---
title: "The Partner Player"
canonical: "https://docs.pbs.org/space/MM/5343811/The%20Partner%20Player"
format: markdown
---
> Macro (toc)

## Important notes

- **To obtain partner player code,** ***your asset must be published***.  If your asset has *not *been published, the following message displays in place of the Get Partner Player Code link: "*The player code is not available until the video asset has been published.*"
- Currently, the partner player uses HTML5 with video.js.

## Overview

The partner player is the video player that stations and producers can use to embed PBS content on their own websites. The code is easily obtained from the [Media Manager console](https://docs.pbs.org/space/MM/5343823/Getting+Started#Navigating-the-console) and can be dynamically [customized](https://docs.pbs.org/space/MM/5343811/The+Partner+Player#How-to-customize-the-partner-player) during implementation.

- Videos that are produced by stations display the* station logo* on the video instead of the *PBS logo*.
- <span style="color: #000000">The partner player is responsive, which means it displays properly on all devices, including desktops, tablets, mobile phones.</span>
- <span style="color: #000000">The iframe code provided in Media Manager automatically responds to the width of the area into which it's inserted.</span>
- <span style="color: #000000">A Share bar can be included on your partner player. </span><span style="color: #000000">[Learn more about the Share bar](https://docs.pbs.org/space/MM/5343811/The+Partner+Player#Share-bar)</span>
- Custom styling can be added to the partner player by creating a <div> tag around the embed code. [Learn more about customizing the player](https://docs.pbs.org/space/MM/5343811/The+Partner+Player#How-to-customize-the-partner-player)
- The size of the partner player can be adjusted by adding new dimensions to a <div> tag that you can add around the original embed code. The <div> tag that you add and customize should encompass the entire partner player embed code.

## Partner player admin interface

![image](media://be363f1d-37f8-4a96-b7a0-3d64917931d0)

## Partner player definitions

| **Variable** | **Definition** | **Examples** |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Enable share bar | The Share Bar is a functional toolbar that appears in the upper right side of the player and contains information, embed, social, and shop buttons. Enabling this functionality adds padding to the top of the video so code adjustment may be necessary. [Learn more about the share bar](https://docs.pbs.org/space/MM/5343811/The+Partner+Player#Share-bar) | Partner Player<br>![partner-player-example.jpg](media://3f058050-a08d-4fbb-bc93-f232d32454ed)<br>Endscreen<br>![partner-player-new-endscreen.jpg](media://b3c79982-0428-48a4-9e53-b2f70e58be1d) |
| Customize start and end times | Start and end times are optional and allow the producer to create excerpts. Manually enter the start and end times or use the blue slider to select times.  (Example: If you wanted an excerpt to start at 5min and end at 6min, then the start time would be 300 and end time would be 360 and you would enter the following variables into the URL string; &start=300&end=360) |
| Enable Auto-play | Autoplay tells the player to automatically begin playing the video when a user lands on your page or to show a still frame with a large play button in the center. The still frame is added by the producer during ingest and is typically a smaller size than the player so it may look a little distorted.<br>**If you enable this feature, be sure to also enable *****mute video when playback starts***** so your video can be viewed on all browsers. **Some browsers have policies in place that prevent videos from auto-playing if the sound is on.<br>:info: Producers are encouraged to add a hi-resolution image file via Media Manager to correct this issue. |
| Mute video when playback starts | This feature mutes your video's audio when auto-play is enabled. When activated, a user must unmute the video manually when watching the video.<br>**If you have enabled *****auto-play***** on your video, be sure to also enable this option so your video can be viewed on all browsers.** Some browsers have policies in place that prevent videos from auto-playing if the sound is on. |
| Enable Endscreen | The end screen is the screen that shows up in the player window when a video finishes playing. It only displays when a user is not logged in to the website and provides information related to signing in to the website. It's automatically added to every station portal player video and populates automatically with the localized station. It cannot be modified. |
| Embed Code | This is the code that users copy and paste into their website. |

## Share bar

![partner-player-share-bar-example.jpg](media://5fec4825-eda9-46c0-b985-415e43e28784)

- The Share bar is a functional toolbar that appears in the upper right side of the player and contains links to the following functionality:
  - video information
  - embed code
  - social sharing
  - shop
- The Share bar is represented as *topbar* in the html embed code.
- Including the Share bar adds approximately 40px to the height of the partner player. If you have dimension restrictions (ie: a set height) for the area in which the video is displayed, you will need to make the necessary adjustments to your code.  [Learn how](https://docs.pbs.org/space/MM/5343811/The+Partner+Player#How-to-customize-the-partner-player)
- <span style="color: #000000">Two values in the player code change when the Share bar is enabled (highlighted in yellow in Figure 1):</span>
  - <span style="color: #000000">the </span><span style="color: #000000">*topbar *</span><span style="color: #000000">variable in the iframe changes from </span><span style="color: #000000">*false*</span><span style="color: #000000"> to </span><span style="color: #000000">*true *</span><span style="color: #000000">when </span><span style="color: #000000">**Enable Share bar**</span><span style="color: #000000"> is checked.</span>
  - <span style="color: #000000">the </span><span style="color: #000000">*endscreen *</span><span style="color: #000000">variable in the iframe changes from </span><span style="color: #000000">*false*</span><span style="color: #000000"> to </span><span style="color: #000000">*true*</span><span style="color: #000000"> when </span><span style="color: #000000">**Enable End Screen**</span><span style="color: #000000"> is checked</span>

Figure 1

![partner-player-jan2025.jpg](media://c33af9fa-84ef-44f7-87ad-1de1d9fb604c)

| > Macro (anchor)

**Icon** | **Definition** | **Parameters** | **Display** |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Information | Offers more information about the video being watched. | - <span style="color: #000000">Content channel</span>
- <span style="color: #000000">Title </span>
- <span style="color: #000000">Short description</span>
- <span style="color: #000000">Premiere date</span>
- <span style="color: #000000">Whether the video has closed captioning</span>
- <span style="color: #000000">Link to help for closed captioning</span>
- <span style="color: #000000">Link to return to the video</span> | ![information-module-example.jpg](media://22b267cb-d284-455e-9b7b-e2f3b31ad314) |
| Embed | Provides customized code that can be implemented on any third party website. | - <span style="color: #000000">Title </span>
- <span style="color: #000000">Short description</span>
- <span style="color: #000000">Video length</span>
- <span style="color: #000000">Adjustable width and height parameters</span>
- <span style="color: #000000">Embed code</span>
- <span style="color: #000000">Preview of video embed</span>
- <span style="color: #000000">Link to return to the video</span> | ![embed-module-example.jpg](media://19ca2950-5f90-4188-98bc-f5234b5e0fde) |
| Share | Allows the video to be shared via several social media outlets. | <span style="color: #000000">Sharing via:</span><br>- <span style="color: #000000">Facebook</span>
- <span style="color: #000000">Twitter</span>
- <span style="color: #000000">Email </span>
- <span style="color: #000000">Google+</span>
- <span style="color: #000000">Link</span> | ![share-module-example.jpg](media://7649d5db-70c1-4cd1-99d0-dd61b5a7e044) |

## Chapter bar

When the chapter bar is enabled, users can hover their mouse over the video and see where each chapter break is located. The user can click a chapter tickmark to skip to the next chapter. Chapters are assigned in the [Chapters tab](https://docs.pbs.org/space/MM/5343793/Assets#Chapters).

The following example shows a partner player with the chapter bar enabled:

![partner-player-chapters-example.jpg](media://7037450b-de3e-4739-843c-a91673670d7a)

## How to customize the partner player

### Adjust the height of the iframe

- If you've enabled the Share bar and the player controls are not displaying at the bottom of the page while the video is playing, you probably have inserted the player into an area where the height is defined. The Share bar adds height to the player, so either disable the Share bar or adjust the video display area in one of the following ways:
  - <span style="color: #000000">Add a <div> around the embed code and include an inline style for width (height will be automatically determined).  </span>:warning:<span style="color: #000000"> </span><span style="color: #000000">**The inline styles for the div and the iframe are co-dependent.**</span>
    - <span style="color: #000000">Example:</span>
      - <span style="color: #000000"><div style=”width: 480px;”>CODE FROM POP-UP</div></span>
      - <span style="color: #000000">To center the <div>, add a margin style after the width (text in red):  <div style="width: 480px; </span><span style="color: #ff0000">margin: 0 auto;</span><span style="color: #000000">">CODE FROM POP-UP</div></span>
  - Change existing embed code.
    - <span style="color: #000000">Within the iframe tag, replace "width: 100%” with necessary dimensions. </span>:warning:<span style="color: #000000"> </span><span style="color: #000000">**Be sure to change both width and height so the correct ratios are maintained.**</span>

### <span style="color: #000000">Mute the audio</span>

<span style="color: #000000">When using the partner player, you can choose to load your video with no sound by setting the "muted" parameter to "true." That ensures that your video's audio is turned off when the user first opens the page. When the parameter is set to "false," the video plays with sound upon loading. </span><span style="color: #000000">**If you have enabled **</span><span style="color: #000000">***auto-play***</span><span style="color: #000000">** on your video, be sure to disable the audio so your video can be viewed on all browsers.**</span><span style="color: #000000"> Some browsers have policies in place that prevent videos from auto-playing if the sound is on. </span>

<details>
<summary>View the code</summary>

![partner-player-mute-example-jan2025.jpg](media://ebc0ed89-a0d3-4763-8014-85c0fee2781b)
</details>

### <span style="color: #000000">Manually assign video start and end times</span>

<span style="color: #000000">To manually assign video start and end times, adjust the start and end times in the partner player code.  </span>

<span style="color: #000000">In the code below, where </span><span style="color: #000000">*start=0*</span><span style="color: #000000"> and </span><span style="color: #000000">*end=0,*</span><span style="color: #000000"> replace the zeroes with the start/end times in seconds. For example, if you want the video to start at five (5) minutes and end at six (6) minutes, use </span><span style="color: #000000">*start=300*</span><span style="color: #000000"> (5 min. x 60 sec.) and </span><span style="color: #000000">*end=360*</span><span style="color: #000000"> (6 min. x 60 sec.).  </span>

<span style="color: #000000">See the comparison below between the partner player default code and the partner player code with adjusted start and end times (in red).</span>

> ⚠️ <span style="color: #000000">**Times are represented in seconds. 1 minute = 60 seconds.**</span>

**Default code: **

<iframe style="aspect-ratio: 16/9; width: 100%; border: 0;" id="partnerPlayer" src="https://player.pbs.org/partnerplayer/ix6DN99Ppzn3ntnxghoZbw==/?<span style="color: #ff0000">**start=0**</span>&<span style="color: #ff0000">**end=0**</span>&topbar=true&autoplay=true&muted=true&endscreen=true" allowfullscreen allow="encrypted-media autoplay" referrerpolicy="no-referrer-when-downgrade"></iframe>

<span style="color: #000000">**A video set to start at 5 minutes and end at 6 minutes:**</span>

<iframe style="aspect-ratio: 16/9; width: 100%; border: 0;" id="partnerPlayer" src="https://player.pbs.org/partnerplayer/ix6DN99Ppzn3ntnxghoZbw==/?<span style="color: #ff0000">**start=300**</span>&<span style="color: #ff0000">**end=360**</span>&topbar=true&autoplay=true&muted=true&endscreen=true" allowfullscreen allow="encrypted-media autoplay" referrerpolicy="no-referrer-when-downgrade"></iframe>

## <span style="color: #000000">How to add the partner player to your page </span>

<span style="color: #000000">Before adding the partner player to your page, be sure the asset is published.</span>

- Click the ***Preview tab*** and click **Get Player Embed Code** (Figure 1).

Figure 1

![image](media://60505a5e-74e2-4597-bb35-dec4641e4290)

- The *Partner Player Embed Code* options display. The Partner Player is responsive and automatically displays correctly on all devices, so you do not need to indicate a size for the player.
- Click the **checkboxes** next to the following fields to customize your Partner Player (Figure 2.1):
  - Click the **checkbox next to *****Enable Share bar*** to include a functional bar at the top of the partner player. :warning: **Keep in mind this expands your partner player vertically.**
  - Click the **checkbox** **next to *****Customize start and end times*** to customize the start and end times of your video in the partner player. Click the **Start and End time textboxes** and type the times or click the arrows to enter the times. [Learn more](https://docs.pbs.org/space/MM/5343811/The+Partner+Player#Manually-assign-video-start-and-end-times)
  - Click the **checkbox** **next to*** ****Enable Auto-play**** *if you want your video to automatically begin playing when a user lands on your page.
    - **If you enable this feature, be sure to also enable *****mute video when playback starts***** so your video can be viewed on all browsers. **Some browsers have policies in place that prevent videos from auto-playing if the sound is on.
  - Click the **checkbox** **next to*** ****Mute video when playback starts*** so your video's audio is muted when auto-play is enabled.
    - **If you have enabled *****auto-play***** on your video, be sure to also enable this option so your video can be viewed on all browsers.** Some browsers have policies in place that prevent videos from auto-playing if the sound is on.
  - Click the **checkbox** **next to** ***Enable End Screen*** to include a screen listing related videos when the video is finished playing.
    - Some producers prefer to turn this feature off because the Related Videos that appear in this window send the user to the PBS Video portal.
- Each time you check or uncheck an option, the code in the Embed Code textbox adjusts to reflect your selections (Figure 2.2).
- Click the blue **Copy Code** button to select and copy the embed code and paste it into your page (Figure 2.3).

Figure 2

![partner-player2-jan25.jpg](media://b977563a-69c2-409a-b3ac-ac48b586ed84)

## How to find partner player code

This section demonstrates how to find the partner player code for PBS national videos and videos owned by external producers. By checking the partner player code you can find out when videos expire, avoiding the inclusion of expired videos on your website. <span style="color: #1d1c1d">The partner player code is designed to display full-size 16:9 videos.</span>

> ⚠️ **If you have a Bento site, the ****[video component](https://docs.pbs.org/space/B3/4751468/Video)**** does all the work for you. ****[Learn more about Bento](https://docs.pbs.org/space/B3/4751362/Bento+3.0)**

- Open a **video** on [PBS.org](https://www.pbs.org/) and, in the browser address bar, copy the** video slug** (Figure 1). The slug is the part of the URL that comes after */video/*.

Figure 1

![partner-player-find-code-redesign1124.jpg](media://133b3d65-fc9c-4015-b963-276843b84c90)

- In a browser window, paste the slug you copied to the end of the following URL: https://media.services.pbs.org/api/v1/assets/ (Figure 2).
  - Your URL should look like this: https://media.services.pbs.org/api/v1/assets/**[SLUG-Goes-Here] **
  - It may help to install a JSON formatting extension such as [https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/json-formatter/bcjindcccaagfpapjjmafapmmgkkhgoa](https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/json-formatter/bcjindcccaagfpapjjmafapmmgkkhgoa) to make the API response more readable.

> ⚠️ **You must have a Media Manager API key to perform this step. To get an API key, please ****[submit a support ticket](https://digitalsupport.pbs.org/support/tickets/new)****.**

Figure 2

![image](media://f4a95443-d1ed-4d24-80fa-36bf1eef751f)

- When the response displays, press CTRL + F on a pc or CMD + F on a Mac and search for the term "***player***" (Figure 3.1).
- Copy everything in the URL from the word "***player***" to just before the **question mark** (**?**) (Figure 3.2).  Example: player.pbs.org/partnerplayer/Yl4gPpTL_jwFFSMwhfS_-w==/

Figure 3

![image](media://6ef1cc62-c3fd-46ce-a5aa-391afaa22a1f)

- After "src=" in the localization code block, paste the URL from the word "***player***" to just before the **question mark** (**?**) (Figure 4).

<details>
<summary>Click here to get code you can copy and paste</summary>

```
<iframe style="aspect-ratio: 16/9; width: 100%; border: 0;" id="partnerPlayer" src="https://player.pbs.org/partnerplayer/ix6DN99Ppzn3ntnxghoZbw==/?start=0&end=0&topbar=true&autoplay=true&muted=true&endscreen=false&callsign=[PLACE YOUR CALL SIGN HERE]" allowfullscreen allow="encrypted-media autoplay" referrerpolicy="no-referrer-when-downgrade"></iframe>
```
</details>

Figure 4

![image](media://15c66acf-2f7f-42cb-b903-4271edbe0bcb)

- To find the availability for each video, search for "*avail*" in the API response in the same manner you searched for "*player*" in Figure 3. When the *Availabilities* section displays (Figure 5.1), each audience is listed (Figure 5.2) with the associated video expiration date (Figure 5.3).

> ⚠️ If "null" is specified, the video never expires. 
> ⚠️ 
> ⚠️ ![partner-player-find-code-null.jpg](media://4f20290a-89b1-4d08-879c-e98ae6e946cf)

Figure 5

![image](media://aa2985b3-0adc-49e1-ba9e-e6dd81d0ac9c)

## How to preview the partner player in a browser

Preview your partner player video in a browser simply by copying and pasting the URL into your browser. Below is an example of an iFrame src URL wrapped in a <div> tag. Copy and paste the** src URL** into a browser to preview the partner player.

In the example below, locate the following code and copy and paste it into a browser: *https://player.pbs.org/partnerplayer/O5cslIcLf3NYx1mSxma30A==/?start=0&end=0&topbar=false&autoplay=false&muted=false&endscreen=false" allowfullscreen*

##### **How to preview partner player in a browser**

```
<iframe style="aspect-ratio: 16/9; width: 100%; border: 0;" id="partnerPlayer" src="https://player.pbs.org/partnerplayer/O5cslIcLf3NYx1mSxma30A==/?start=0&end=0&topbar=true&autoplay=true&muted=true&endscreen=true" allowfullscreen allow="encrypted-media autoplay" referrerpolicy="no-referrer-when-downgrade"></iframe>
```

## How to add localization to the partner player

For all types of content, you must add your callsign to the partner player code, as displayed in the example below:

##### **Sample code**

```
<iframe style="aspect-ratio: 16/9; width: 100%; border: 0;" id="partnerPlayer" src="https://player.pbs.org/partnerplayer/ix6DN99Ppzn3ntnxghoZbw==/?start=0&end=0&topbar=true&autoplay=true&muted=true&endscreen=false&callsign=WFYI" allowfullscreen allow="encrypted-media autoplay" referrerpolicy="no-referrer-when-downgrade"></iframe>
```

<span style="color: #1d1c1d">Localization is required for the following types of content:</span>

| **Type of Content** | **Description** |
| --- | --- |
| Passport | Passport is a station member benefit and therefore requires a station association to load the passport sign-in option. Without the sign-in option the video shows an error when trying to load. For Passport videos that require a Passport sign-in for viewing, the partner player displays a “Sign In” button that redirects the user to the Station Video Portal in order to watch the video. |
| <span style="color: #1d1c1d">Public content that is</span><span style="color: #1d1c1d">* limited to specific station audiences*</span> | <span style="color: #1d1c1d">An example of public content limited to specific station audiences are shows that are in the “</span><span style="color: #1d1c1d">*public*</span><span style="color: #1d1c1d">” availability window, but limited to only </span><span style="color: #1d1c1d">*specific stations*</span><span style="color: #1d1c1d"> instead of “</span><span style="color: #1d1c1d">*all stations*</span><span style="color: #1d1c1d">” or “</span><span style="color: #1d1c1d">*national*</span><span style="color: #1d1c1d">" in the Audience section of the </span><span style="color: #1d1c1d">[Core Data tab](https://docs.pbs.org/space/MM/5343796/Shows#Core-Data)</span><span style="color: #1d1c1d"> in Media Manager. </span> |
| <span style="color: #1d1c1d">EPiC content  </span> | <span style="color: #111111">PBS Passport feature that allows stations to purchase rights to exclusive Passport video content from external partners like BBC Studios and APT, and distribute it through PBS channels using the existing Passport availability model. </span><span style="color: #111111">[Learn more about EPiC](https://docs.pbs.org/space/EPIC/4915202/EPiC)</span> |

**Keep in mind that, in all cases, if your callsign ever changes, you must manually change the callsign in the code**

If your station meets all of the following conditions, you must manually change the partner player code to your station's video portal URL:

- Your station site is not under the PBS.org domain
- You do not already have an existing integration with PBS Account
- You want users to be able to watch Passport content on your site
- Your station video portal is a subdomain of your parent station site (e.g. [weta.org](http://weta.org) is the station site, and [watch.weta.org](http://watch.weta.org) is the station video portal)

If any of the above conditions are true, you must change the partner player code in the following way:

| **Change code from:** | **Change code to:** |
| --- | --- |
| <sup>https://player.pbs.org/</sup> | <sup>https://[your station video portal URL]/</sup> |

The following is the full code example:

##### **Full example **

```
<iframe style="aspect-ratio: 16/9; width: 100%; border: 0;" id="partnerPlayer" src="https://watch.weta.org/partnerplayer/CT1Ec7_M85DO8ED9VbpKOQ==/?start=0&end=0&topbar=true&autoplay=true&muted=true&endscreen=true&callsign=weta" allowfullscreen allow="encrypted-media autoplay" referrerpolicy="no-referrer-when-downgrade"></iframe>
```