e-Learning companies either go for a combination of the above solutions or build proprietary systems of their own (for example Udemy and BYJU’s).

I will be happy to have feedback and questions in the comments section below or on my LinkedIn profile. You can also share your experience with above technologies and any interesting insights.

A version of this blog was first published on E-learningIndustry.com

FAQs Around Building an E-learning Website

What are the key features to include in an e-learning website to ensure effective learning and user engagement?

Key features should include interactive elements like quizzes and simulations, diverse multimedia content such as videos and infographics to cater to different learning styles, assessment tools for feedback and progress tracking, and social learning features to enable peer interaction and collaboration.

How do content management systems (CMS) like WordPress compare to dedicated e-learning platforms for creating an e-learning site?

CMSs offer flexibility and are cost-effective, while e-learning platforms provide specialized tools but may limit customization.

What are the expected costs and time investment for each method of building an e-learning website?

Costs and timelines vary significantly, from affordable and quick website builders to more time-intensive and costly custom coding.

How does the choice of technology impact the scalability of an e-learning website?

The selection between CMS, custom coding, website builders, and e-learning platforms affects how well the site can scale with increasing numbers of students.

Siddhant Jain

CEO, VdoCipher. Writes about video tech, ed tech and media tech.

www.vdocipher.com/

The post How to Build an E-Learning Website: 5 Point evaluation appeared first on VdoCipher Blog.

The quality and security of videos is the USP for most companies that wish to sell online courses. VdoCipher provides the required necessary offerings so that you may not lose customers to piracy and your students have a great experience.

Installing Sensei as a WordPress course plugin

It is assumed that you have WordPress already installed on your system. Sensei is a paid plugin. To buy the course plugin you would have to buy the course directly from their parent site WooCommerce here. Prices as of October 2016 for the Sensei plugin are $129 for the single site version.

On buying the Sensei WordPress course plugin you could download the plugin file in zip format. To activate the plugin you would need to copy the license key that you will find in your Woothemes account to the wordpress interface for activation. After activation you will get this:

Using Sensei – Courses, Modules and Lessons

Sensei allows for a layered structuring for courses – each course can be divided into multiple modules, which can contain the relevant lessons. A module can itself be divided into sub-modules, and therefore this LMS allows for considerable flexibility in how you might wish to structure and present your course.

The first step is to therefore create a course. After creating your course, you can create a module, and select the relevant course in which the module is to be integrated. Lessons can then be created within the modules, and you can easily integrate videos within lessons using the steps given below.

As shown above, the interface to create a lesson is quite straightforward in Sensei. The ease with which a multi-layered course can be built using Sensei is why we recommend that you use this LMS to sell online courses.

For managing learners, Sensei has tabs for Analysis, Grading and Learner Management. Using Sensei you can track the updates to the course through the Data Updates tab. The simplicity of these options mean that teachers and site administrators can easily manage learners taking their courses. Because of this as a site administrator you can improve your site more effectively using learner feedback.

Quiz implementation in Sensei

Quizzes for grading learners can be added onto the end of the respective lessons. Using Sensei’s interface you can make multiple questions, decide whether passing the quiz is necessary to complete the course and the passing criteria. You may add questions directly to the lesson or add questions from a question bank. Questions may also be presented in a random manner.

Customization offered by Sensei to sell online courses

Sensei offers an additional WordPress course plugin – the Sensei Course Progress plugin – free of cost for monitoring course progress by lessons within a course (or within a module)

Sensei offers you control over who to allow to access the course. Access can be limited to registered users through their WordPress accounts, otherwise if you are using another plugin such as eMember or eShop to control access the feature to restrict access directly on Sensei may be left unused. We recommend using eMember to control membership access because of it allows you to create multiple membership levels depending on level of access.

Further customization allows for private messages between learners and teachers – enabling this functionality may depend upon the targeted size of learners and the ability of teachers to participate.

Sensei offers JavaScript functionality in terms of a dynamic bar providing information about percentage of course completed, while My Courses tab also uses JavaScript. These functionalities may also be disabled.

Have a look at the following screenshots to learn about additional customization offered by Sensei.

Sensei Shortcodes

Sensei offers a number of shortcodes by which you can remind learners of all available courses, accessible by categories such as teachers. You may also add shortcodes for courses being taken by the learner, additional courses that the learner may take, and user messages.

All available courses [sensei_courses]

Courses per user [sensei_user_courses] (the previous shortcode [usercourses] is no longer supported)

Course page [sensei_course_page id = “123”]

Unpurchased courses [sensei_unpurchased_courses]

Secure Video Streaming in Sensei

To prevent illegal video download , sharing and provide best streaming experience to your viewers, we at VdoCipher provide ready to use video WordPress course plugin. The plugin runs at backend and allows encrypted streaming + viewer watermark player embed on your site. It is compatible with any other plugins you use in your WordPress. VdoCipher has education customers all across 6 continents using us. To install VdoCipher plugin on your WordPress account, you first need to create an account at VdoCipher.com. A trial account at VdoCipher can be made for free. You can upload & stream upto 5GB worth of content for secure video streaming. With each video that you would have uploaded you would have a corresponding video id.

The video can then be embedded onto the lesson by applying the following code: [vdo id="id_of_video"] For example: [vdo id="123abc4d56e7fg89shi12"]

User Registration, Analytics, Themes, Grading with Sensei

Sensei is a complete e-learning suite and involves easy to use management features to do the above implementation.

A note on WooCommerce

WooCommerce is an ecommerce WordPress plugin and necessarily works at backend of Sensei. So, first installation of WooCommerce is needed and then sensei. It is free and is compatible with all major plugins including ours.

Important eLearning blogs from VdoCipher

Why not to self host videos for your course website?

How to make money from education videos: Some models & key considerations?

Encrypted Video Streaming: How VdoCipher is far ahead of Others in Security?

Watermark user/time specific dynamic variables on WordPress videos

For a free full version 5 GB  free trial at VdoCipher, Register.

Siddhant Jain

CEO, VdoCipher. Writes about video tech, ed tech and media tech.

www.vdocipher.com/

The post WordPress course plugin to make course website – Sensei tutorial appeared first on VdoCipher Blog.