Video Not Working When Uploaded

Video media files not playing on webpages

Problem: Video not working when uploaded
The most common reason videos may not play in some web browsers once uploaded will be because the hosting "mime" types have not been updated.

Check first in your hosting control panel for "mime types". See if you can set (install) them. Add all of the types listed below.

AddType video/mp4 mp4 m4v
AddType audio/mp4 m4a
AddType video/ogg ogv
AddType audio/ogg ogg oga
AddType video/webm webm
AddType video/x-ms-wmv wmv
AddType video/quicktime qt mov

Optionally, contact your website hosting company for help with setting the "mime types" on your hosting server to allow for display of all video and audio types.

Caution: The above code is from a file named ".htaccess". Do not edit your ".htaccess" unless you are sure what you are doing. This is a server file and should not be edited by novice users. It is advised that you contact your hosting company for help with this configuration. You can copy the above code to send to them as an example.


Tips & Troubleshooting
Keep in mind that different web browsers display different video file types. Google Chrome, IE9+ and Safari display mp4 first, Firefox and Opera display ogv or webm. Older browsers will display the wmv if you are using fallback code.

• Hosting is case sensitive. Check your video file and folder names. Have you uploaded to the correct folder? See files missing after uploading.
• Create a test page with only a single video on it for testing. Remove all other scripts from this page.
• Save mp4s as mp4 H.264 in your audio software if this option is available.
• Try testing in another browser. Different browsers may use different video or audio file types. Google Chrome can play all video types.
• Check that the pages you added videos to uses an HTML5 doctype.
• Do not use spaces in any video or audio or .js file name.
• Slow Videos: Contact your hosting company and have "video streaming" installed as well as configuring to allow all "mime" types as listed above. (mp4, m4v, m4a, mp3, ogv, ogg, oga, webm, wmv, mov). See website media streaming.
• Choppy Video: See slow videos above and also try re-saving your videos with other settings. Be sure when converting videos to mp4 you use the "mp4 H.264" option if available. There may be issues with your converting software. Contact your conversion software support.
• Check Your Hosting: You may need to contact your hosting company to see if they support all mime types. Optionally, you may need to switch hosting companies. See Allwebco Hosting.
• Videos Not Working: See items missing after uploading. See files not updating.
• Hosting companies that may not have streaming: Lunarpages. You will want to contact them to have streaming added.
• IE and HTML5: HTML5 video does work in all browsers even if using an HTML 4.01 doctype except for IE. In IE the player may use the wmv video fallback.
• Hosting Tests: Try uploading the default template setup files from Allwebco Design to test your hosting. You can always contact Allwebco for a fresh download.

Related Topics:
HTML5 Video Tutorial
Setup YouTube Videos