Player Behaviour


This article will go over all the settings presented in the Playouts > Behaviour menu. To get started:

  • Click to expand “Media Library” in the left sidebar menu
  • Click “Playouts”
  • Select an existing playout (e.g. the “default” playout) or create a new one.
  • Open the Behaviour tab.

1.0 | Auto Options

  • Auto play
    Enable auto play to automatically start playing the video when the player had loaded, whether or not the player is in view to the user. After checking the box two additional settings are visible:

    • Only when pre-roll ad is available
      If you are serving advertisements, you can check this box to only allow videos to automatically play when a pre-roll ad is available.  Use this setting when you want to ensure that you’re monetising your content.
    • Only if video can be played with sound
      It varies how different browsers deal with autoplay videos with sound. When a browser does not permit a video to autoplay with sound, the player will automatically mute the video and autoplay on mute. Check this box if you only want the video to autoplay when sound is permitted. Please see the box below to see how various browsers deal with autoplay.

      Browsers and autoplay

      Google Chrome
      Muted autoplay is always permitted. Autoplay with sound is only permitted if the use has interacted with the domain (such as clicking or pressing keys) or if the MEI (Media Engagement Index) limit has been reached. This limit is reached when:
      – The user has played a video with sound on the respective website within the same browser session
      – The user has added the site to the home screen of their mobile phone
      – The user has installed the PWA (Progressive Web Apps) web application on their desktop

      Safari
      Muted autoplay is always permitted. Autoplay with sound is only permitted if the user has interacted with the domain (such as clicking or pressing buttons).

      Firefox
      Muted autoplay is always permitted. Firefox has the default to block autoplay videos with sound. Autoplay with sound is only allowed if the user has interacted with the domain (such as clicking or pressing buttons).

      Microsoft Internet Explorer 11
      Microsoft IE11 permits autoplay as a default. Since there are no built-in settings for this, it’s difficult for users to adjust (limit or block) these settings themselves. This is where Microsoft IE11 differs from its successor Microsoft Edge.

      Microsoft Edge (previously Internet Explorer)
      Microsoft Edge allows users to personalise their browser preferences on websites that use autoplay videos with sound. Users can choose whether to allow, limit, or block autoplay. In addition to this general setting, users can choose to customise settings for a specific website. Settings per website take precedence over the general settings. Unlike many other browsers, Microsoft Edge’s default setting is to allow autoplay when a user does not set any preferences for it.

      Mobile Devices

      For mobile devices, such as Apple iPhones, Apple iPads, most Android and Microsoft devices, autoplay is rarely or never permitted. Therefore, assume that autoplay will not be possible on these mobile devices.

  • Auto mute
    Select this box to automatically mute your video content on autoplay. Please note that not all devices allow the influencing of volume settings.
  • Show muted indication
    Select this box to show an “unmute” button for the duration of 10 seconds if the video starts playing muted. Setting this to auto will automatically decide when to enable this functionality.
  • Auto loop
    Enable to automatically restart your video after it’s finished to create a loop.

2.0 | In- & Out View

Use the options available in the “In- & Out View” section to control the player’s behaviour when it enters or exits the view (visible to the user) through scrolling.

  • Sticky options
    Enabling this setting will keep the player in view while playing by

    • Sticking it to either the bottom or the top;
    • Floating it to one of the top/bottom corners or;
    • Floating it to a DOM element on the page.

This option allows users to continue watching videos when they scroll further down the page, increasing engagement and completion rates. After selecting a float option, some additional settings are visible:

  • Always float
    Enable to make the player not appear within the content at all so that it will always float to a location of your choice on the page. We recommend using this setting in combination with auto play.
      • Show floating close button
        When “Always float” is selected, enable this option to display a close button. As a result, users are able to close the floating player. Please note: as soon as a user clicks the close button, the player will not appear or remain elsewhere in the content. A page refresh is required for the player to reappear.
  • Disable float animation
    By default, the player will animate to its set float position. Enable this option to disable float animation.
  • Width when floating
    The width of the player when floating in pixels. This can be a number or javascript code returning a number.
  • Minimum device width to enable floating
    Enable to only float the player when the device width is greater than this minimum.
  • Distance from top
    The distance from the top of the page in pixels. This can be a number or javascript code returning a number.
  • Distance from bottom
    The distance from the bottom of the page in pixels. This can be a number or javascript code returning a number.
  • In view action
    Select an action to trigger when the player enters the view:

      • None
      • Play
      • Unmute
      • Play & unmute
    • Only when pre-roll ad is available
      If the video content cannot be accompanied by a pre-roll ad, the media will not be auto-played (only available when “In view action” is set to “play” or “play and unmute”).
  • Out view action
    (Not available when “Sticky options” is set to float). Specify the player’s behaviour as soon as it exits the view. The available options are:

      • None
      • Pause
      • Mute
      • Pause & mute
  • Force in view actions
    Force ‘In View’ actions on devices on which the ability to play inline is unknown (eg: iPhone). Useful for using the inArticle in an iPhone app.
  • In-view margin
    The percentage of the player that should be visible before triggering the ‘In View’ action.

3.0 | Keyboard

  • Disable keyboard controls
    Viewers can control the player using the keyboard. The player only responds to keyboard keys when the player is selected. This is the case when the mouse hovers over the player or when the user last clicked in the player. Check this box to disable keyboard control.
    Learn more about keyboard accessibility.

4.0 | Mouse

  • Mouse in action
    The way you want the player to act when a viewer places the mouse over the video. You can choose none, play, unmute, or play & unmute.
  • Mouse out action
    The way you want the player to act when a viewer places the mouse out of the video. You can choose none, pause, mute, or pause & mute.
  • On click action
    The way you want the player to act when a viewer clicks on the video. You can choose between none, play or pause, open link in current window, or open link in new window.

5.0 | Placement options

These options determine where the player will be placed on the page. Read more about placing the player dynamically here.

  • Placement Options
    • At script position (default)
      Place the player directly after the position of the embed script on the page.
    • After matching DOM element
      Place the player directly after the first element matching the DOM-Selector.
    • Halfway matching DOM elements
      Place the player after the number of items matching the DOM-Selector divided by two, rounded down. Example: When 7 elements match the selector, the banner will be placed after the 3rd element.
    • After matching DOM element below the fold
      The placement logic will try to place the player below the webpage “fold”. This means it will place the player after the first element that is not completely visible without scrolling. If none of the elements is below the fold, the player will not be placed.
    • After matching DOM element below the fold, or the last element found
      Same as above, with the exception that it will be placed after the last element found, if none of the matching elements is under the fold.
  • Wait for CMP response
    When this feature is enabled, the player will wait to place itself on the page until a consent string has been obtained from the CMP (Consent Management Platform) on the page, or when the configured timeout has been reached.
  • CMP response timeout
    Only available if “Wait for CMP response” is enabled. The amount of milliseconds to allow for the player to try and obtain the consent string from the CMP before continuing placement. After this time is exceeded the player will continue to place itself regardless of the answer from the CMP.

6.0 | Miscellaneous

  • WCAG text alternative source
    WCAG AA recommends offering text alternatives for accessibility purposes. Select the metadata field where the text alternative is to be set: title, description or a custom metadata field. Read more about custom metadata fields.
  • Rotate on mobile full-screen mismatch
    On mobile devices, rotate a landscape video when in portrait full screen (and vice-versa)

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