Help playlists
Keep a YouTube playlist and a Proclaim series in step with each other, so new videos become messages on your site without anyone retyping them.
Components → Proclaim → Playlists
Note
You need a YouTube server set up first — see Help-servers.
| I want to… | Go to |
|---|---|
| Pull my YouTube playlists into Proclaim for the first time | Import your playlists |
| Turn a playlist's videos into messages automatically | Turn on scheduled sync |
| Send changes I made here back up to YouTube | Push changes to YouTube |
| Understand a column or a field | Screen reference |
flowchart LR
Y[YouTube playlist] -->|Import| P[Playlist in Proclaim]
P -->|Scheduled sync| M[New messages]
M --> S[Linked series]
P -.->|Push, if enabled| Y
Import brings the playlist across once. Sync keeps bringing new videos in. Push is the only step that sends anything back to YouTube, and it is off unless you turn it on.
Do this once, to get started.
- Select Import from YouTube in the toolbar.
- Proclaim reads the playlists on your YouTube server's channel and creates one Playlist record for each.
- Read the message that appears. It tells you how many playlists were created and updated, how many videos matched media you already had, and how many are not in your library yet.
Tip
"Not yet in the library" is normal on a first import. Those videos become messages the first time a sync runs.
This is what makes new videos appear as messages on their own.
- Open a playlist by selecting its title.
- Set Scheduled Sync to Enabled.
- Choose a Linked Series if you want synced videos filed into a series.
- Open the Sync Defaults section and set what new messages should look like: their status, their teacher, and a default description.
- Save & Close.
Important
Set Default Status to Unpublished if you would rather check each message before visitors can see it. Synced messages go live immediately when the default is Published.
The Sync column on the list shows which playlists are enabled, and Last Synced shows when each one last ran.
Most sites never need this. Turn it on only if you want Proclaim to be the place where playlist titles and membership are decided.
Warning
Push changes your real YouTube playlists. A title you edit in Proclaim overwrites the title on YouTube, and videos can be added to or removed from playlists on the platform.
- Open the playlist and set Push Changes to YouTube to Enabled.
- Back on the list, select Preview Push. Nothing is sent — you get a count of the changes that would go out.
- Read that number. If it is larger than you expected, stop and check which playlist is responsible before going further.
- When the preview looks right, select Push to YouTube.
Toolbar buttons
| Button | What it does |
|---|---|
| New | Creates a playlist record by hand, rather than importing one |
| Import from YouTube | Reads the channel and creates or updates playlist records |
| Preview Push | Counts what a push would send. Sends nothing |
| Push to YouTube | Sends your changes up to the platform |
| Actions | Publish, Unpublish, Archive, Check-in, Trash |
| Help | Opens this page |
Import and push buttons appear only when a server that supports playlists exists.
Columns
| Column | What it shows |
|---|---|
| Ordering | Drag handle for manual ordering |
| Title | The playlist name. Select it to edit |
| Server | Which media server hosts the playlist |
| Sync | Enabled or Disabled — whether scheduled sync runs |
| Last Synced | When sync last ran, or Never |
| Access | Joomla view level for the record |
| ID | Database identifier |
Fields on the playlist form
| Field | What it is for |
|---|---|
| Title | The display name for this playlist |
| Alias | URL-friendly version of the title |
| Description | Optional description |
| Server | The media server that hosts the playlist |
| YouTube Playlist ID | The value after list= in a YouTube playlist URL. Browse Playlists picks one for you |
| Linked Series | Synced videos are added to this series |
| Scheduled Sync | Whether the scheduled task syncs new videos |
| Push Changes to YouTube | Whether your edits are sent back to the platform |
| Last Synced | Read-only timestamp |
| Default Status | Status given to messages created by a sync |
| Default Teacher | Teacher assigned to messages created by a sync |
| Default Description | Description applied to messages created by a sync |
| Access, Language | Standard Joomla record settings |
- Run Preview Push before every push. It is the only way to see what would change without changing it.
- A playlist with Scheduled Sync disabled still imports and still shows its videos — it just never brings in new ones on its own.
- Set Default Status to Unpublished while you are setting things up, then switch it once you trust the results.
| What you see | What it usually means |
|---|---|
| This server type does not support playlists | The chosen server is not YouTube. Playlists only work with servers whose type supports them |
| Select a server first, then browse its playlists | Choose the Server field before selecting Browse Playlists |
| No playlists found on this server's channel | The channel has no playlists, or the server's credentials cannot see them |
| Import or push fails with a message | Usually the YouTube API quota or credentials. Check Administration → YouTube Status |
- Help-playlist — the playlist form, field by field
- Help-servers — setting up the YouTube server this depends on
- Help-series — the series synced videos are filed into
- Help-messages — where synced messages end up