Embedding video on own site outside of vShare main script

[Arrr]

Hi all!

I'm looking to purchase vShare and I'm wondering if this is possible?

Here is what I wish to do:

Have vShare running for video. Have Wordpress for main site. I want to be able to embed videos into Wordpress posts (and elsewhere) and have these videos be delivered from the vShare script.

This way I get all the admin functionality of vShare for the videos, the hotlink protection, and so on, and all the video for my site is coming from and sorted by the same thing (vShare). Yet I can put the videos where I want on my site, outside of the vShare script.

So I guess this is like allowing embedding from other sites in a way. As you have a video from your vShare outside of the vShare main script.

BUT. As I said with the hotlink protection, I do not want other sites to be able to embed my videos from vShare. Only my site.

Is this possible with vShare? I really hope it is because vShare is awesome and I want to use it.

I'm not averse to php programming. So if it takes a considerable hack that's not a problem. I'd rather it didn't of course. Especially as I feel this is a very good feature to be able to have on vShare if it's not currently there.

So, embedding on own site, outside of vShare main script, with hotlink protection of flv, say it's possible! :)

[bplex]

Yes, what you are wanting to do is possible. Doesn't require a hack or anything.

[Arrr]

Thanks for the reply bplex.

What code would actually be dropped into the Wordpress post? I have a custom template for video posts so I can put anything in this, pretty much. But I would have thought generating the temporary links to the flv files would be an issue outside of the main vShare script? Surely it would take more than the standard vShare embed code for this to work in a Wordpress post? Would it require the use of iframes? I'd rather avoid those if possible.

Thanks again,

[bplex]

Actually, all you would do is enable embedding for your videos (in the vShare admin panel). After doing that, you can use either the Object embed code or the iframe embed code (your choice) that is generated each time you upload a video. You would then make a modification to your .htaccess file to prevent hotlinking outside of your wordpress and vshare sites.

[Arrr]

Thanks again for your answer bplex.

.htaccess is not enough protection for me. This is far from full proof and can be easily worked around if somebody wishes to use your bandwidth. I read that Flash Player (from 10 on) is now sending the http_referrer, as it didn't for a long time like most media players. But I'm pretty sure the headers can still be modified by the offending site. And this whole method is all quite loose. This is why I want to use vShare's temporary flv file links in the embed code. Any thoughts on doing this?

[bplex]

Yes, that method is loose, but it is the only method that you can do with vShare currently as vShare does not offer a "temporary FLV" link. Rather, by default, vShare uses the real link to your FLV files. I have actually made a mod (for 2.6) that uses Lighttpd's mod_secdownload which offers this ability. It isn't fool proof as people can still link to the temporary locations. However, since the location expires, it helps out a lot. Version 2.7 is supposed to have the ability to work with mod_secdownload natively, but I don't know how far it will go with its protection methods.

[Arrr]

bplex,

If I load:

http://video.bizhat.com/view/2694/8-million-dollar-car/

I get the flv location:

http://s1.video.bizhat.com/dl/84fa8c5d6bf8d3562d28d88c6ba18948/49b5272e/1213469402779988932.flv

If I refresh the same page straight away I get the flv file location:

http://s1.video.bizhat.com/dl/9f324e...2779988932.flv

The file name is staying the same, but the two directories before it are changing. Every time. This is what I would like when embedding video on my site outside of the vShare main script.

Are these not temporary locations?

[bplex]

Those are temporary locations, yes. However, as I have stated, that version of vShare that you are seeing is not released yet (it will be released hopefully tomorrow). Secondly, those links are not generated by vShare. Rather, that is the result of Lighttpd integration with mod_secdownload.

[Arrr]

So in order to get this protection, the only real hotlink protection which completely works, with the new version of the vShare script is to be running Lighttpd?

Hmm. That sucks for Apache users. Which will be the vast majority. Including myself. I could probably have this project run on Lighttpd, just don't have any experience of it.

I have seen these exact same links to the flv's on another video site. They have had them for a good while now. The url starting with /dl/ then two random directories exactly the same format as the vShare script. So I thought that site was being powered by vShare. A very hacked version looks wise, but functionally I thought it was vShare underneath. That site is running Lighttpd. I'd link to it but it's very NSFW.

But now having looked at what you mentioned, mod_secdownload, it seems that these links in this format are exactly what it requires. And in the example they give they choose the url prefix of /dl/. That explains it.

I guess I need to decide if I can run this project on Lighttpd. I read that another hotlink protection method is in the works, possibly for the next release of vShare, which will be php only? For people on shared hosting. I think a lot of Apache users would be interested in this also.

[bplex]

Yes, that is all powered using Lighttpd. The typical format is /dl/, but it can be whatever you configure. The portions of the URL that look like directories are actually not directories at all. Rather, they are keys. They basically tell lighttpd how to deliver the content. If your key generator is rather complex, it is actually quite a good method of preventing hotlinking. I actually run a hybrid site (lighttpd and Apache) and have built modules for people who wish to use the enhanced security. The problem is, however, is that it typically requires a dedicated box or a VPS/VDS as many providers are not utilizing lighttpd on the client level. Even further, I'm not too sure how the new version of vShare implements this (not sure if they are requiring all lighttpd or a hybrid like with what I do). In any case, I'll probably continue to run a hybrid as there are some things that I plan to add into 2.7 to make it a lot more streamlined, now that it is open source.