3Play Plugin: Create and Manage Plugin Templates

This article explains how to create, customize, and manage 3Play Plugin Templates.

The functionality and design of a 3Play Plugin embedded on a webpage is driven by the parameters set within a plugin template. This connection between plugin and template means that changes made to 3Play Plugin Templates will also be reflected in their corresponding embedded plugins, making updates to large numbers of embedded plugins as easy a few clicks. This connection also means, however, that any changes made to an existing template will propagate to embedded plugins made from that template.

If you're looking for information on how to convert your old plugin templates to the new version, follow the link to this article

1. Getting Started with Plugin Templates
2. Public Plugin Templates
3. Create New Plugin Templates
4. Change an Existing Plugin Template

Prerequisites

• The 3Play Plugin is not available to Express accounts
• Content Publishing must be enabled for access to the 3Play Plugin

 1.  Click the Publish button to navigate to the Plugin Builder.

Public Plugin Templates

3Play Media provides three plugin templates that are visible to most customers. These Public Plugin Templates can be used on their own to generate embed codes, or can serve as a starting point to further customize the plugin.

1. [PUBLIC] LMS Plugin Embed
2. [PUBLIC] YouTube Interactive Transcript Embed
3. [PUBLIC] YouTube Captions Embed

Steps to Create New Plugin Templates

 1a. Use a Public Plugin Template as a Starting Point

While users are not allowed to make adjustments to the Public Plugin Templates, these templates can be used as starting points for designing templates.

• In order to use a Public Plugin Template as a starting point for designing a new template, first select the Public Plugin Template you want to use as a foundation for designing the new template. Once a Public Plugin Template has been selected, simply begin making changes to options listed in the Video Settings, Style Settings, and Plugin Features sections. Changes will display on the left side of the 3Play Plugin Builder.

After all of the new selections seem satisfactory, navigate to the Save New Template button.

• Enter a name for the new 3Play Plugin Template, click Confirm. Congratulations, your new 3Play Plugin Template has been created!

Follow this link to learn more about the Style Settings and Plugin Features sections of our 3Play Plugin Builder.

 1b. Create a New 3Play Plugin Template From Scratch

The steps for creating a new 3Play Plugin Template from scratch are similar to those for using a Public Plugin Template. In this case, however, a new template can be created from scratch by starting with "[No Template]" in the Plugin Template dropdown.

• When this option is selected in the dropdown, the Style Settings and Plugin Features will be set to 500px and blank, respectively.

Steps to Make Changes to Existing Templates

Making changes to an existing template is very easy and is similar to the process of creating a new template. Please note: you can only edit an existing template if you created the template to begin with. You can, however, load a template created by another user as a starting point to design a new template, and then save those edits as a new template entirely. This method is similar to making a new template from a Public Plugin Template.

 1.  Navigate to the 3Play Plugin Builder and select the template that will serve as your starting point.

• After selecting the template, begin to make changes to the selections available in Video Settings, Style Settings, and Plugin Features. As features and settings are disabled and enabled, the preview will update dynamically.

Once you are satisfied with the changes you have made, click the button Update Template.

A dialogue box will appear, asking you to confirm if you'd like to overwrite your 3Play Plugin Template. Selecting ‘yes’ will save the changes you’ve made to the selected 3Play Plugin.

Managing 3Play Plugin Templates from Project Settings

3Play Plugin templates can also be viewed, renamed, and deleted by navigating to Settings > Plugin Templates. Here, all templates except the Public Templates are listed. Information about the template will be shown, and options to rename and delete are available. The ability to make other edits, however, remains in the 3Play Plugin Builder accessed through any individual file.