Posted: Thursday, May 7th, 2009 at 6:53 am. Filed in Features.
Tags: comments, polldaddy, Shortcode, YouTube
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Add YouTube and Polls to Comments
Some of you may have noticed we’ve been experimenting with a new feature in comments here on WordPress.com, namely that you can now embed YouTube videos and PollDaddy polls directly in a comment.
Although shortcodes are great and we’ll continue to support and encourage them for comments the simplest possible interface seemed to be just a URL.
The URL is all you’ll need to include a YouTube video or PollDaddy poll. To try it out copy and paste the permalink for a video or a poll on PollDaddy Answers and put it on its own line in a comment, like enter enter http://answers.polldaddy.com/poll/1598108/ enter enter. You’ll now have a poll embedded in the comment just like this:
(By the way, I have a Kindle 2 and it’s the bestest thing since sliced beer.)
Of course if someone leaves a video or poll you don’t like it’s just like them leaving something else you don’t like, you can always delete it or edit it to remove the offending link.
As you and your audience start to play with this it should spice up comments a bit, and based on your feedback we may expand this to encompass other shortcodes and embeds in the future.
For some further information, feel free to check out the feature’s official support document.
Keep commentin’. 
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May 8th, 2009 at 5:32 am
Awesome!
But It will be very nice if we could add a Feevy sidebar inside our blogs ^^
May 8th, 2009 at 5:56 am
I think this is a great idea. Images too are something I look forward to. Perhaps images of a certain size only can be allowed.
May 8th, 2009 at 6:53 am
Do you think its worth it to get a Kindle if you aren’t traveling at all? The kindle book prices weren’t as cheap as I had hoped, but I guess that just goes to show how expensive licensing can be O.o
May 8th, 2009 at 7:36 am
i don’t like this new feature, and i don’t like that i have to ban the use of youtube-links at all in my comments if i don’t want to allow videos showing on my blog. i’m fine with people posting a LINK to youtube if they want to show something, with this new system i can’t allow that anymore. that’s not what i call an improvement.
there needs to be an option for blog owners to switch this new function on/off so they have full control what they allow in their comments.
May 8th, 2009 at 8:12 am
lets say i post a youtube url in a comment, and i want it to stay as a url – not present the video.
do i have to use html to create a link or is there a easier way?
May 9th, 2009 at 12:25 am
Use HTML to create the link OR just remove www from the YouTube link.
May 8th, 2009 at 8:13 am
please consider adding images that would automatically be thumbnailed (and clicking the thumbnail, the image would open in the same tab or a new window), because I have problems posting big-size images.
May 8th, 2009 at 8:21 am
i think a bit absurd
May 8th, 2009 at 9:11 am
I see you, in heart for your live. brain and thinking big its solution for you,,,
May 8th, 2009 at 9:15 am
yea i like too
May 8th, 2009 at 9:57 am
Nice improvement!
May 8th, 2009 at 9:59 am
great idea I don’t know how you guys come up with these things…
I would use it for sure…
and I’m excited to see what people will use in my blog
thanks matt
May 8th, 2009 at 11:10 am
Matt, you seriously need to enable comment threading on your blog. It’s virtually impossible to tell who some of your replies are aimed at.
May 9th, 2009 at 12:24 am
There is threading on this blog, but only authors can use it. See how my replies are a little bit indented?
May 8th, 2009 at 12:03 pm
Sounds cool. Can’t wait to try it out!
May 8th, 2009 at 12:50 pm
… just awesome wordpress… I just love ya!
Thanks…Thanks..Thanks….
May 8th, 2009 at 1:44 pm
When are we going to be able to put a YouTube play list in a separate page? Posting each video is really a drag.
Besides, I am an internet celebrity. Posting each video really cuts into my busy social life… yeah!
May 12th, 2009 at 5:28 pm
We will consider adding that in the future.
May 8th, 2009 at 4:38 pm
Scrolling through the comments it’s obvious how the new tools spice it up–exactly like sliced beer!
May 8th, 2009 at 4:39 pm
Oh and speaking of comments, I love how I can now see the comments to a post when I go in to edit it! Thanks so much for that!
May 8th, 2009 at 8:40 pm
So add images in comments with dimensions
to resize big ones 
It’ll be GREAT
May 8th, 2009 at 11:05 pm
Matt said: “Because if we did that for EVERY SINGLE feature WordPress would just be a collection of hundreds of checkboxes.”
However, in this case it is really worth it. Having to edit the comments on your blog is a lot more inconvenient than checking another box.
I am happy with every new OPTIONAL feature you guys devise, but please be careful when altering the excellent WordPress experience with additions that may be annoying or troublesome for some bloggers.
May 9th, 2009 at 12:18 am
That’s what someone says for EVERY case. For every possible thing we could ever introduce, there will be at least a few people (maybe even a lot) that think there should be an option for it, or it shouldn’t exist at all. Everything! It’s just a matter of scale.So we just have to make the best decisions we can along the way about what truly merits an option and what doesn’t, otherwise you end up with bloatware. Every additional option makes it harder to test and provide a good experience for WordPress.com users, which is why we try to avoid them as much as possible.
May 8th, 2009 at 11:14 pm
Isn’t it already possible to insert an image into a comment? I guess it can’t be – never seen one. Wouldn’t that be a more useful feature?
Just today I wanted to respond to a commenter with a close-up photo to explain what I was talking about…
May 9th, 2009 at 12:07 am
Adoro Fred Mercury, he is always the champion!
May 9th, 2009 at 8:42 am
hey matt ur display pic, is that taj mahal?
May 9th, 2009 at 8:50 am
woo! getting betta! and betta!
May 9th, 2009 at 8:53 am
Supper Comentarii Sunt Uimit De Lucrurile Spuse Aici
May 9th, 2009 at 9:32 am
Nice Idea!
May 9th, 2009 at 10:25 am
bestest thing since sliced beer! Tee-hee! I’m going to have fun with this – thanks WordPress.
May 9th, 2009 at 1:18 pm
how cool! just the url and voila!
May 9th, 2009 at 2:14 pm
Thats cool! I guess themes with not-so-wide-wide width for the comment area needs bit of fiddling.
May 9th, 2009 at 2:33 pm
Hey Matt,
Youtube. Good. Really good!
And then there’s gloria.tv! Really looking forward to that! VIP time!
Lots of great work you guys are doing for us! Thanks!
May 9th, 2009 at 2:46 pm
So this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xj8tD_XFV3g
will work?!
May 9th, 2009 at 3:45 pm
Basicly i think a link should stay a link
if you make an embedded video out of a link
this becomes an endorsement by german law
this new feature of yours could cost me >2000 $
for every single instance (an objection)
so please at least provide a switch to turn that off!
i am perfectly willing to except a link to youtube
.. though i want to have more control over embedded content!
although you should consider that perhaps
the commenter intended to post a link
.. not an embedded video
(as it actually happened in one of my blogs)
sincerely yours
Christian Bahls
May 9th, 2009 at 5:30 pm
Matt, I’m reminded of the energizer bunny…keep kickin out the new ideas! Nothing but love 4u!
May 9th, 2009 at 8:09 pm
http://answers.polldaddy.com/poll/1598108
May 9th, 2009 at 9:24 pm
WORDPRESS’İ KULLANMAK ZOR,YARISI TÜRKÇE ,YARISI İNGİLİZCE.
May 10th, 2009 at 2:32 am
test
May 10th, 2009 at 5:05 am
WordPress rocks.
May 10th, 2009 at 5:33 am
Good job! WordPress is the Champion!
May 10th, 2009 at 5:34 am
Very cool.
Since my comment in which I embedded a video didn’t get approved, I guess I can try a poll:
May 10th, 2009 at 6:48 am
so crazy
May 10th, 2009 at 7:10 am
Still just displays links for me. Just can’t seem to embed the poll.
May 10th, 2009 at 7:28 am
May 10th, 2009 at 12:54 pm
thx ^^ it’s great ^^
May 10th, 2009 at 12:58 pm
Awesome! Now I can show people YouTube videos without posting them!
May 10th, 2009 at 1:20 pm
Sweet! Maybe allowing for music files on the .com site is next? Pleeeeeease? Pretty please?
May 11th, 2009 at 12:49 pm
You can upload music files to your WordPress.com blog if you purchase the Space Upgrade.
May 10th, 2009 at 4:34 pm
أشكرك
May 10th, 2009 at 5:52 pm
it is fun to anwser your own polls
May 10th, 2009 at 6:13 pm
this is awsome, but still figuriing out how to use it.
May 10th, 2009 at 7:40 pm
Awesome! Now my commentors can respond in more than one way! Neato!
May 10th, 2009 at 10:46 pm
super cool deck is the best
May 11th, 2009 at 2:49 am
That’s so cool! Hopefully people will get more excited about commenting after this!
May 11th, 2009 at 3:06 am
Well, maybe I am a “control freak”, but I definitely want to be the ONLY person publishing polls or videos in my blog. I suppose you are aware of the stream of strange, weird, off-topic comments that your bloggers receive. This feature is going to complicate the moderation chores.
Anyway, I see most people are enthusiastic about the new service, so consider my note just as an example of the diversity of your authors. Keep going, folks.
May 11th, 2009 at 3:58 am
Awesome! The Best!
May 11th, 2009 at 4:11 am
Great feature!
)
By the way, I’m still looking for an eBook reader that I can pay for (here in Argentina it costs more than a half of my salary
May I ask if you’re planning to introduce polls in the sidebars?
Thanks
May 11th, 2009 at 12:46 pm
You can already add polls to your WordPress.com blog sidebar. Just use the shortcode in a text widget. See the WordPress.com Polls help page for more details.
May 11th, 2009 at 6:22 am
Contrary to popular opinion, I would not like the commentators to take over my blog with youtube videos and polls.. I think the spammers could/would consider this a goldmine
..
off to change settings, so that I can hold the videos/polls in moderation.
May 11th, 2009 at 7:15 am
great job………….
May 11th, 2009 at 3:09 pm
just to try
May 11th, 2009 at 5:00 pm
this is great just tell me how to include it on my blog
May 11th, 2009 at 5:17 pm
If you have a WordPress.com blog, it’s included automatically.
May 11th, 2009 at 10:11 pm
Uh, like this?
May 12th, 2009 at 9:23 am
This is great feature dude,thanks
May 12th, 2009 at 9:35 am
oye!!…
that’s nice… that’s not nice, that’s awesome!! okay, matt? when it will be available?? haha..sorry I’m just excited.. peace…
May 12th, 2009 at 12:18 pm
It’s already available on WordPress.com blogs!
May 12th, 2009 at 10:04 pm
So it works like so?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CmFcCxaovT4
Bravo.
May 12th, 2009 at 11:11 pm
Instead of directly showing the YT video in the comments, why not just show the thumbnail and direct it to the YT video page like other sites do? That way it reduces the time taken for a page to load.
June 23rd, 2009 at 12:22 pm
That’s not a bad idea, maybe we’ll do something like that in the future.
May 13th, 2009 at 2:14 am
You gotta love wordpress bloggers! How cool was that Queen video imbed?
May 13th, 2009 at 2:15 am
okey… thnx… ^_^