Batgung

It's not difficult to include a video along with your text. I've listed the full five steps below, but many times the last step is all you need:

1. Take the video
2. Copy it to your PC
3. Edit it
4. Upload it to YouTube
5. Copy it into your comment / place / etc

If you've found a video on YouTube, and want to show that to other readers, jump straight to step 5. If it's your own video, follow all steps 1-5.

1. Take the video.

You don't need a fancy video recorder. I just use the point-and-shoot digital camera that lives in my pocket (a Canon Ixus 850IS). Any digital camera should be fine, and many mobile phones too.

2. Copy it to your PC.

The software and cable that came with the camera automatically copies new photos and videos to my PC's hard disk when I connect it. With most cameras, photo filenames end in .JPG, and video filenames end in .AVI.

3. Edit it.

You can skip this step, but some reasons to edit the video include:

• Rotate the video. If you turned the camera on its side so the video is tall & narrow, you'll need to rotate it before you upload it in the next step.
• Trim it. If you can cut out any sections to make it shorter, your viewers will thank you for it.
• Make it a smaller file. Even if you just use the editor to open and save the video (ie no trimming), the saved file is less than a tenth the size of the original, making it quicker to upload.

4. Upload it to YouTube.

Create a free account on the YouTube site, then click the 'Upload' button, and upload your video file (more details). Note that you won't be able to view it immediately, as Youtube takes a few minutes to process the file you have just uploaded.

5. Copy it into your comment / place / etc.

(Note you'll need to be logged in to use the features described below)

On the Batgung website, create a new comment, place, etc., and start typing in the Body: area as usual. When you want to insert the video, first click the 'Input format' link below the edit box, then click the 'Full HTML' option that appears. Up in the edit box you'll see a new button displayed that looks like a small piece of old movie film.

Next, open a second browser window, go to the YouTube website, and view the video you uploaded in step 4. Just to the right of the video, you'll see a small box, and the word URL. To the right of that is the URL for your video, eg something like:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C2Bdt-rViX8

Copy your URL, then switch back to your Batgung browser. Click the new 'movie film' button, and a small window pops up. Paste the URL from YouTube into the 'File/URL' field, and click the 'Insert' button.

You'll see a box that shows where your video will appear. You can either click 'Save' or 'Preview' to see your new video in action.

If you run into any problems, or need more detail on any of the steps, just leave a comment below.

MrB