Embed YouTube Block – Fast Loading Videos, Shorts & Playlists vs Spectra Legacy – Gutenberg Blocks

The default embed block for YouTube videos sucks. It slows down your site. The more videos on the page the more it slow. This single-block plugin fixes that. Why this block is better than the default one: Instead of loading the entire iframe, only the video thumbnail is loaded, resulting in significant performance improvements Ability to play multiple different videos as a custom playlist or input a playlist ID to play the whole playlist Ability to use a custom image as the video thumbnail Ability to set a custom aspect ratio value for displaying any kind of YouTube videos Ability to loop continuously once it finishes playing Ability to show related videos from the same channel as the initial video Automatically load the video title as the caption The same UI as the default core/embed, and you can use the video title as the caption of the block with one click It can be transformed from/to the core embed block. Automatically convert all default core embed YouTube blocks to this block with one line of code. This plugin also provides a PHP API for developers to render a YouTube video URL as this block; or to automatically transform core/embed YouTube videos into this block. The simplest example is: better_youtube_embed_block_render_block( ['url' => 'https://youtu.be/paSXmpHU9K4'] ); The example with all the parameters is: better_youtube_embed_block_render_block( [ 'url' => 'https://youtu.be/paSXmpHU9K4', 'aspectRatio' => '16/9', 'isMaxResThumbnail' => false, 'thumbnailFormat' => 'jpg', 'caption' => 'My awesome video', 'caption_kses' => false, 'customThumbnail' => 'https://example.com/bg.jpg', 'settings' => ['loop' => 1, 'rel' => 0], 'echo' => false, ] ); To automatically transform all core/embed YouTube videos on your site to this block, you need to put the following code to the wp-config.php file or your theme/plugin: define('BYEB_SPEED_UP_YOUTUBE_VIDEOS', true); or add_filter( 'byeb_speed_up_youtube_videos', '__return_true' ); On iOS, browsers like Safari and Chrome require two clicks to play videos. If you want to allow users to play videos with a single click, you need to add the following code to the wp-config.php file or your theme/plugin: define('BYEB_FORCE_IFRAME_ON_UNSUPPORTED_BROWSERS', true); Please check out this page to see how fast it helps. The page contains around 30 embedded YouTube videos but they don’t slow down the page. If this plugin is useful for you, please do a quick review and rate it on WordPress.org to help us spread the word. I would very much appreciate it. Please check out my other plugins if you’re interested: Content Blocks Builder – Build custom layouts and blocks visually in the Block Editor without needing a code editor, using only core blocks and native Gutenberg features. Meta Field Block – A single block to display custom fields in the Block Editor without coding. It supports ACF, MetaBox, WooCommerce, meta, rest field, shortcode and more. Works everywhere: in the Site Editor (FSE), the Block Editor, inside Query Loop, WooCommerce Product Collection, Term Query blocks, and even in template files. SVG Block – A block to display SVG images as blocks. Useful for images, icons, dividers, and buttons. It allows you to upload SVG images and load them into the icon library. Icon separator – A tiny block just like the core/separator block but with the ability to add an icon. Breadcrumb Block – A simple breadcrumb trail block that supports JSON-LD structured data and is compatible with WooCommerce. Block Enhancements – Adds practical features to blocks like icons, box shadows, transforms, etc. Counting Number Block – A block to display numbers with a counting effect The plugin is developed using @wordpress/create-block.

This plugin was previously called Spectra. It’s now Spectra Legacy. Nothing on your website has changed. Your blocks, pages, settings, and content all continue to work exactly as they did before. There’s nothing to migrate and nothing to configure. Spectra Legacy vs. Spectra Blocks We’ve split Spectra into two products. Spectra Legacy is this plugin — built for existing Spectra users. It receives security and compatibility updates and full support, but no new features. Spectra Blocks is a new, separate plugin where all new feature development happens, aimed at new installs and anyone who wants ongoing additions. If you’re already using this plugin, no action is needed; installing Spectra Blocks is entirely optional whenever you’re ready. If you’re already using this plugin, you don’t need to do anything. If you want new features as they’re released, you can install Spectra Blocks separately, whenever you’re ready. There’s no deadline and no required migration. What’s included Spectra Legacy includes the full block library your site is already built on: layout tools, content and post blocks, form and SEO blocks, social blocks, and site tools like Popup Builder and Coming Soon mode. Blocks included Core — Container, Heading, Image, Icon, Buttons, Info Box, Call To Action, Countdown Content — Sliders, Content Timeline, Google Maps, Inline Notices, Tabs, Taxonomy List, Price List (Loop Builder in Spectra Pro Legacy) Post — Counter, Modal Popup, Post Carousel, Post Grid, Post Timeline Social — Instagram Feed, Blockquote, Social Share, Team, Testimonials Forms — Contact form, newsletter signup, suggestion form, reCAPTCHA (registration/login forms in Spectra Pro Legacy) SEO — FAQ, How-To, Review, Table of Contents Dynamic content — Archive feed filtering by date, author, category, and post type Site tools — Popup Builder, Coming Soon mode, block animations, local Google Fonts, global styling defaults About the AI block The AI block previously included in this plugin is now called ZipAI. It still works in Spectra Legacy for compatibility. New AI features are being built in Spectra Blocks going forward. Compatibility Works with most standard WordPress themes, including Spectra One, Astra, Blocksy, and GeneratePress. Compatible with common plugins including WooCommerce, SureCart, Gravity Forms, LearnDash, MemberPress, and Yoast SEO. See our documentation for the full compatibility list. Support & community Spectra Legacy is actively maintained — security patches, compatibility updates, and support all continue. This plugin is not deprecated. Support forum: use the Support tab on this page Documentation: wpspectra.com/docs Facebook Group: Web Creators by Astra Facebook: Spectra X (Twitter): @wpspectra Contribute Spectra is open source. Browse the code or contribute on GitHub: brainstormforce/wp-spectra Credits Our external packages use Rating Star Component that are distributed under the terms of the ISC. While Slick, Lottie and Striptags is distributed under the terms of the MIT. Additionally, we incorporate FontAwesome v6 under the CC BY 4.0 License, and dnd kit licensed under the MIT License.