How to use the oEmbed Feature in WordPress 4.4

Today we will be discussing one of the updated features of WordPress -Embedding. First, we’ll define the oEmbed format used for the embedding feature. Then, we will demonstrate how to use oEmbed in a WordPress post. Lastly, we’ll show how the WordPress oEmbed provider update affects sharing WordPress posts in non-WordPress sites.

You may not be aware of it, but WordPress has supported oEmbed as an oEMbed consumer for the last several years. The feature allows WordPress users to easily embed content from approved sites without having to copy all the elements of the remote content to your WordPress site. WordPress Version 4.4 updates this feature to allow WordPress to become an oEmbed Provider. This means that an oEmbed consumer can embed posts from WordPress sites.

What is oEmbed?

As defined in oembed.com:

“oEmbed is a format for allowing an embedded representation of a URL on third party sites. The simple API allows a website to display embedded content (such as photos or videos) when a user posts a link to that resource, without having to parse the resource directly.”


In short, the oEmbed format provides a way to take content from an approved site and then port into your WordPress site while maintaining the content’s graphical look and feel. And, amazingly, you this by just simply copying the URL into your post.

Here are a few examples of the feature:

First, log in to your WordPress Administrator
Click on Posts
Add a New Post
Copy the URL from the approved site into your post and watch the magic happen.
Save your post

Let’s look at it one more time. This time, I’m going to copy a URL from Hulu. So I go back into my post, and then paste the Hulu URL into the post.

You can see the post immediately go out and grab the content. This feature makes it very easy to spotlight other content within your WordPress site.


Notice that we have been saying “APPROVED” sites. WordPress has a list of approved sites that you can find here:

https://codex.wordpress.org/Embeds#How_Can_I_Add_or_Change_Support_For_Websites.3F

What does it mean to be a WordPress oEmbed Provider

This means that an oEmbed consumer can embed posts from approved WordPress sites. So, for example, if someone likes your WordPress site, and their website is an oEmbed consumer, they can use the editor on their site to add your post, in the same manner that we were adding Youtube and Hulu videos in our earlier example. Keep in mind that there may be some theme or security limits that affect posts on other sites, but the main gist is that is now easier than ever to have your content shared on other websites not using WordPress.

A good example of how this works can be seen in Facebook posts. If you make a post in Facebook and add a URL, it will attempt to scrape the information from the web, and then a give a quick summary along with a graphic if the URL included a graphic.

Read our full guide on WordPress 4 Release History
▶︎ https://www.inmotionhosting.com/support/edu/wordpress/wp-releases/wordpress-release-history-wp4/

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