Web Video
Stores the address of a video hosted elsewhere and embeds it on the record.
Where to find it
Architect Panel → Data:
- Datastores — the datastore, then Table Designer to add or edit a field
Architect Panel → Security:
- Cookie Consent — the consent an embedded player usually requires
What it stores
A link, not a file. Nothing about the video is held here, which is the whole character of the type.
What that gives you
- No storage cost, whatever the length or quality.
- No bandwidth cost — the host serves it.
- Adaptive playback on poor connections, which a plain file does not get.
- Nothing to upload, which suits content that already exists.
And what you give up
- Control. The video can be edited, made private or deleted by whoever owns it, and your record silently stops working.
- Access control. A video visible to anyone with the link is not protected by your permissions, whatever the record says.
- Longevity. Links rot. A field of embedded videos will contain dead ones within a few years.
Never use it for anything confidential
The important rule. A record restricted to three people, embedding a video anybody with the link can watch, is not restricted — and it looks restricted, which is worse than an obvious hole.
If the content is sensitive, host it where your permissions apply.
Embeds and cookie consent
Most video hosts set cookies and are treated as third-party services by consent management. On a consent-enabled page an embedded player will be blocked until the visitor accepts, and a blank space where a video should be reads as a broken page.
Provide a click-to-load placeholder explaining why, rather than leaving an empty box.
Validate the address
Accept the hosts you support and reject the rest at entry. An unrecognised address stored happily and failing to embed is a support call, and validation turns it into an immediate, self-service correction.
Check links periodically
Where video matters — training material, product demonstrations — something should notice when a link stops working. Left alone, nobody finds out until a user reports it, and by then it may have been broken for months.
Think about who can edit it
Anybody who can edit the field can point the record at any video on the internet. On a public-facing record that is worth restricting, because the content shown under your branding is then not entirely yours.
Worked example
A training datastore embeds course videos from the organisation's own channel, with the field validated to that host only and edit access restricted to the training team. A consent placeholder explains the block for visitors who decline. Confidential induction material is held as uploaded files instead, so record permissions apply.
Recommendations
- Never embed confidential content.
- Validate the host at entry.
- Provide a consent placeholder, not a blank box.
- Restrict who can change the address on public records.