1. Docs
  2. Introduction

What to expect as rich media

Third-party publishers provide and host rich media. It comes in a variety of types. Iframely lets you control what to allow as embedded content.

The html field in API responses depends on your preferences. Many rich media embeds can be used as-is. Some would require an Iframely iFrame helper to display correctly.

If any widget type does not fit into your system, you can disable it in your settings. Iframely will try and generate an Iframely card instead. You may disable cards too and get URL data to build URL preview yourself.

Third-party rich media

Iframely gives you granular control and information about rich media types and general URLs data.

In your media settings, please choose rich media types that work for your product. You do it via functional use cases, rel in terms of Iframely API format.

  • Apps — posts, maps, infographics and widgets, ex. Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Google Maps, CodePen.
  • Players — video, audio, podcasts, slideshows, playlists, ex. YouTube, iTunes, NY Times, SoundCloud.
  • Photos & images — provider-hosted images like Imgur, 500px, Flickr. Otherwise, images are pulled & hosted by Iframely.
  • Raw media files — GIFs and other direct links to image, video or audio files; served by Iframely.
  • Readers — long-form readers like Tumblr articles, Twitter timelines, GitHub gists.
  • PDF and Office files — served via Google Reader and MS Office live. Beware of GDPR.
  • Surveys — include polls, surveys and forms, ex. Apester, PollDaddy, Quizlet, JotForm.
  • Summary — publisher’s own branded cards for their URL previews, ex.: NY Times, Medium, Airbnb.
  • Attachment — attached promo media, such as players embedded in an article. Wrapped into a media card.

You may disable any of the types. Instead, Iframely would try to build a summary card in that case. &media=0 API parameter lets you disable rich media for individual URLs.

Please refer to the list of additional Iframely API rel flags.

You can set APIs to respond with error 417 (“expectation failed”) when an URL ends up with no HTML based on your preferences. We do not charge for error URLs.

Iframely-hosted HTML helpers

Iframely provides and hosts additional optional interactives:

  • Cards — summary cards are URL previews. Media cards may contain a player attachment.

  • Images — to avoid hot-linking to images, they are delivered via hosted iFrame. Images are fetched and optimized for the user.

  • Click-to-play — an image placeholder with the “play” button, so player loads only when the user requests it. If publishers’ video autoplays, we cover it with click-to-play by default.

  • MP4 player — Iframely-hosted MP4 player delivers raw MP4 files and streams.

  • Player events — unified JavaScript API helps you control playback.

  • Playback sync — Iframely stops a playing video if a user starts interacting with another one.

  • Autoplay — videos are started on scroll, optionally muted.

  • GIFs — Iframely transcodes GIFs into smaller auto-looping MP4 files.

  • User consents — if needed for GDPR or for its own intrinsic privacy value, you can ask user consents before exposing them to third-party rich media.

Iframely also resolves the number of technical inconsistencies from third-party publishers. Depending on your development environment, you might need a hosted iFrame to deliver media to an end-user.

Docs