Bradmax Player vs VideoFlowEngine HLS Streaming

Bradmax Player is a plugin, which supports video streams playback on desktops and mobile devices. If you have access to video streaming in formats: – HLS – MPEG-DASH – MS Smooth Streaming or simple mp4, webM, ogg files, then you can watch them on your site with Bradmax Player. It is even supporting HLS or MS Smooth Streaming playback on platforms / devices, which usually not support them. In such cases video is “transconded” on-fly in your browser during playback. Player support also: poster image – Custom image from video, which is displayed on player before playback. subtitles – Embedded in HLS, MPEG-DASH, MS Smooth Streaming video stream or from external files in SRT, VTT file formats. basic video statistics for Google Analytics – Just paste your Google Analytics tracker id into player settings for collecting information about video views and watched time. video chapters & time markers – Extending progressbar with additional information about video chapters or time markers. Requirements A self-hosted website running on WordPress CRM. Bradmax Player Features Embed video streams into a post/page or anywhere on your WordPress site (supported streaming formats HLS, MPEG-DASH, MS Smooth Streaming). Embed video files (MP4, WebM, Ogg) into your page. Embed responsive videos for a better user experience while viewing from a mobile device. Embed videos with poster images. Automatically play a video when the page is rendered. Embed videos uploaded to your WordPress media library using direct links in the shortcode. No setup required, simply install and start embedding videos. Lightweight and compatible with the latest version of WordPress Clean and sleek player with no watermark. Player customisation is available (change skin, colors, logo, etc.). It requires only sign-up on https://bradmax.com/site/en/signup . It’s free and basic version of player is also free. Embed video with subtitles (subtitles loaded from stream or from SRT, VTT files). Collect basic statistics about video playback in your Google Analytics account. Playback of DRM protected video (only in paid version for custom player downloaded from bradmax.com). Bradmax Player Plugin Usage In order to embed a video create a new post/page and use the following shortcode: [bradmax_video url="https://bradmax.com/static/video/tos/big_buck_bunny.m3u8" duration="596" poster="https://bradmax.com/static/images/startsplash.jpg"] “url” is the location of your streaming. You need to replace the sample URL with the actual URL of the video stream. “duration” contain length in seconds of video, so it can be displayed on player before staring playback. “poster” is location of poster image, which should be displayed on player. Replace sample URL with link of your image. Video playback statistics with Google Analytics Player can collect basic statistics for video playback. You just need to copy your “Tracking ID” from Google Analytics page into player settings. For finding “Tracking ID” please open: Google Analytics > Admin > Tracking Info > Tracking Code . “Tracker ID” is code having form “UA-XXXXXXXX-X”, where X is 0-9 digit and you have to copy it into ga_tracker_id video shortcode option (see section below). Player collects video playback details as “Events” in your Google Analytics account. There are available in sections: Google Analytics panel > Real-Time > Events Google Analytics panel > Behaviour > Events Player is sending events: event category: view , event action: started (send on starting video playback) event category: player event, event action: playing/paused (send on play/pause video) event category: progress seconds, event action: progress seconds (send every 10 sec of playback) For each media distinction in statistics you have to specify in video shortcode option “media_id”. Then each event got additionaly “Event Label” with data provided from media_id parameter. media_id can be any text, which you want to define, but it is recomended to keep it short. Video Shortcode Options The following options are supported in the shortcode. Autoplay Causes the video file to automatically play when the page loads. Note: Currenlty this option is working only on desktop devices with muted sound (see “Mute” shortcode). On mobile devices (phones, tablets, etc.) this option is not working. It is platform limitation and clicking on video is required for starting playback. [bradmax_video url="http://example.com/hls_stream.m3u8" autoplay="true"] Mute Causes the video starts with muted sound. This option is usefull for starting video automatically with “autoplay” option. [bradmax_video url="http://example.com/hls_stream.m3u8" autoplay="true" mute="true"] Duration Defines length of video stream in seconds. Can contain fraction of second. It is required for displaying duration of video before staring playback. [bradmax_video url="http://example.com/hls_stream.m3u8" duration="100.1"] Poster Defines image to show as placeholder before the video plays. [bradmax_video url="http://example.com/hls_stream.m3u8" poster="http://example.com/wp-content/uploads/poster.jpg"] Pip Enables additional button in player skin for enabling/disabling Picture-in-Picture mode. When PIP mode is enabled then player is detached from browser and user can watch video over other screens. Note: This feature requires player at last v2.12.0 version. If you are using older customized player (changed colors, skin, etc.), then you have to generate new one on bradmax.com page. PIP button appears after starting playback. Before it is blocked by browser. [bradmax_video url="http://example.com/hls_stream.m3u8" pip="true"] Chapters & Time markers Defines additional info for video chapters. Such information will be presented on progress bar. Format for video chapters is similar to Youtube chapters in description. Each chapter entry should be in separated line or separated from other entries using semicolon (;). Entry begins with start time of chapter and folowed by label for chapter. Chapters use “chapters” attribute name and time markers “time_markers”. [bradmax_video url="https://bradmax.com/static/video/tos/440272.mpd" duration="100.1" chapters=" 0:00 - Intro 0:23 - 1. Preparations 3:18 - 2. Simulation 7:18 - 3. Defense 8:48 - 4. Forgiveness 9:38 - Credits " time_markers=" 1:40 - Decoy 3:20 - Simulation start 5:30 - They are comming ... 8:08 - Rope slide 11:14 - Credits rope slide "] Example for semicolons instead of new lines – all in one line. Sometimes wordpress can have problems with multiline in shortcodes. Using semicolons will solve it. [bradmax_video url="https://bradmax.com/static/video/tos/440272.mpd" duration="100.1" chapters="0:00 - Intro ; 0:23 - 1. Preparations ; 3:18 - 2. Simulation ;7:18 - 3. Defense ; 8:48 - 4. Forgiveness ; 9:38 - Credits"] Class Defines CSS class, which should be added into player box on page (customizing view on WordPress page). [bradmax_video url="http://example.com/hls_stream.m3u8" class="my-custom-player-css-class"] Style Defines CSS style string, which should be added into player for on page (customizing view on WordPress page). [bradmax_video url="http://example.com/hls_stream.m3u8" style="width:400px;height:200px;border:solid 1px gray"] Subtitles Defines list of subtitles files (one file per language) for video. Subtitles files has to be in SRT or VTT format (file extension *.srt or *.vtt). Format for subtitles list subtitles=”LANG_CODE=FILE_LINK LANG_CODE=FILE_LINK …”, where LANG_CODE is two letter language code (ISO 639-1 standard – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_ISO_639-1_codes) for defining subtitles language. FILE_LINK is link to file stored on some HTTP server, which player will be able to download during playback. Working example (subtitles in Czech language): [bradmax_video url="https://bradmax.com/static/video/tos/tesla/tesla.m3u8" subtitles="cz=https://bradmax.com/static/video/tos/tesla/tesla_cz.srt"] Example with multiple languages for video: [bradmax_video url="http://example.com/hls_stream.m3u8" subtitles="en=https://example.com/subtitles_en.srt cz=https://example.com/subtitles_cz.srt sk=https://example.com/subtitles_sk.srt"] ga_tracker_id Defines Google Analytics tracker id. When defined video playback is tracked in your Google Analytics account in “Events” sections. “Tracker ID” is code having form “UA-XXXXXXXX-X”, where X is 0-9 digit and is located in Google Analytics > Admin > Tracking Info > Tracking Code. Example: [bradmax_video url="http://example.com/hls_stream.m3u8" ga_tracker_id="UA-XXXXXXXX-X" media_id="my example stream"] media_id This parameter is used, when Google Analytics plugin is active (see ga_tracker_id video shortcode). It is used for each media distinction, so for each different video diferent value should be provided. It can be any text, but it is recomended to keep it short. Alternative stream formats (url_2, url_3, url_4) If you got video content (same title/media) in multiple formats eg. MPEG-DASH, HLS, MS Smooth Streaming you can provide them to player using shortcodes url_2, url_3, url_4 . Player automatically choses format with best support for device. You can put links in any order. Example for video with many formats (MPEG-DASH and HLS): [bradmax_video url="https://bradmax.com/static/video/tos/440272.mpd" url_2="https://bradmax.com/static/video/tos/440272.m3u8"] live_ Player supports playback for live stream transmissions (HLS, MPEG-DASH, MS Smooth Streaming). For such transmissions are additonal parameters, which improve user experience. live_end_date: Date time as ISO 8601 string (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISO_8601). Examples: “2020-06-10T20:00:00Z” (2020-06-10 20:00:00 UTC time zone), “2020-06-12T18:00:00+08:00” (2020-06-12 18:00:00 GMT+8 time zone). If defined, then player is able to detect end of live stream transmission. Without it player will be assume end of transmission and end splash screen will be presented. live_thank_you_image_url: Link to custom end splash image, which should be shown after end of live stream transmission. If not defined then default start splash will be shown after end of transmission. live_waiting_for_transmission_image_url: Link to custom waiting for transmission image, which should be shown when player is waiting for live stream transmission start. Requires live_end_date parameter for correct work – player is aware if it is before or after transmission. live_low_latency_mode: Indicates if lowLatencyMode should be enabled. By default it is disabled. When live_low_latency_mode then latency optimization is used at the expense of quality (stream is in lower quality and can buffer more frequently, but with much lower latency). This mode is working only for HLS and MPEG-DASH streams. example configuration Examples: [bradmax_video url="http://example.com/hls_live_stream.m3u8" live_waiting_for_transmission_image_url="https://bradmax.com/static/images/waiting_for_transmission.jpg" live_thank_you_image_url="https://bradmax.com/static/images/thankyou_endsplash.jpg" live_end_date="2020-06-14T14:00:00+08:00"] [bradmax_video url="http://example.com/hls_live_stream.m3u8" live_low_latency_mode="true"] drm_ Player supports playback for DRM protected video – paid version of player downloaded from bradmax.com is required. Short codes for DRM configuration: drm_prov: Type of provider. Mark “default” for enabling support DRMs for selected content. Available values: [‘default’, ‘ezdrm’, ‘keyos’] drm_widevine_url: URL to Widevine DRM license server. It is required for decrypting Widevine protected videos. drm_widevine_cust_data: Custom data in base64 encoded format for Widevine. drm_playready_url: URL to MS PlayReady DRM license server. It is required for decrypting PlayReady protected videos. drm_playready_cust_data: Custom data in base64 encoded format for MS PlayReady. drm_fairplay_url: URL to FairPlay DRM license server. It is required for decrypting FairPlay protected videos. drm_fairplay_cust_data: Custom data in base64 encoded format for FairPlay. drm_fairplay_cert_url: URL to FairPlay certificate server. Example: [bradmax_video url="https://example.com/drm_protected_stream.mpd" drm_prov="default" drm_widevine_url="https://drm.example.com/license"]

The managed WordPress video hosting plugin — adaptive HLS streaming without the Vimeo bill. Stop paying Vimeo to host videos on your WordPress site. VideoFlowEngine gives you upload, encoding, CDN delivery, and analytics — all built into WordPress, all on flat-rate pricing with no per-view fees. Upload from the WordPress dashboard. Videos auto-encode to adaptive HLS (360p / 720p / 1080p) and stream instantly via Cloudflare CDN. Drop into any page, post, or LMS lesson with [vfhls_player id="123"] or the Gutenberg block. Five minutes from install to live HLS stream. 🎯 Built for: Course creators on LearnDash, Tutor LMS, LifterLMS, LearnPress — replace Vimeo without rebuilding your lessons WooCommerce stores — add fast product demo videos without slowing down your store Membership sites that don’t want YouTube recommendations pulling members away mid-lesson Agencies managing video for multiple client sites from a single WordPress dashboard SaaS / marketing sites that need a clean, branded, ad-free video player 🚀 WordPress video hosting that actually works: Upload videos directly from the WordPress dashboard Automatic multi-resolution HLS encoding — 360p, 720p, 1080p adaptive Fast global delivery via Cloudflare CDN — streams like Netflix, not like a raw MP4 file Drop into any page, post, or LMS lesson via shortcode or Gutenberg block Works with ACF fields — any tag pointing to a .m3u8 URL is auto-detected and streamed via HLS Built-in analytics: views, watch time, drop-off — right inside WordPress admin No ads, no external branding, no “watch on Vimeo” recommendations 🔥 Features Direct-to-cloud uploads (no server transcoding, no PHP upload size limits) Adaptive HLS streaming — quality switches automatically based on the viewer’s connection [vfhls_player id="123"] shortcode for single videos [vfhls_gallery columns="3"] shortcode for video grids Gutenberg block for the block editor Drag & drop upload with real-time encoding progress Built-in analytics dashboard — views, watch time, drop-off, device breakdown Free tier — no credit card required 🎬 Hero Add-On — Instant-Play Premium Video Homepage hero videos, course intros, and featured testimonials should play instantly — no buffer wheel, no loading delay, no LCP penalty. The Hero add-on marks any one video as your Hero for full-HD instant-play delivery. Use [vfhls_player id="123" hero] to embed it. Switch which video is your Hero anytime from Settings. Instant playback — plays on first tap, no buffer wheel, even on slow mobile connections Faster page load — adaptive HLS, no full-file pre-download before playback starts Full HD 1080p for the designated hero video One-click switch — reassign the Hero to a different video anytime Perfect for: homepage hero sections, course intro lessons, sales-page testimonials, product demo reels. 🎓 Works with your LMS: Drop the shortcode or block into any LMS lesson editor. Compatible with: LearnDash — lessons, topics, quizzes, Focus Mode Tutor LMS — lesson video blocks, course builder LifterLMS — lesson and course content LearnPress — lesson content Any LMS that accepts standard WordPress shortcodes or Gutenberg blocks ❓ Why VideoFlowEngine instead of Vimeo? No per-view charges — flat plan pricing, never metered per play No ads or platform branding — your player, your domain, your look No YouTube-style recommendations pulling viewers out of your paid course Analytics inside WordPress — views, watch time, drop-off without a separate dashboard Private by default — videos are not surfaced on any public platform 🔐 Security & Privacy WordPress capability checks on every admin action Pre-signed upload URLs — video files never publicly exposed during upload No data leaves your site until the admin explicitly clicks “Connect” Visitor analytics are opt-in — disabled by default, toggled from Settings Viewer IP used only for 1-hour view deduplication, not stored long-term How it works: Install and activate the plugin Go to VideoFlowEngine → Settings → click Connect to VideoFlowEngine (a consent screen shows exactly which data is sent before you confirm) Upload from the VideoFlowEngine menu — drag & drop, then wait a few minutes for HLS encoding Paste [vfhls_player id="123"] into any page, post, or LMS lesson — or use the Gutenberg block External Services This plugin connects to VideoFlowEngine API (api.videoflowengine.com) to process, store, and deliver videos. This service is required for the plugin to function. No data is sent until the site admin explicitly clicks “Connect to VideoFlowEngine” and reviews the consent screen. API endpoint: https://api.videoflowengine.com Data sent may include: Video files (uploaded directly to cloud storage via pre-signed URLs) Site URL, site name, admin email (for API key provisioning) WordPress version, PHP version, plugin version API key (for authentication on all subsequent requests) Playback analytics when enabled — view counts, watch time, playback quality, viewer IP for deduplication (opt-in, disabled by default) Service Provider: VideoFlowEngine Website: https://videoflowengine.com API: https://api.videoflowengine.com Terms of Service: https://videoflowengine.com/terms Privacy Policy: https://videoflowengine.com/privacy Third Party Libraries hls.js — HLS video playback in browsers. Included file: assets/js/hls.min.js (minified production build). Source code: https://github.com/video-dev/hls.js. License: Apache License 2.0 (GPL-compatible). Privacy No data leaves your site until the admin explicitly connects via Settings. Visitor analytics are opt-in and disabled by default. The admin can enable or disable analytics at any time from VideoFlowEngine → Settings. Full details: https://videoflowengine.com/privacy.