2. Getting Around the YouTube Site
Whether you want to watch someone else's videos or upload videos of your own, you need to know how to get around the YouTube site. It's a wild ride—with something interesting around every corner!
Navigating the Home Page
When you first access YouTube (www.youtube.com), you see the home page shown in Figure 2.1. This is your home base for the entire site; from here you can browse videos, search for videos, access your favorite videos, and even upload your own videos.
Figure 2.1. The YouTube home page.
A lot of stuff is on this home page, including (pretty much in top-to-bottom order)
- Links to your account info, history of videos you've viewed, a QuickList of videos you've tagged for future viewing, and YouTube's help system
- A search box that lets you search for videos on the YouTube site
- Tabs that let you access specific YouTube content—Videos, Categories, Channels, and Community
- A link that lets you upload your own videos
- A selection of Director Videos—videos from some of YouTube's most talented video makers
- The latest videos from those channels you've subscribed to
- Links to your (My) uploaded videos, favorite videos, video playlists, email inbox, and videos you've subscribed to
- A selection of Featured Videos—the hottest or coolest videos on YouTube today
- A specific featured video; click the Play button to begin playback
- Info about your account—how many times your uploaded videos have been viewed, how many email messages you've received, and so forth
- What's New at YouTube—the latest news about the YouTube site
- Popular Videos for Mobile Devices—videos specifically formatted for viewing on cell phones and other portable devices
- Active Channels—a selection of videos from the most active current YouTube channels
- Active Groups—a selection of videos from the most active YouTube groups
We'll discuss YouTube groups and channels in Chapter 12, "Joining the YouTube Community—And Creating Your Own Channel."
Finally, at the bottom of the home page, you'll find links to other essential site features—Your Account information, Help & Info pages, and YouTube company information.
Exploring YouTube's Content Tabs
As you'll learn in Chapter 3, "Finding Videos to Watch," you can find videos on YouTube by searching (using the top-of-page Search box) or by browsing. Most of the browsing is done using the tabs near the top of the YouTube home page—so let's see what you'll find on each one.
Videos
Click the Videos tab and you're taken to a page full of videos, such as the one shown in Figure 2.2, with links to various types of videos along the left side. The four categories of links include
- Browse—Most Recent, Most Viewed, Top Rated, Most Discussed, Top Favorites, Most Linked, Recently Featured, Most Responded, Watch on Mobile, and Supervote Gallery
- Time—Today, This Week, This Month, or All Time
- Category—All, Arts & Animation, Autos & Vehicles, Comedy, Entertainment, Music, News & Blogs, People, Pets & Animals, Science & Technology, Sports, Travel & Places, and Video Games
- Language—All, English, Spanish, Japanese, German, Chinese, and French
Figure 2.2. Browsing videos on the Videos tab.
Click a Browse, Time, Category, or Language link to see all the videos of that type.
Categories
Click the Categories tab and you see a list of featured videos by category (Figure 2.3), along with links to the full categories on the left side. Click the See More links to view more videos within each category.
Figure 2.3. Viewing featured videos on the Categories tab.
Channels
Click the Channels tab and you see the featured videos in the most-subscribed YouTube Channels, as shown in Figure 2.4. (A channel is a personal list of favorite and uploaded videos; every user can create her own channel.) On the left side of the page are links to the four main types of channels (Comedians, Directors, Musicians, and Partners), along with links for browsing the Most Recent, Most Viewed, and Most Subscribed channels, as well as channels posted This Week, This Month, or All Time.
Figure 2.4. Viewing featured videos on the Channels tab.
Community
Click the Community tab and you see the featured videos by YouTube community—Groups, Contests, and Colleges, as shown in Figure 2.5. Click the See More link by each type of community to see more of the same.
Figure 2.5. Viewing videos from groups, contests, and colleges on the Community tab.
Making YouTube Personal
One neat thing about YouTube is how you can tag the videos you like for future viewing—via a Favorites list, customized video playlists, and so on. YouTube also provides quick links to key account information, including videos you've uploaded. Links to all these lists and information are located at the top of the YouTube home page and in the My section just below the tabs. Here's what you'll find when you click these links:
- My Videos—In the My box, takes you to a list of videos you've uploaded to YouTube
- My Favorites—In the My box, takes you to a list of videos you've tagged as your favorites
- My Playlists—In the My box, takes you to a list of video playlists you've created and the videos within each playlist
- My Inbox—In the My box, takes you to YouTube's email and message center
- My Subscriptions—In the My box, shows all the video channels you've subscribed to
- My Account—At the top of the page, takes you to your account management page, where you can edit account information, your subscriptions and groups, and so on
- History—At the top of the page, displays the most-recent videos you've viewed
- QuickList—At the top of the page, displays videos you've tagged for future viewing
- Help—At the top of the page, takes you to YouTube's help center
- Log out—At the top of the page, logs you out of your YouTube account
Uploading Videos
As you know, YouTube isn't just for viewing; you can also upload your own videos to the YouTube site. This is accomplished by clicking Upload Videos at the top right of the YouTube home page; this takes you to a series of pages that guide you through the video uploading process.
Learn more about uploading videos in Chapter 9, "Uploading Videos to YouTube."
Wait! There's More!
Your guided tour of the YouTube site isn't over just yet. As you can see in Figure 2.6, a bunch of links are at the bottom of the YouTube home page, below a second Search box. The links are grouped into three sections:
- Your Account—Links to your personal picks (Favorites, Playlists, and so on) and account information
- Help & Info—Links to YouTube's help center, Code of Conduct, and other site-related information and services
- YouTube—Links to information about YouTube, the company
Figure 2.6. Links at the bottom of YouTube's home page.
Let's look at some of the most important of these individual links.
YouTube Blog
Click the Blog link in the YouTube section and you're taken to The YouTube Blog. As you can see in Figure 2.7, this is a text-and-video blog put together by YouTube's editors—it's a great way to meet the people behind the scenes, and learn more about YouTube in the process.
Figure 2.7. A typical post at the YouTube Blog.
Test Tube
Want to know more about upcoming YouTube features—new services that are currently works in process? Then click the Test Tube link in the YouTube section. This displays a list of features currently in the YouTube "incubator." For example, Figure 2.8 shows two new features—AudioSwap, for adding licensed music soundtracks to your videos; and Streams, for chatting with other video viewers in real time. Click the link to sign up to test a new TestTube feature.
Figure 2.8. Test new YouTube features on the TestTube page.
YouTube's TestTube features are still in the development phase—which means that all the bugs probably aren't worked out of them yet.
Getting Help
Confused? Having problems? Need a hand? Then access YouTube's Help Center, shown in Figure 2.9. Just click the Help link at the top of YouTube's home page or the Help Center link at the bottom of any YouTube page. You can browse articles that guide you through various aspects of the YouTube experience—Getting Started; Making, Uploading, and Promoting Videos; The YouTube Community; Account and Policies; and Troubleshooting. If you can't find an answer to your immediate question, use the Search Help Center box to search through all available Help Center topics.
Figure 2.9. The YouTube Help Center.
If you're still perplexed, you can ask the folks at YouTube for assistance. Point your web browser at www.youtube.com/contact to access the Contact Us page, enter your email address and question, and then click the Send Message button. Someone from YouTube should respond to you within a day or two.
Joining YouTube
To take full advantage of YouTube's features, you need to set up your own personal YouTube account. Naturally, you must have an account before you can upload any videos to the site. But you also need an account to save your favorite videos, create playlists, join groups and communities, and so on.
Fortunately, it's both easy and free to create a YouTube account. Just go to the home page, scroll to the Member Login box, and then click the Sign Up link. YouTube displays the Join YouTube page, shown in Figure 2.10. Select an Account Type (for most users, a Standard account is the way to go) and then enter the appropriate personal information—email address, desired username, desired password, country where you live, postal code, gender, and date of birth. Click the Sign Up button and YouTube will send a confirmation message to your email address; click the link in that email message to confirm your subscription.
Figure 2.10. Signing up for a YouTube account.
After you're in, you need to log in to YouTube to use your account. Do this by clicking the Log In link at the top of the YouTube home page; enter your username and password, and you're ready to start viewing!