NOTES ABOUT MEDIA ACCESS LINKS:
 - This feature ONLY applies to video or audio media.
 - Administrators can DISABLE the ability to generate access links, and they can do so for Instructors or Students, or both. If the feature has been disabled for your role, you will NOT see any of the options discussed on this page.
 - If you want to embed media into a Blackboard, Canvas, or Moodle content page, there may be an EchoVideo Embed Button available for you. The embed button is a shortcut for embedding EchoVideo videos into LMS content pages. See Embedding EchoVideo Videos into Blackboard, Embedding EchoVideo Videos into Canvas, or Embedding EchoVideo Videos into Moodle as appropriate for details.
 - If you DO embed media into an LMS content page using the Embed Button, you will see a corresponding link in the Links section of the media details page, and in the Links list in the Share Settings modal for that media.
 - Finally, you can generate a link and paste it as the Embed Media URL for an EchoVideo Media Slide. This allows you to include Echo videos in your presentations.

There may be times when you want to share a recording or video with a larger audience than a few classes or even just EchoVideo users. In this case, you can generate a URL directly to the media, then post that link anywhere you like. You can also generate an "embed code" to surround the link for embedding directly into a portal, embedding in an LMS content page (using the HTML view of the editor), or onto a social media site.

Access Links can be Public, allowing anyone with the URL to view the media. Or they can be set to Private, requiring anyone who clicks the link to log in to EchoVideo. Private means that only EchoVideo users at your institution can view the linked media.

IMPORTANT: Setting an access link to Private means a user must log in to EchoVideo to view it. LMS users (who likely do not have a direct EchoVideo login) will need to have already accessed EchoVideo in some way (for example, to view a section) to gain authentication. As long as they are already authenticated in EchoVideo when they click the link, the link will work.

You can also create multiple different links for a piece of content, configuring unique options for each link and then posting them in separate locations. For example, you may have a public link that doesn't require authentication and a private one that does. You can then deactivate and/or delete one link without affecting the other(s). HINT: If there are multiple links for a single item, use the Description field to tell them apart.

To generate an access link, you can either use the Share workflow from the Library or the Links section of the Media Details page (both outlined below). The options for a link are always the same, regardless of how you generated it.

Generating Links from the Media Details Page

To generate a public link from the media details page

1. Click on a media tile in your Library to open the Media Details page.
2. Scroll down to the Links section of the Share Settings area below the preview pane.
3. Click Add Link, as identified in the below figure.
   
4. The link is immediately generated and the section expands to provide additional options.
   
   Each generated link has configurable options as follows:
   • Share link slider: When enabled (default), the link is active and anyone clicking the link plays the linked content. If deactivated (turn Share link slider off), the link itself remains valid but users clicking the link cannot view the content. This works to temporarily disable the link.
   • Copy: Use the Copy button to copy the link URL to your clipboard for pasting into your desired location.
   • Embed: Use the Embed button to generate embed code to surround the link. This is described further in the next step.
   • Description: Enter a description for the link. This is useful for identifying the purpose of the link or the location to which it is to be posted. The description is for your purposes only and does not appear outside of EchoVideo.
   • Player Style: This allows you to select a specific player style that will be applied to this link. This option only appears if any custom player styles have configured by your Administrator.
   • Start At: This allows you to set a 'starting location' for the media. Users can view the entirety of it, but by default, it begins playing at the location you set.
   • Public access slider: When enabled (default), any person with the URL can view the media. Disabling this slider will require a user to log into EchoVideo to view it (making access Private instead of Public)
   • Delete: Permanently deletes the URL and its relationship with the content. If the URL remains posted publicly, clicking it will return a content not found error, as there is no longer any association between the URL and the content.
5. If appropriate, click EMBED to generate an embed code around the link for embedding into an accommodating website or other place where the media can be played in a frame.
   
6. In the Embed link dialog box, you can select Size options for the embedded frame, as well as Autoplay and Automute options. Autoplay and Automute are OFF by default.
   

   NOTE: If you enable Autoplay, Automute is also enabled; this is to accommodate browsers that do not allow for sound with autoplay content. You can enable Automute separately from Autoplay, however.

   
7. Once the embed options are configured, click Copy to copy the full embed code to your clipboard for pasting to the desired location.
8. Click Done to close the Embed link dialog box and return to the Links list.

The link you create appears in the Links list of the Share Settings area and is available for all users who have access to the content's sharing information (content owners and admins).

When you no longer need a public link to the media, click the Delete button for that link. Deleting a link is permanent. Remember that you can deactivate a link by disabling the Share link slider when you do not want to delete it. Deactivation retains the relationship between the link and the media but makes the media inaccessible via the link.

YOU CAN CREATE MULTIPLE LINKS: Notice that after you create a link, the Add Link button remains. This allows you to create additional public links with different properties as needed.

The Add Link, Delete, and Share link (enable/disable link) options are all identified in the below figure.

IMPORTANT: Also identified in the above figure is the scrollbar on the right side of the Links panel. When you have multiple links, it is LIKELY you will have to scroll to see all of them. You may need to scroll to see the Add Link button below any links created for this media.

Generating Links to Media from the Library

To generate a public link from your Library

1. Use the Filters and/or Search box to find the item you want to create a link for.
2. Hover over the media tile and click the Menu button.
3. Select Share from the media options menu, as shown in the below figure.
   
4. The Individual tab appears by default. Click the Links tab at the top of the modal to open the Links list.
   The Links list may be empty or may contain one or more links already generated for this media.
   
5. Click the Add Link button.
   If there are no links yet for this media, the button appears in the center of the modal as shown above. If there are already public links to this media, the Add Link button appears below the list of links, as seen below.
   
6. A new link is immediately generated, and has fields and configurable options as follows:
   • Share link slider: When enabled (default), the link is active and anyone clicking the link plays the linked content. If deactivated (turn Share link slider off), the link itself remains valid but users clicking the link cannot view the content. This works to temporarily disable the link.
   • Copy: Use the Copy button to copy the link URL to your clipboard for pasting into your desired location.
   • Embed: Use the Embed button to generate embed code to surround the link. This is described further in the next step. 
   • Description: Enter a description for the link. This is useful for identifying the purpose of the link or the location to which it is to be posted. The description is for your purposes only and does not appear outside of EchoVideo.
   • Player Style: This allows you to select a specific player style that will be applied to this link. This option only appears if any custom player styles have configured by your Administrator.
   • Start At: This allows you to set a 'starting location' for the media. Users can view the entirety of it, but by default, it begins playing at the location you set.
   • Public access slider: When enabled (default), any person with the URL can view the media. Disabling this slider will require a user to log into EchoVideo to view it (making access Private instead of Public)
   • Delete: Permanently deletes the URL and its relationship with the content. If the URL remains posted publicly, clicking it will return a content not found error, as there is no longer any association between the URL and the content.
7. If appropriate, click EMBED to generate an embed code around the link for embedding into an website or other place where the media can be played in a frame.
8. In the Embed link dialog box, you can select Size options for the embedded frame, as well as Autoplay and Automute options. Autoplay and Automute are OFF by default.
   

   NOTE: If you enable Autoplay, Automute is also enabled; this is to accommodate browsers that do not allow for sound with autoplay content. You can enable Automute separately from Autoplay, however.

   
9. Once the embed options are configured, click Copy to copy the full embed code to your clipboard for pasting to the desired location.
10. Click Done to close the Embed link dialog box and return to the Links list.
11. When finished generating links to the content, click Done at the bottom of the Share settings modal.

When you no longer need a public link to the media, click the Delete button for that link. Deleting a link is permanent. Remember that you can deactivate a link by disabling the Share link slider when you do not want to delete it. Deactivation retains the relationship between the link and the media but makes the media inaccessible via the link.