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Embeddable playlists

You can turn your showcases into embedded playlists, allowing you to showcase a collection of your videos through one player on your website. Embedded playlists can be viewed on both mobile devices and desktops.

In this article:

Embedding a playlist

To get started:

  1. Create or select a showcase from the Library.
  2. Once in your showcase's settings, click the Embed tab under Destinations. This will open up your playlist’s embed settings and a preview of your playlist.
    The 'Embed' menu. The link is under the 'Destinations' header in the Showcase settings in the left panel. To the right is the Embed menu. Under the 'Embed Code' header, there is a textbox with the embed code. Under is a button labeled 'Copy'. Below is the header 'Destination'. There are two options: Responsive and Fixed. Each option has a selecatable radio button next to them. Below is the header 'Playback' with the options 'Continous playback' and 'Loop playback'. There is a selectable checkbox next to each option. To the right is a panel containing a video player with a preview of the playlist.


From here you can decide whether or not the embedded playlist will be responsive (so that the video will adapt to the height and width of its container in your website) or if you have fixed, custom dimensions you’d like it to stick to (recommended). This information will be reflected in the embed code above that you can copy and paste into your website’s code. 

Hitting the down arrow below your playlist's thumbnail will collapse a menu containing all videos in the playlist

⚠️Note: it is not currently possible to disable the number of plays displayed next to each video.

Customizing embedded playlists

Vimeo Pro members and above have access to extra options for playlist customization:

  • Continuous Playback: Allow all videos in your playlist to play through continuously. Each up next video will load for viewers automatically.
  • Loop Playback: Automatically replay the playlist once the last video has finished.
  • Hide Vimeo Logo: Remove the Vimeo logo from the player.
  • Custom Logo: Upload a custom image file (such as a company logo) to appear in the player. We recommend using transparent 200×200 PNG files for best results.
  • Accent Color: Choose the exact color for the play bar.

⚠️Note: Individual embed settings (i.e. color, end screens) set for the videos inside your playlist will be overridden by your playlist settings. It's not possible to set an embedded playlist to start playing automatically; viewers will need to manually start playback. 

Privacy and playlists

Setting your showcase to Anyone (public) will allow your videos to be viewed in your showcase on vimeo.com and an embedded playlist. You can also set your showcase to Hide from Vimeo, which will keep it off the Vimeo website, but make it embeddable. Lastly, you can use the Only People with a Password option to allow viewers to watch your videos on site, and in your embedded playlist, after entering a password.

For showcases set to "Anyone" or "Hide from Vimeo," videos with privacy settings applied will not appear in the embedded playlist. In other words:

  • Videos set to "Anyone" or "Hide from Vimeo" will appear in the embedded playlist
  • Videos set to "Unlisted", "Password", and "Private" will not appear in the embedded playlist.

For password-protected showcases (set to "only people with a password"), videos will appear in the embedded playlist regardless of their individual privacy settings.

Keep in mind that any individual video’s embed privacy setting (General > Privacy > Where can this be embedded?) will be respected when embedding a playlist. For example, if your video has domain-level privacy enabled, it will respect that setting even when added to an embeddable playlist. If the domain setting does not match the site where your playlist is embedded, your video(s) will not appear in the playlist.

Managing videos in a playlist

Videos will play in the order in which they are placed in a showcase. 

To customize the order of your videos:

  1. Go to the Assets tab of the Showcase settings page.
  2. To the right of the page, choose a sorting method from the dropdown menu above your videos (such as Alphabetical) or select Custom to drag and drop any videos to change their position.

The 'Assets' menu as selected from the Showcase Settings menu. It is selected in left pane under the 'General' header under the 'Info & Privacy' selection. To the right is a preview of the thumbnail image. Under the thumbnail image is an 'Edit thumbnail' button with a dropdown menu. The pane to the right shows the videos in the playlist. At the top is a button labeled 'Add video' to add video to a playlist. To the right is a dropdown menu to select a sorting menu for the playlist. In this example, 'Custom (Drag and Drop) is selected. Next to the drag and drop menu is a button with a magnifying glass to search.

You can also add or remove videos from your showcase at any time. Similar to individual videos, any changes made to your videos on Vimeo.com will be immediately reflected in your embedded playlist. There is no need to update your embed code after making adjustments to the videos inside your showcase.

Inserting a playlist into another website

In order to embed a playlist, you must use its respective embed code (whether fixed size or responsive). Showcase URLs are often not supported by applications that rely on URLs instead of embed codes (for example: themes, plugins, galleries, etc.).

Here are some instructions on how to insert embed codes into the most common website builders:

  • Wix
    1. In the Wix website editor, click +Add, select More at the bottom of the list, then choose the HTML Code option
    2. Click the Enter code button above the new gray block on your page to bring up the editing modal
    3. Make sure the Code option is selected, then paste in your playlist’s embed code
    4. Click the blue Update button, then publish the changes to your site
  • Squarespace
    1. Enter editing mode for your Squarespace page, then click the + Add block icon in the top right of the page
    2. Scroll down through the menu until you reach the More heading, then select the  </> Code option
    3. Paste in your playlist’s embed code, then hit the Apply button
    4. When you’ve finished making all edits to your page, hit Save in the top left corner
  • Tumblr
    1. Choose Video from the selection of post types
    2. Select Add video from web option
    3. Paste in the playlist embed code
    4. The embedded Vimeo player will load and you’ll have the option to add text to Tumblr post
    5. When you’re ready, hit the Post button

In addition to these options, you can also give your Showcase a custom URL if you already own a domain.

Individual video settings and Playlists

These individual video settings will be applied to videos within a playlist (with some caveats):

Some embed features and customizations that are available for individual videos are not available for embedded playlists. This includes:

  • End screens: at the end of the last video, the player will instead show the thumbnail of the first video.
  • Live streams (archived live streams are supported, as they behave like normal videos once archived).  
  • Defaulting to a specific playback quality (e.g 1080p, 4K, etc)
  • Starting playback at a specific timecode (via #t)
  • Sharing options
  • Watch Later / Offline Playback
  • Third-party player support (via direct links)
  • API support

Video Aspect Ratio

You can add videos of all shapes and sizes to an embedded playlist, but we recommend keeping the aspect ratio consistent for best results. If your playlist contains mixed-sized videos (for example, 4:3 SD videos and 16:9 HD videos), black bars will be appended to the sides of the player to maintain your video’s original aspect ratio in the playlist.

Vimeo Legacy widgets for embedding playlists

Longtime Vimeo members may remember using now outdated Flash-based widgets, known as Hubnut and Montage, which allowed you to embed collections to your website. These, unfortunately, were not mobile-compatible, and we’ve ceased supporting them.

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