I read a lot of blogs. A LOT of blogs and one thing I’ve noticed is that quite often when a blogger includes a video in their post, it is too wide for the column and covers up some of the sidebar. I honestly can’t remember how I figured out the way to remedy this but it’s really easy and I’m going to try to show you how.
Let’s assume the video comes from YouTube, although the process should be the same for other sources. When you locate a video you want to use on YouTube, you’ll see the word “embed” below it. When you click on it you get the html code to use in your blog post. Below the code you’ll notice that there are graduated boxes with numbers like 425 x 344, 480 x 385, 640 x 505, and 960 x 745. The numbers aren’t always the same but there are usually a few choices. As you click on each one you’ll notice that the code in the box above changes to reflect those numbers. If there is one that comes up in the code as object width=”480″, or less, select that one. That width usually works for most blogs. Just copy and paste that code as usual and see if it fits.
If it is still too wide or if the video doesn’t offer that size, here is how you can fix it. When you look at the code you should see the words “object height” followed by a number in quotes and “object width” with another set of numbers. The object width is generally what we are concerned with although you can also change the height if you want to. If the width number is more than 480 or if your blog columns are narrower than usual, you’ll want to change this number. Start by changing the number to 480. Then look down at the bottom of the html code where you’ll see “height” and “width” again with the same numbers at the beginning of the code. Change the number following “width” to 480, too. Don’t alter anything in the code except the width numbers. Leave the quotation marks as is. Now, take a look at the post and see if it fits. It probably will but if it’s still a little too wide, try changing the numbers to 460. Just keep decreasing until it’s the size you want. If you want to decrease the height, follow the same procedure but change the numbers following the word “height” in the code. As long as you make sure the number at the beginning of the code and at the end match, it should work.
You can use the same procedure to alter the size of items used on your sidebar. In that case, I find that a width of 180 is about right for my blog layout but you’ll have to play around with it a bit to find out what works for yours. Once you know what size fits your columns, try to remember those numbers (or write them down). That way as soon as you look at a piece of code you’ll know whether it will fit or if it needs to be adjusted.
I hope I explained that clearly. Let me know if you try this.
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