README: JW Player Free

Thank you for downloading the Free edition of JW Player 6, the world's most popular HTML5/Flash video player! JW Player Free features:

A slick and intuitive interface that works on all popular desktop browsers and mobile devices.
An elegant and rich playback engine for rendering your media content in HTML5 and/or Flash.
An extensive list of configuration options, a powerful JavaScript API and flexible PNG Skinning.

See About JW Player for an overview of supported browsers/devices, as well as a more detailed feature list. See Migrating from JW5 to JW6 if you want to learn what changed with this latest release.

Quick Start

Copy the jwplayer folder that contains this README to the www root of your website. Next, include the jwplayer.js script in the <head> of your HTML page. If you have a JW Player Key, add it in a second line right below the first one:

<script type="text/javascript" src="/jwplayer/jwplayer.js" ></script>
<script type="text/javascript">jwplayer.key="ABCDEFGHIJKLMOPQ";</script>

This key will automatically track video analytics to your JW Player account. If you don't have an account yet, check your inbox for your download confirmation e-mail or click here to sign up and get your key.

Now scroll down to the <body> of your HTML page and insert the JW Player embed code at the place you want your video to appear:

<div id="myElement">Loading the player...</div>

<script type="text/javascript">
    jwplayer("myElement").setup({
        file: "/uploads/example.mp4",
        image: "/uploads/example.jpg",
    });
</script>

See the online quickstart guide for a more elaborate description and a few example embeds.

Documentation

If you need help, the LongTail Support Community contains a wealth of information, including guides on:

Supported Media Formats and Browsers & Devices.
How to Customize and Troubleshoot your embeds.
Configuring Inline Playlists or RSS Feeds (with multiple formats/qualities).
Using Closed Captioning and RTMP Streaming.
The PNG Skinning Model and JavaScript API.

Visit our Support Forums for setup problems, bug reports or suggestions for new features or enhancements. The forums are very active and frequently visited by members of the JW Player development team.

Follow the LongTail Video Blog for news on the JW Player and online video in general. We frequently publish posts on topics such as HTML5, video SEO, H.264, VAST advertising, etc. You can also follow us on Twitter or like us on Facebook to stay connected.

Licensing

Under the terms of our Creative Commons license, you can use, modify and redistribute the player for non-commercial purposes only. Commercial sites must purchase a license for the Pro, Premium or Ads editions. Examples of commercial use include websites with any advertisements, websites owned or operated by businesses, websites designed to promote products or services, and tools (e.g. a CMS) that bundle JW Player in their offering.

In addition to commercial use, the paid editions contain several new features:

The Pro edition is designed for use on commercial sites and includes the ability to set a Custom Logo.
The Premium edition includes adaptive streaming using Apple HLS in Flash, overlays for Related Videos and Social Sharing and an integration with Google Analytics. It also includes 8 premium skins.
In addition to all this, the Ads edition includes video advertising support using Direct Campaigns, Google IMA or IAB-standardized VAST/VPAID.

See the JW Player Pricing page for pricing and licensing info.

Note JW Player incorporates the AS3 Core library from Mike Chambers (BSD License), the FZIP library from NoChump (Zlib license) and the Block TEA library from Movable Type (CC-BY license).