In continuation with the ongoing series wherein I review a new addon for the WordPress Video Robot plugin, in this post, I will be discussing the Frontend Submissions addon.
Major Features
As is obvious from the name itself, the Frontend Submissions addon for WordPress Video Robot plugin lets you add the functionality for frontend user video submissions. Basically, this makes your website an interactive service, wherein your users and visitors can upload their own videos. Popular websites such as BuzzFeed have thrived and relied on such a model for years now, so this interactive sharing and contributing mechanism for videos is also guaranteed to enhance your video site’s performance.
The Frontend Submissions addon is easy to customize, and you can set up default categories, default authors as well as enter custom text for the video submission form. The form is pretty simple to implement too — all you have to do is to place the concerned shortcode anywhere on your website: a page, a post, a widget, wherever you feel like.
It is worth noting that, however, as of now the Frontend Submissions addon works only with YouTube videos. Other video services and platforms are expected to be implemented in future releases, but as of now, there is no ETA for that.
With that said, let us now check out the Frontend Submissions addon in action.
Mode of Operation
As always, you just need to upload the addon and then activate it like any normal standalone plugin. Once done, you can head over to the WPVR Addons section to find the concerned addon.
The settings are simple to the core: you can autopublish user-submitted videos, enable Captcha, setup custom categories and authors, and so on.
Plus, you can also specify custom messages for the submission form.
Once done, in order to implement and use the form, all you have to do is to place the [wpvr_fes_form] shortcode in the required place. Once again, you can use it in a sidebar widget, a special page, or a regular post.
The addon integrates well with virtually every WordPress theme, so you need not worry about breaking your design or structure either. Here is how it looks on Twenty Fifteen:
Support and Documentation
As with all other addons of this plugin, Frontend Submissions too is well documented, and is even backed by a detailed tutorial on its usage, as well as premium support for licensed users.
Conclusion
The Frontend Submissions addon costs $29.90 for a single site, and $69.90 for unlimited sites. Considering the fact that, at the end of the day, all this addon does is create a custom form wherein users can send you links to their YouTube videos, and then queues the said videos as drafts, I believe this is slightly overpriced.
For any video sharing site worth its salt, you will probably wish to first look at and then approve the submitted videos before posting them, so essentially, this addon is just saving you one step: you will get to preview readymade drafts rather than actually open the YouTube page of the submitted video. Such functionality is justified for $10-$15, but $29.90 for a single site license is on the excessive site.
Beyond that, the addon does all that it promises to do, and if the pricing is not a factor for you, you should surely considering getting it for use with your WordPress Video Robot plugin.
