Jpeg Image Optimization in CentOS for SEO and PageSpeed Ranking.

So here’s a quick guide on a completely automated way to optimize all your jpegs in CentOS to increase your pagespeed rank and hopefully boost your SEO too. This will also help get rid of any PageSpeed errors like “Optimize Images” by reducing file sizes by up to 40%!

An example of how Google wants you to optimize your jpegs in order to boost your pagespeed rank

1. Install jpegotim

yum install jpegoptim

2. open a SSH session or terminal and navigate to your folder where your website files are located. Generally under centOS this is /home/YOURWEBSITE

cd /home/YOURWEBSITE

3. Run jpegoptim against all jpegs

Just copy this code and run

find . -type f -name “*.jpg” -exec jpegoptim {} \;

Note: this will strip all image meta tags so make sure you don’t have any personal images in there

And done, wait for any caches to clear or clear them yourself and rerun Google PageSpeed Insights.

Using Magic Lantern’s minimum FPS mode for healthy time lapse projects.

As we all know, your typical DSLR is rated anywhere from 50,000 to 100,000 shutter cycles. Since an average time-lapse project would traditionally consist of thousands of photos, it becomes pretty easy to wear out your camera quicker than any average user. This is where the “magic” happens with the magic lantern firmware and the minimum FPS module feature in video mode. FPS override allows you to capture a time lapse in movie mode which keeps the shutter open. This means that the camera thinks you’re taking a movie but the actual FPS of the movie is going to be much lower than the default 25 or 30 FPS. This will avoid the shutter being opened and closed dozens of time per minute and ultimately help you prolong your camera body’s shutter by a significant amount. Since it’s in movie mode it’s not even using the shutter at all! It’s using the sensor to take photos and saving those precious shutter cycles. After I learned about this feature, I had difficulty finding a step-by-step tutorial. I was a little overwhelmed and frustrated on learning the procedure for this module. Finally, after messing around with the settings, here’s how I got it working.

Step One:

The first step is to install the Magic Lantern firmware to your Canon DSLR. I’m not going to go into much depth here but it’s really as simple as copying and pasting to your SD card. I’ll be putting together a guide for this in the future but for now simple search “install Magic Lantern” into google more info on this. Here’s the official website to download the nightly builds [http://www.magiclantern.fm/]

Step Two:

Now we’ll get into the settings. Even on the most basic level we’ll be using the following settings and modules to get the time lapse going without any external hardware. No buying intervalometers, wonky DIY solutions, or high-end camera bodies are needed. Everything is done on the software level which is why magic lantern is such a drastic improvement over the vanilla Canon settings.

Settings to enable:

• FPS Override – For timelapses you’ll generally want 3 frames-per-second (FPS) or less. Magic Lantern currently supports down to .2 FPS. Once you get that low however the shutter, exposure, and aperture settings get quite tricky. 3FPS is a good starting point.
• Exposure Override (Expo. Override) – This will control your shutter, aperture, and ISO settings. For the appropriate color balances you’ll want to fine tune this. If you’re not comfortable adjusting these settings you can give it a try without this feature but you’ll get some flickering due to the camera choosing all these settings for you in movie mode.
• Powersave in LiveView – Since we’re capturing a timelapse in movie mode, you’ll likely be recording for several hours at a time. Movie mode by default on Canon cameras keeps the screen on since it’s using LiveView mode. This module/setting in Magic Lantern will turn the screen off for you and keep battery use down to a minimum.

Step Three:

Here are the settings I used to get a good looking timelapse of the Philadelphia skyline. I used the amazon basics tripod and set up my Canon T2i (with the kit lens…for now) on the balcony of my apartment.

If you’re not familiar with Magic Lantern, you’ll have to click the erase button on your Canon camera body to get to the Magic Lantern settings.

Movie Tab:

This is the most vital step. Enable FPS override and choose your desired FPS. 3FPS will get you about 2 minutes of footage per hour. Obviously you can condense this after you shoot in programs like Adobe After Effects. Under advance settings I used the Low Jello mode to get fluid motion during the day time. If you’re shooting and want the exposure to be constant without flickering, I would also suggest you enable Constant exposure. This can cause issues with day-to-night transitions (as I learned) however so be weary of that and test to see if this feature will help you. At night I would suggest the low-light setting in place of Low Jello.  You can go down to .2 FPS to reduce file usage but you will definitely have to fine tune the shutter with exposure override.

Exposure Tab:

This tab contains the settings which are vital to how your timelapse is going to look in terms of brightness, focus, shutter speeds, and hence light-trails/motion blue. If you keep Expo. Override OFF, then the camera will use automatic settings like it always does when filming video on a Canon body. If you enable exposure override however, you’re in manual mode IN movie mode. Pretty cool right? Here you can define your ISO, shutter, aperture, and white balance. For a distant skyline, I liked a high aperture so I set it to 14. I had difficulty choosing a manual focus shutter so I left that at default which seemed to work well at about 1/5. You can customize this to your preference and it’ll reflect in your LiveView.

Prefs Tab:

If you want to shoot for more than an hour than battery life is going to become a concern. Fortunately, the geniuses at Magic Lantern have a setting to turn off the screen even when filming in Movie Mode. This allowed me to shoot for about 2 hours before battery life got pretty low (I wasn’t fully charged btw). I set it to turn off the LCD after 30 secs when on standby and while recording. This is pretty much something you have to set since the LCD kills the battery.

Set your MANUAL focus:

To avoid the auto-focus from going crazy on clouds, cars, whatever you’re going to want your lens in manual focus. I usually set the focus to infinity for distant horizon timelapses but you may choose otherwise. Focus is all up to you on this; it doesn’t affect Magic Lantern’s FPS override feature.

You’re ready! Simply push the LiveView/Record button on your camera body and the camera will do all the work. Your timelapse will be recorded as a movie and you can than start post-editing in your favorite video editing software.  Here’s what you can come out with.

Have any questions? Like this review? Send me a message at jim@jimwashkau.com

How to email your documents to the Texas DMV

so if you find yourself at the Texas DMV and you need documents that you don’t have printed out this is the email address you want to send your documents to. I was at the DMV the other day and of course I needed to print out additional documents I thought I had everything but I didn’t. So what they told me was that you can email the documents required to this email address and they would print it out for you. I thought that was incredibly intuitive and a great way to help people when they’re trying to get official documents I’ve lived in Pennsylvania and New Jersey and no other state allowed me to do this, good for you Texas for trying to help the common person.

So this is the email address to send your documents do if you can’t seem to find it or don’t remember. d remember, this is just for the mega center. Every center is likely different and you should try to get the email address in person or from an official if you can this is the one that was provided to me.

2BNORTHDLO@DPS.TEXASS.GOV

Buying my Toyota Corolla at Joe Myers Kia in Houston, Texas

So it started by going with my friends to the Kia dealership for her to get her scheduled service and her oil changed and then I spotted the used car dealership. I moved to Houston about three weeks ago and I thought that I would get by without a car. I was wrong. Houston is a giant city and everyone here drives, although people told me that I live in a very walkable neighborhood, Montrose, by the way, it was not as walkable as my beloved city of Philadelphia.

Within the first few days of living here, I knew I had to get a car. I bought a mountain bike, thinking that it would bridge the gap, but it simply didn’t make the cut. I had on a car, my entire life and this was the first time that I went without one. And let me tell you not having a car, especially in Houston nonetheless is incredibly difficult so let me tell you about my experience buying a car in Houston.

I wasn’t expecting to buy a car that day and that’s usually how the story goes but I really need a car. I forgot the name of the place but it was right next to the Kia dealer in jersey city here in Houston. There was a used car lot and I saw a plethora of cars ranging from Fords to Kia’sto Mercedes and finally the Toyota that I would eventually come to buy. All of my money was tied up in my Robin Hood account so I told him I come back on Monday and of course they gave me the sales pitch. I didn’t mind it was actually a really good price. I did some quick research on carmax.com, while I was at the dealership and couldn’t find a Toyota Corolla for a similar price point. Not to mention, I heard that Carmax has been known for selling lemons. I’m not sure if there’s any truth to that. All in all the guys there were very friendly. It was a young 18 year old kid sales rep And he did his best to accommodate me. Let me test drive a few different cars and offered me a test drive on the highway but I didn’t feel that was necessary. It was just a Toyota after all nothing crazy. The process took a lot longer than I wanted to, and there was only one finance/loan d officer at the desk and of course he was busy with another customer. The process took about five hours. We got there at 2 PM. We left about six 6:30 PM. I’m not sure why it took so long. I’m a bit disappointed about that but the price was fair. They approve me for a loan on the spot I did do 0% down I do plan on paying towards the principal like immediately, but I had a good overall experience. Everyone here in Texas is friendlier than any other group of people I’ve ever seen before. If you’re considering moving to Texas let me tell you you will not regret it. Thanks for reading my brief review!

Watching IPTV MAC / Mag Portals with STB-Proxy (Self-Hosted)

So if you’re an avid lover of IPTV like me and purchased / rented a MAC Address based IPTV provider and primarily watch on a Macbook Like me AND also have a VPS or virtual server OR want to run it locally, the best solution I’ve found so far is self-hosting STB-Proxy by Chris230291. I run this on my Google Cloud based Ubuntu server (also works on Centos7) and is Python3 based. It’s a simple, no-frills way to add your IPTV MAC servers and watch them in your browser or with common media players like VLC. It’s not the fastest. It doesn’t have all the bells and whistles. But it WORKS!

Here are the instructions on how to install it on your server.
git clone https://github.com/Chris230291/STB-Proxy
apt-install python 3
pip3 install flask requests retrying
apt-install ffmpeg
cd STB-Proxy
sudo python3 app.py
Then navigate to 127.0.0.1:8001 if you’re running on the same machine or open port 8001 and navigate to your servers external IP address

Easy-Peasy. Have comments, questions? Leave them in the comments below.

What to order at Griff’s in Montrose, Houston Texas

So one of the best places I have discovered so far in Houston, Texas is Griff’s Irish Pub located in the Montrose neighborhood. With a warm and welcoming, small hometown feeling, and tons of specials, you will feel right at home here the second you walk through the door. After viewing my first apartment here in Houston, I wandered into Griffs between my appointments and was immediately welcomed by inviting locals, cheep brews, and a pretty decent selection of affordable pub food. The sweet owners, a pair of two older local ladies, welcome guests with cookies and Jello shots whenever the local team scores. It’s a great way to bring in business and the locals often pack the place during sports games and for Quizzo/Trivia and sometimes even poker. They serve food until 10PM while there’s nothing fancy or exotic, it’s done right and probably better than anything you can whip up at home. I’ve been coming here for 3 weeks now and most of the friends I have made were right here at Griff’s. Everyone is warm and welcoming, and if you have a few too many, there’s not much judgement. Don’t forget about the daily specials! Some aren’t even on the menu! But you can find them here on my blog. And you’ll probably find me there too.

Tuesday Steak Night (HUGE CROWDS, MOST POPULAR) $17.50 – RIBEYE and LOADED BAKED POTATOE W/ ALL FIXINGS

Wednesday – Pork Chop and Pokse Night – Market Price

Fri: Catfish Special during Karyoke

Monday:
$9 Cheeseburger Special with Fries or Tots

Tuesday Pork Chop Special $9.99 (Lunch)
Pork Chop with Mashed Potates, Gravy, and the FAMOUS Green Beans

Wednesday Chicken Parm $10.95 (Lunch)

Thursday (Lunch) Burger Basket $8.95

Friday (Lunch) Catfish $9.99

Restoring Visitor IP Address while using Cloudflare Proxy DNS

So if you like me and use Cloudflare as your DNS and name server provider while also using WordPress, you’ll probably notice that the visitor IP’s are masked by the proxy service. Now I use virtualmin and webmin as my hosting manager, and there’s no built-in solution to restore visitor IP address. Here is a guide on how to easily install the required Apache modules to restore visitor IP address. This will help you build accurate website reports and get a better feel for the demographics going to your website. Another thing is that I use Ubuntu 20.1 and Apache 2.4. This is the best guide to restore visitor IP addresses that I found yet. I hope this helps.

Make sure the following is installed:

• Red Hat/Fedora sudo yum install httpd-devel libtool git
• Debian/Ubuntu sudo apt-get install apache2-dev libtool git

Clone the following for the most recent build of mod_cloudflare:

• Red Hat/Fedora/Debian/Ubuntu: git clone https://github.com/cloudflare/mod_cloudflare.git; cd mod_cloudflare

Use the Apache extension tool to convert the .c file into a module:

• Red Hat/Fedora/Debain/Ubuntu:apxs -a -i -c mod_cloudflare.c

Restart and verify the module is active:

• Red Hat/Fedoraservice httpd restart; httpd -M|grep cloudflare
• Debian/Ubuntu:sudo apachectl restart; apache2ctl -M|grep cloudflare

Just know that the last step didn’t work for me I had to restart Apache 2.4 manually.

The Absolute Best Positive and Negative keywords for realistic faces in Stable Diffusion

Positive and negative keywords are essential for generating photo-realistic AI faces. Without them, the AI wouldn’t be able to replicate the subtle nuances of human facial features and expressions. Positive keywords are used to define the characteristics of a face, such as skin tone, facial structure, age, and gender. On the other hand, negative keywords are used to define attributes that the AI should not include in its facial features, such as wrinkles, age spots, and facial asymmetry.

Using positive and negative keywords helps the AI to create faces that look more realistic and lifelike. It also helps the AI to account for different combinations of facial features that can be found among different ethnicities and genders. This is especially important when creating AI-generated faces with a diverse range of skin tones and facial structures. Without positive and negative keywords, the AI would be more likely to generate faces that look overly generic or that appear to be ‘stuck’ in one particular ethnicity or gender.

The use of positive and negative keywords also helps the AI to generate more realistic expressions on its faces. This is because the AI is able to account for the subtle differences between a smiling face and a frowning face, or a surprised face and an angry face. With positive and negative keywords, the AI can create faces that look more natural and realistic, rather than a face with a single expression.

All in all, positive and negative keywords are essential for generating photo realistic AI faces. They help the AI to create faces that look more lifelike and that can display a range of emotions. Without them, the AI would be more likely to generate overly generic or ‘stuck’ faces that would not be able to appeal to a wide range of audiences.

Positive keywords are the features that are desired in the generated AI face. They include attributes such as age, skin tone, eye color, hair color, facial features, etc. By providing positive keywords, the AI model has a clear idea of what features to incorporate in the generated face. This makes it easier to achieve a photo-realistic output as the model is trained to create faces based on specific characteristics. I threw some good and some funny ones above.

On the other hand, negative keywords are used to eliminate any unwanted features in the generated face. These could be things like scars, wrinkles, glasses, or other physical attributes that are not desired in the output. By providing negative keywords, the AI model can create a face that is more in line with the desired output, making it look more realistic.

It’s important to note that the use of positive and negative keywords can also impact the diversity of the generated faces. For example, if the positive keywords are limited to a particular ethnicity or gender, the AI model will only generate faces that match that specific criteria, leading to a lack of diversity in the output. This highlights the importance of using a diverse range of keywords when generating AI faces, as it helps to create a more diverse and representative output.

In conclusion, positive and negative keywords play a crucial role in the creation of photo-realistic AI faces. They provide the AI model with a clear idea of what features to incorporate and what to avoid, resulting in a more convincing and realistic output. The use of a diverse range of keywords also helps to ensure that the generated faces are representative of a diverse range of people.

Realistic Faces:

Postive: photo of one smirking 29 year old damien lewis person on the streets of Paris looking at the camera, plump lips, pale skin, upper body, detailed skin, detailed eyes, realistic eyes, 20 megapixel, canon eos r3, detailed skin, detailed face,A futuristic utopian city, a detailed sci-fi render by beeple and unsplash, 8k resolution, unreal engine. v-ray.

Negative: cartoon, 3d, filter, black and white, acne, pits on face, bad skin, ugly eyes, blurry background, shallow depth of field, bokeh, 2 people, black and white, bad teeth, lazy eye, deformed iris, deformed eyes, bad eyes, (disfigured), (bad art), (deformed), (poorly drawn), (extra limbs), (close up), strange colours, blurry, boring, sketch, lackluster, face portrait, signature, letters, watermark, grayscale, moody lighting

Review: Ionvac SmartClean 2000 Robovac – WiFi Robotic Vacuum with App/Remote

I have been using the Ionvac SmartClean 2000 Robovac for a few weeks now and I want to share my honest opinion about it. This is a WiFi robotic vacuum that can be controlled with an app or a remote. It claims to have powerful suction, a long battery life and a smart navigation system. But does it live up to its promises?

Pros:

• Powerful motor
• 3-stage cleaning system
• Anti-collision and cliff sensors
• WiFi-enabled
• Can be controlled with an app or remote control

Cons:

• Sometimes gets stuck on furniture or cords
• Doesn’t always return to its charging base when it’s low on battery
• Comes with only one filter

The first thing I noticed about this robovac is how affordable it is. It costs less than $100, which is much cheaper than other models on the market. I was pleasantly surprised by how well it cleans my floors. It picks up dust, dirt, hair, and crumbs with ease. It has four cleaning modes: auto, spot, edge and single room. I usually use the auto mode and let it roam around the house.

The app is very easy to use and allows me to schedule the cleaning times, check the battery level, and switch between modes. The remote control is also handy and has a simple interface. The robovac can connect to Alexa or Google Assistant, which is a nice feature if you want to use voice commands.

However, this robovac is not perfect. It often gets stuck under furniture or on rugs and needs my help to get out. It also rarely returns to the home base by itself when the battery is low. I must manually guide it back or carry it to the charging station. This can be annoying and defeats the purpose of having a smart device.

Another thing I wish it had was more replacement brushes and a filter. It only came with one filter and no extra brushes. The filter gets dirty quickly and needs to be cleaned often. The brushes also wear out over time and need to be replaced. I had to order them separately online, which added to the cost.

Finally, I wish it mapped the house better and remembered where it had been cleaned before. It seems to move randomly and sometimes misses spots or cleans the same area twice. It does not have a camera or a laser sensor like some other models. It relies on infrared sensors and bumpers to avoid obstacles.

I bought this robovac on Black Friday for only $79, which was a steal. I think it’s a good deal for what it offers. It may not be the most sophisticated or flawless robovac out there, but it does a good enough job of keeping my floors clean and saving me time and effort. For this price, I can overlook some of its drawbacks and enjoy its benefits.

If you are interested in buying this robovac or any other product from Ionvac, you can use this link to get a discount and free shipping. This is an affiliate link, meaning I will earn a small commission if you make a purchase through it. This will help me support my blog and create more content for you. It won’t cost you anything extra and you will get a great product at a great price. Thank you for your support and happy shopping!

Overall, I think this is a good robovac for the price, but it has some flaws that need to be improved. It does a decent job of cleaning my floors, but it often gets stuck and rarely returns to the home base. It also lacks some accessories and features that would make it more convenient and efficient. If you are looking for a budget-friendly robovac that gets the job done well, you might want to give this one a try.

How to Enjoy Boating and Paddling at Huntsville State Park, Texas

Boating and Paddling Rentals

If you are looking for a fun and relaxing way to spend a day or a weekend in the beautiful East Texas Pineywoods, you should consider boating and paddling at Huntsville State Park. This park is located in the Sam Houston National Forest and surrounds the 210-acre Lake Raven, a manmade lake that offers plenty of opportunities for water activities. Whether you want to fish, swim, or just enjoy the scenery, you will find something to suit your taste at Huntsville State Park.

One of the best ways to explore Lake Raven is by renting a boat or a paddle craft from the park. You can choose from kayaks, canoes, paddleboats, and even stand-up paddle boards. The rentals are available near Raven Lodge, and you can pay by credit card through a self-service system. The prices vary depending on the type and duration of the rental, but they are generally affordable. For example, kayaks are $15 an hour, $40 for four hours, or $60 for all day¹. You can also rent them overnight for $75¹. The park provides life jackets and paddles for all rentals.

You can also bring your own boat to the park, as long as you follow the rules and regulations. The park has a boat ramp, and motor boats are allowed on the lake, but only at idle speed. You can also fish from your boat or from one of the fishing piers or fish cleaning stations in the park. The lake has crappie, perch, catfish, and bass².

Swimming and Lounging

If you prefer to cool off in the water, you can swim in the designated area from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. There is no lifeguard on duty, so you should swim at your own risk and follow the swimming safety tips provided by the park. The swimming area has a wooden platform that you can lounge and jump off from. You can also rent inner tubes from the park store to float on the lake².

Other Activities and Amenities

Besides boating and paddling, Huntsville State Park has many other attractions and facilities for visitors to enjoy. You can hike or bike on 21 miles of trails, picnic at one of the many tables or pavilions, geocache, or study nature at the bird blind or nature center². You can also camp at one of the 160 campsites or rent one of the screened shelters or shelters with amenities². The park also has a group recreation hall and a boat house that were built by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930s².

If you need to buy anything during your visit, you can stop by Gator Junction, which sells camping and fishing supplies, groceries, ice cream, cold drinks, ice, souvenirs, and more². You can also treat yourself to some shaved ice from Karsan’s Kona Ice of Huntsville, which sells a variety of flavors throughout the park on weekends².

How to Get There and When to Go

Huntsville State Park is located about six miles southwest of Huntsville on Interstate 45 at exit 109². The park is open daily from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m., but you can enter after hours if you have a camping reservation². The entrance fee is $7 per person for adults (13 years and older), but children 12 years and under get in free². You can also buy an annual Texas State Parks Pass for $70 that gives you unlimited access to more than 90 state parks for a year³.

The best time to visit Huntsville State Park depends on your preference and what you want to do. The park is open year-round and has something to offer in every season. However, some activities may be more enjoyable or available during certain times of the year. For example, swimming may be more comfortable in the summer months when the water temperature is warmer. Boating and paddling may be more pleasant in the spring or fall when the weather is milder and there are fewer insects. Fishing may be better in the winter when there are fewer people on the lake.

Whatever time of year you choose to visit Huntsville State Park, you are sure to have a memorable experience boating and paddling on Lake Raven. It is a great way to escape the hustle and bustle of the city and reconnect with nature and yourself. So pack your bags, grab your paddle, and head to Huntsville State Park for some fun on the water!

Gateway GWTC71427-BK Drivers – Only found here

So I bought this laptop over a year ago and driver support has been non-existent. After reinstalling Windows 11 I noticed that the drivers are very proprietary. Touchscreen, touchpad, network connectivity (wifi, Bluetooth) all didn’t work after a fresh install. So I had to get in touch with “Gateway” customer support. As we all know the Gateway USA we all know and love is long gone. This is a Chinese company that bought the rights to the brand and is basically remodeled crap. After a few days, I finally got the drivers.

https://we.tl/t-xIxxZmwuXo

This will expire and I don’t have the bandwidth right now to host it on my own. If it expires, reach out to me and I will reupload for you.

WORDPRESS MEDIA PLAYER PLUGIN – SOUND & AUTOPLAY WORKING for 2025 – BYPASS METHOD

How I Built a WordPress Plugin to Autoplay Videos with Sound in 2025

If you’ve been working with web development or digital marketing for any length of time, you know the constant push-and-pull of browser updates. As a professional coder and digital marketer with 15 years of experience—and a computer nerd since I was three—I’ve seen the web evolve dramatically. One recent challenge is the increasingly strict browser restrictions on autoplaying videos with sound. These policies, while user-friendly, can be a headache for developers and marketers aiming to engage their audience. So, I decided to tackle this challenge head-on by creating a WordPress plugin to autoplay videos with sound—ethically and effectively—in 2025.

The Problem: Browsers vs. Autoplay with Sound

Since 2018, most modern browsers, including Chrome, Firefox, and Safari, have implemented autoplay policies to prevent intrusive user experiences. These restrictions block videos with sound from autoplaying unless the user has interacted with the site or explicitly enabled permissions.

For marketers, this presents a dilemma: videos are among the most engaging forms of content, but getting users to play them manually reduces their impact. As of 2025, these policies have only tightened, making it nearly impossible to autoplay videos with sound without a workaround.

The Idea: A Smarter Approach to Autoplay

The key to my solution was understanding the nuances of browser policies and finding a way to work within those rules. Here are the principles I followed:

1. User Interaction Is Key: Most browsers allow autoplay with sound after a user has interacted with the page (e.g., clicking or scrolling).
2. Consent Matters: Respecting user preferences isn’t just ethical—it’s necessary to avoid penalties like lower search rankings or reduced trust.
3. Fallbacks Are Crucial: Not every user or device will behave the same, so the plugin needed robust fallbacks.

Building the Plugin: Step-by-Step

Step 1: Setting Up the Plugin Framework

Using WordPress’s Plugin API, I created the foundational files for the plugin:

• autoplay-videos.php: The main plugin file.
• js/interactive-autoplay.js: A custom JavaScript file to handle user interactions.
• css/autoplay-styles.css: Optional styling for embedded players.

Step 2: Detecting User Interaction

The first task was to detect any user interaction on the page. I added an event listener to capture actions like clicks, taps, or scrolling:

// js/interactive-autoplay.js
let userInteracted = false;

window.addEventListener('click', () => userInteracted = true);
window.addEventListener('scroll', () => userInteracted = true);

function checkInteraction(callback) {
  if (userInteracted) {
    callback();
  }
}

This script sets a flag when a user interacts with the page, enabling the plugin to trigger autoplay functionality.

Step 3: Embedding the Video Player

The plugin uses WordPress’s wp_enqueue_script and wp_localize_script functions to inject JavaScript into pages where videos are embedded:

function autoplay_videos_enqueue_scripts() {
    wp_enqueue_script('interactive-autoplay', plugin_dir_url(__FILE__) . 'js/interactive-autoplay.js', [], '1.0', true);
    wp_localize_script('interactive-autoplay', 'autoplayConfig', [
        'videos' => get_autoplay_videos() // Custom function to fetch video data
    ]);
}
add_action('wp_enqueue_scripts', 'autoplay_videos_enqueue_scripts');

The get_autoplay_videos function retrieves video URLs and settings (e.g., start time, volume) from the WordPress admin panel.

Step 4: Initiating Autoplay with Sound

Once user interaction is detected, the plugin initiates video playback with sound using the HTML5 <video> API:

function autoplayVideo(videoElement) {
  if (videoElement) {
    videoElement.muted = false; // Ensure sound is enabled
    videoElement.play();
  }
}

autoplayConfig.videos.forEach(video => {
  const videoElement = document.querySelector(`[data-video-id="${video.id}"]`);

  checkInteraction(() => autoplayVideo(videoElement));
});

Step 5: Handling Fallbacks

For users who haven’t interacted with the page, the plugin displays a play button overlay, prompting them to enable sound:

function showPlayOverlay(videoElement) {
  const overlay = document.createElement('div');
  overlay.classList.add('play-overlay');
  overlay.innerText = 'Click to Play';
  overlay.addEventListener('click', () => {
    videoElement.play();
    overlay.remove();
  });
  videoElement.parentElement.appendChild(overlay);
}

if (!userInteracted) {
  showPlayOverlay(videoElement);
}

Results and Lessons Learned

The plugin successfully reintroduced autoplay videos with sound without breaking browser policies or alienating users. Key takeaways from this project include:

1. Respect User Preferences: Balancing functionality with user experience is critical.
2. Leverage Interactions: Small interactions (like scrolling) can unlock powerful features.
3. Iterate and Test: Different browsers and devices handle media playback differently, so rigorous testing is essential.