theBox - Sharing your video content in multiple locations

Where can my videos be shared?

theBox service offers the ability to stream videos in multiple locations:

Within UNSW Moodle:
- Via the Moodle / theBox integration (most common and recommended method)
- Via theBox embed codes (public or secured) in any Moodle activity/resource (used when additional flexibility is needed)
- Via theBox embed codes (public or secured) within a SCORM package
On a secured UNSW website (eg. School intranet)
- Via embed codes (secured or public)
On an open UNSW website (eg. Faculty homepage)
- Via embed codes (secured or public only)
On a non-UNSW website (eg. Blogger)
- Via embed codes (public only)
Within a program (eg. SCORM Authoring software)
- Via embed codes (public only*)

* While a secured embed code will not work within a program directly on your computer, some programs can export a file for use within a secured UNSW website. SCORM authoring programs are a good example of this, a secured embed code may not work within the program, but will work once the SCORM package has been uploaded into UNSW Moodle.

theBox service can also share audio, documents and images. However these are not processed by theBox service for web-streaming and there is a higher requirement for the users computer to be setup appropriately. It is typically more common to upload these files to the website directly.

What is an embed code?

A typical webpage is made up of user content formatted with HTML instructions that simply tells the web browser how to display the user content. For example, a simple website may use HTML to control the font and size of a paragraph, or the height and width of an image.

An embed code essentially consists of a web link to a video, with HTML iframe code that tells the web browser how to display the video within the webpage. Many programs can also accept HTML code, though they typically are less functional or more restricted in how they do so than web browsers.

Staff can enable embed codes for their videos, which can be used to display a video within a webpage or program. It is also possible to manually edit the HTML of an embed code to alter the display of the embedded video, eg. changing the size of the video in the page.

theBox service currently supports HTML 4 standard embed codes to maintain compatibility with users on software/devices currently incompatible with HTML 5. This is expected to change in the future as more people use HTML 5 compatible devices/software.

When should I use a secured or public embed code?

theBox service supports two types of embed codes, as controlled by the video owner within theBox:

Secured - These embed codes be used on white-listed UNSW websites only. Secured embed codes cannot be copied and re-used elsewhere, which is important when content is subject to sharing limitations.
Public - These embed codes can be used on any website or program that supports HTML 4 iframes. Public embed codes can be copied by viewers and used elsewhere.

The secured embed link should be used whenever video content should be restricted to staff/student users due to copyright or other limitations, and these links should be embedded within a white-listed UNSW website.

In contrast, public embed links should be used when security is not a concern, but sharing flexibility is.

How to enable public embed codes for use within a public facing website or program

You can embed a video in a website by generating a public embed code within theBox and pasting the resulting embed code into your website's HTML editor. You can also paste the embed code into a particular program if it supports HTML iframes.

To generate a public embed code within theBox:

Log in to theBox using your zID and zPass.
Navigate to the video you want to share.
Click on "Edit Video"
In the drop-down menu, select Public (with embed code).
Click Save.
Click on the Embed tab, and change settings as desired.
Click the embed code. It will highlight and you can copy it.
Paste the embed code into your website editor.

How to enable secured embed codes for use within a whitelisted website

You can embed a video in a UNSW whitelisted website (such as UNSW Moodle) by generating a secured embed code within theBox and pasting the resulting embed code into your websites HTML editor.

Note: Some programs can accept the secured embed code, but will not be able to display the video within the program. This is expected behaviour and can be still useful for programs that ultimately create content for a white-listed website, for example a SCORM authoring program may create a SCORM package that is later uploaded into UNSW Moodle.

To generate a secured embed code within theBox:

Log in to theBox using your zID and zPass.
Navigate to the video you want to share.
Click on "Edit Video"
Scroll down to the Restrict access to dropdown and select Just Me.
Click Scroll down to Secured Embed Code , and click Enable. Click Save to apply the changes.
Click on the Embed tab, and change settings as desired.
Click the embed code again and copy it.
Paste the embed code into your website editor and save changes.

Sharing a group of videos on a whitelisted UNSW website

As embedding a group of multiple videos on one webpage can extend the page length and page loading time, it is recommended that a sub-page is created that hosts the videos.

Create a new blank page on your website for the group of videos.
In a separate window, log in to theBox using your zID and zPass.
Navigate to the first video you wish to share.
Click on "Edit Video"
Scroll down to the Restrict access to dropdown and select Public.
Click Save.
Click on the Embed tab, and change settings as desired.
Click the embed code again and copy it.
In the first window where you created a new page on your website paste the embed code into your website editor.
Repeat steps 3-9 for each video.

How can I have a UNSW website white-listed?

To allow the use of secured embed links on a UNSW website, please contact the IT Service Centre on x51333 or [email protected] with a request to whitelist a website, the website URL and the justification for the white-listing.

Tips for using embed codes in common programs/websites

While the TELT team does not actively investigate the ability of different software packages or services to support embed codes (which are industry standard HTML iframes), we can provide tips on the following.

Microsoft Powerpoint

Microsoft Powerpoint does not support the use of video embed codes from services other than Youtube. For more information please visit this support page.

iSpring Pro

theBox videos can be embedded within SCORM packages created by iSpring, just be aware that secured embed links will only display within the SCORM once it has been uploaded to UNSW Moodle.

Smart Sparrow

theBox videos can be displayed within a Smart Sparrow activity by extracting the URL (highlighted in the example below) from a public theBox embed code;

You can then insert the highlighted section of your code into Smart Sparrows iframe widget (See below)

In your Smart Sparrow lesson, select the Components Tab followed by Blank Component.
Enter your embed code in the Source block, located in the Selection tab.
Once entered, whilst in the Selection Tab adjust the position and dimensions of your content.

X & Y: Changes the video player's position within your Smart Sparrow screen.
Width and Height: Changes the dimensions of your video player.
Once satisfied, click Configure to see a preview of your content.

An example of how a student would view and interact with the content is shown below;

Note: As a public non-UNSW website, Smart Sparrow is not white-listed for secured embed code use at this time.

Adobe Presenter / Captivate

Our understanding is the latest versions of these software packages require HTML 5 iframes, so theBox embed codes currently do not work.