oEmbed is a format for allowing an embedded representation of a URL on third party sites. The simple API allows a website to display embedded content (such as photos or videos) when a user posts a link to that resource, without having to parse the resource directly. Embedding made easy. More information about oEmbed can be found on the oEmbed website.

Thanks to Jan-Willem Eshuis oEmbed is now available for WordPress! The oEmbedder plugin makes it easy to use oEmbed services from websites like Flickr, Youtube, Qik, Revision3 and Vimeo into your weblog. I’ve tested the WP-oEmbed plugin on this blog and we will probably use it for the NOS weblogs soon.

How to install?

Installation is very easy, just download the zip file and install this into your WordPress plugins directory or auto-install via WordPress plugins browser (search for: oembed).

Howto use the plugin

The plugin will automatically replace special uri’s you provide to your WordPress posting. Just use [plugin:YOURURI]  in your posting. (NOTE: for this example I used the word plugin otherwise the plugin is triggered. So change the word “plugin” for “oembed”!)

Example Flickr:

[plugin:http://www.flickr.com/services/oembed/?url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/23886028@N04/3983995799/in/set-72157622398187791/]

Example youtube:

[plugin:http://www.youtube.com/oembed?url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yvdbqcbRH50&format=json]

Working example NOS (Winter Holland from above):