[Youtube Channel] widget

Want to show your YouTube channel in a widget on your website? The widget needs two things: a YouTube API key and a link to your channel. You can generate the key for free in Google Cloud Console.

Important: you can create the key with any Google account, such as a company account. It doesn't have to be the account that owns the YouTube channel.

Step 1. Create a Google Cloud project

  1. Go to console.cloud.google.com and sign in with your Google account.
  2. In the top bar, click the project list and select [New project].

     

  3. Enter a name, e.g. “YouTube – my website”, and click [Create].

     

  4. Make sure the new project is selected in the top bar.

 

Step 2. Enable YouTube Data API v3

  1. In the left menu, go to [APIs & Services] → [Library].

     

  2. Search for YouTube Data API v3, open it and click [Enable].

 

Step 3. Generate the API key

  1. Go to [APIs & Services] → [Credentials].

     

  2. Click [Create credentials] → [API key].

     

  3. Copy the generated key.

Important: Do not share your key with third parties or paste it into unsecured locations, AI conversations, etc.

 

Tip: for security, click [Edit API key] and under [API restrictions] select only YouTube Data API v3. Then click [Save].

 

Step 4. Paste the key into the CMS4media panel

  1. In the admin panel, click [Settings] in the left menu.

    [Settings] module in the Admin Panel

     

  2. From the list of tabs, select [Google Services].

    The [Google Services] tab

     

  3. In the [YouTube integration] section, paste the key into the [YouTube API key] field.

    The [YouTube API key] field

     

  4. Enter your channel's address in the [YouTube channel link] field.

    The [YouTube channel] link field

     

  5. At the bottom of the page, click [Save]. 

    The [Save] button

 

Good to know

  • Does it cost anything? No. YouTube Data API is free within Google's daily quota and doesn't require a payment card.
  • Does the key give access to my channel? No. The key only reads public YouTube data.
  • Some videos are missing. The widget shows public videos only. Private and unlisted videos won't appear.

You can read more about API keys in Google's help center.

 

 

Step 5. Add the [YouTube Channel] widget to the page

Your API key and channel link are saved. Now place the widget on a portal template, e.g. the homepage.

Important: choose the [YouTube channel] widget. Don’t confuse it with the [YouTube] widget, which shows only one specific video set by its URL.

  1. In the left-hand menu, click [Page builder].

    [Page builder] module in the admin panel menu

     

  2. In the list of templates, find the page where the widget should appear (e.g. Homepage) and click the edit button on the right.

    Editing the [Homepage] template

     

  3. In the chosen row and column, click [+ Add item].

    [+ Add item] button in an empty column

     

  4. In the [Add item] window, type “YouTube” in the search box and click the [YouTube channel] tile.

    [YouTube channel] widget in the [Add item] window

     

  5. Check the widget settings. The [YouTube.com channel address] field is filled in with the link saved in Settings. You can change it if the widget should show a different channel.

    [YouTube channel] widget settings

     

    The widget is customised in a similar way to the article widget. You can set the number of videos, how they are displayed, and which details are shown or hidden.
     

  6. Once you have chosen the right settings, click the [Apply] button.

    [Apply] button

     

  7. The widget will appear in the selected column of the template. Remember to save the changes to the whole template by clicking the [Save] button at the very bottom of the template editing page.

 

YouTube channel widget settings

  • Number of videos – how many videos the widget shows.
  • Type of videos – All, Regular videos, Shorts or Live streams. For the selected type, sorting other than “Latest” includes the last 50 videos.
  • Sorting – Latest, Most popular, Top rated or Alphabetically by title.
  • Layout – List or Grid.
  • Click behaviour – Open in YouTube.com in a new browser window, Play in a pop-up window or Play immediately.
  • Display toggles – Show thumbnail, YouTube icon on the image, Shorten titles, Show description, Show publication date, Show duration and Show view count.
  • Show header – displays a header above the widget.

Tip: the green phone and monitor icons next to the widget mean it is visible on mobile devices and on large screens. Click an icon to hide the widget on that type of device.

Buttons that set the widget’s visibility on desktop and mobile devices.

 

View of the widget in the published version, visible to readers

[YouTube channel] widget published on the site.
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