How to Add Video Background to Your WordPress Website
Tags: wordpress
Published: 2020-08-03 02:52:15

Video background is one of the most fabulous features of a website. It can make your website not only lively and interesting but also be able to display more images and information. However, I bet that not many people know how to add a video background to their websites. Therefore, this ultimate guide will be helpful if you want to add a video background to your website.

### Use a WordPress Theme That Supports Video Background

Some [WordPress themes](https://gretathemes.com/wordpress-themes/) support displaying video background, so you just need to set up the theme to showcase it.

For example, this Clean Blocks theme supports video background in the header cover area. Then you only need a few simple steps to insert a video to it by going to Customizer, finding the **Header Media** section, and following the requirements of the theme.

![Use a WordPress theme that supports video background](https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/600/0*loRkqCOf_9k_KqcS.gif)

Most themes will allow you to upload a video. Besides, many will support embedded links from YouTube as I did above. This will not only be faster, simpler but also help the website lighter, thereby [optimizing the speed of the website](https://gretathemes.com/speed-up-wordpress-website/). Each theme will be customized in different ways so you need to read the instructions carefully.

However, the video background area may be restricted when you use themes because themes may only support videos running in a certain area. What if you want to add a video background to another area? It's time to use a plugin to add a video background to your WordPress website.

### Use a Plugin to Add Video Background to Website

There are many plugins that can help you with this. After researching, I found that the Advanced WordPress Background (AWP) plugin is super easy to use for those who do not know much about technology. It also helps your video background to display beautifully and provides many customization options.

Note that this plugin only works on WordPress 5.0 version and Gutenberg editor. So remember to update your WordPress version and use this editor.

### Step 1: Install the Plugin

You can download this plugin at [wordpress.org](https://wordpress.org/plugins/advanced-backgrounds/), then go to **Dashboard** > **Plugin** > **Add New** > **Upload Plugin**, upload, install and activate it.

Or in **Dashboard** > **Plugin** > **Add New**, find the plugin and click **Install** > **Activate**.

![Install a Plugin to add video background to website](https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/600/0*JzI5TTRavb-5aNUv.png)

### Step 2: Add a Video Background

Adding a video background is similar to inserting a block in Gutenberg. So if you're familiar with Gutenberg, it's easy. If not, you can read [the instructions for using Gutenberg](https://deluxeblogtips.com/beginners-guide-wordpress-gutenberg-editor/).

Go to a page or article you want to add a video background, add a new block, and search for the keyword "awb" to find the **Background** block of AWB.

![Add a new block](https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/600/0*LuwR9Enwvt2HCx-n.png)

After inserting this block, at the right sidebar, select the **Block** tab to set up it. There are 3 options for the background which are image, color, and video. Choose **Video** to insert video background. Then, you have 2 options: insert the video from YouTube or Vimeo URL, or upload self-hosted videos.

![Choose one of these options](https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/600/0*En9au1NrMnguOx8O.png)

If you choose the first option, you just need to insert the link into the **Video URL** section.

![Insert the link into the Video URL section.](https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/600/0*BCCq4pbsK7aur68q.png)

For the second option, go to the **Self Hosted** section. There are 3 kinds of video formats to upload:

![For the second option, go to the Self Hosted section](https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/600/0*FQomULLFjUEbzpRZ.png)

Select the format that you want, then choose an existing video in the library or upload a new one. That's it.

### Step 3: Customize your Video Background

#### Display Video with Full Height and Add a Block on Video

After inserting the video, its frame is so small like this. To display the video with the full height, select the **Full-height** section in the toolbar of the block.

![Display Video with Full Height](https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/600/0*-J9kPdciQzlbR9fO.png)

Below is the video background displayed in full-height with texts. You can customize the size, color, position, etc for the texts normally in the **Block** tab on the sidebar. This is useful if you want to put this video in the header cover or call-to-action section.

![Add a Block on Video](https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/600/0*MEahJcXn1dLufLRl.png)

You can even replace the texts with any block. This is just similar to inserting any Gutenberg block.

#### Video Settings

In the **Video** tab, you should set some main sections as below to conveniently display your video background:

![You should set some main sections as below to conveniently display your video background](https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/600/0*XdO9hYj1HgBo-9U6.png)

(1): you can enable or disable background video on mobile devices.\
(2) and (3): enter the start and end time of video here in order to display the desired part, especially when the original video is too long.\
(4): you can repeat the video when it is finished. I think you should enable this feature to keep the video auto-replaying.

#### Poster Image Settings

Scrolling down, you will see the **Poster Image** section. The photo you choose here will be displayed in 1 second before the video is displayed. The options below allow you to customize the proper size and style of the image.

![The photo you choose here will be displayed in 1 second before the video is displayed](https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/600/0*WBAQ-BZOMX99g0Kk.png)

Here is the result after adding the poster image.

![The result after adding the poster image](https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/600/0*NQtIxUYR8tMFLF5f.gif)

#### Install Overlay

(1) is the overlay color for the video background, and (2) is the transparency of the overlay. For example, orange is the major tone of my site, so I chose this color the video's overlay to match with the web's design.

![choose a color the video background's overlay](https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/600/0*HVrigCyNN6SBXQBY.png)

As for the **Color Palette**, it is an alternative to the video. In other words, you actually switch from a video background to color background. To remove this color background, choose the Clear button.

![You actually switch from a video background to a color background](https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/600/0*5JzuY_T87OZnUJYd.png)

#### Install Parallax and Mouse Parallax effects

In the **Parallax** tab, you can turn on or off these effects and choose different types of parallax easily. This is a very nice and interesting effect, so you should use it and choose a suitable style for your site.

![You can turn on or off the effects and choose different types of parallax easily](https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/600/0*epDgHYrqoCDDyHcv.png)

The [parallax effect](https://gretathemes.com/best-parallax-wordpress-themes/) may be familiar to you, while the mouse parallax effect may not. It can be easily seen when you move the mouse over the video, then the scene within the video will move too.

You can use this effect by going to the **Mouse parallax** > **Enable** section. Then you can adjust **Size** and **Speed**. The lower the speed is, the faster the video moves. The lower the size is, the more the video moves, making you feel like the video is "jerky" when moving the mouse on it.

![The lower the speed is, the faster the video moves.](https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/600/0*Xd1it_rWWHQ3Wx9A.png)

Here is an example when I choose the lowest speed and size.

![Here is an example when I choose the lowest speed and size.](https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/600/0*CzsXsi_ZAQlDaBON.gif)

#### Spacing Settings

In the **Spacing** tab, custom the distance from the video to the margin of the page, enter the distance parameters into the **Margin** and **Padding** sections. For example, I entered the padding of 10 and the margin of 20 for all 4 sides of the video.

![custom the distance from the video to the margin of the page](https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/600/0*kOxQVnshfyTTj3qW.png)

#### Advanced Settings

In **Additional CSS** of the **Advanced** section, you can add custom code for the video background. And the **HTML** anchor section allows you to use the keyword link for the heading on video. If you do not know anything about shortcodes, you can skip this part.

![add custom code for the video background](https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/600/0*iPUqlEBJ5hk3RaQA.png)

And this is the final result. The video looks quite nice, doesn't it?

![The video looks quite nice](https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/600/0*WmKvx1JfTdpo0los.gif)

### Last Words

Through this super detailed article, I hope you can add a video background to your WordPress website to attract visitors. About AWB plugins, you should use it with a theme that strongly supports Gutenberg such as [eStar](https://gretathemes.com/wordpress-themes/estar/). Here, I used eStar theme and AWB plugin to have an attractive video background for header cover.

This perfect combination may make the video look more fascinating, right? If you want to know more tips in WordPress, don't hesitate to comment and share your thoughts below this article.

 --- --- --- 

The publication at [GretaThemes](https://gretathemes.com/add-video-background-wordpress-website/).