YouTube rolls out video chapters feature
YOUTUBE. This illustration picture taken on July 24, 2019 in Paris shows the logo of the US Youtube logo application on the screen of a tablet. Photo by Martin Bureau/AFP
MANILA, Philippines – YouTube now has a feature designed to make navigating a video’s timeline easier, the YouTube Creators page on Twitter announced on Friday, May 29.
Through the new feature, officially called Video Chapters, a video’s timeline is visibly divided in blocks. Hover over a block, and it gets highlighted, showing the title of that particular chapter. The block is meant to show where a chapter starts and ends.
0:00 Get excited…
1:00 The Video Chapters feature is officially here!
1:30 When Chapters are enabled, viewers watch more of the video, and come back more often on average.
2:30 Test chapters on your own videos by adding a set of timestamps starting at 0:00 to the description. pic.twitter.com/FIFLbLImaj
Prior to the feature, the tests for which started back in April, uploaders sometimes put timestamps in the video’s description box that users can click on to proceed to a particular point right away. In some cases where the uploader doesn’t list down key timestamps for the video, users list them down in the comments section. This is especially prevalent in list-type videos.
It’s not a surprise then that the way to add video chapters takes off from putting in timestamps. Here are the steps:
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Click “Edit Video” on your video.
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In the description box, put in “0:00” followed by what you’d like to call that part. For example: “0:00 Introduction to video chapters.”
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Add chapters by putting in the next timestamp. For example “0:45 Adding a chapter.” The number you put in is the timestamp.
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Add as many chapters as you’d like with more timestamps.
The feature works on both desktop and mobile.
On mobile, haptic feedback indicates when you’ve moved your finger to a new chapter, says TechCrunch. There is also a snapping behavior where the playhead automatically snaps to the next chapter as you scroll near. In order to override the snapping mechanism, don’t release your finger right away so you can point to a precise location. Move your finger up or down to be even more precise with where you’re putting the playhead. – Rappler.com
