WordPress 2.9 supports oEmbed ^[1], a new feature which fetches information from video and image providers with just the help of the URL. Starting with WordPress 2.9 ^[2], you do not need to add the embed codes into your post and can just include the video using the URL.

Here is a step by step tutorial on how you can embed videos, images and polls in WordPress using URLs, rather than having to copy and paste the full embed codes, this will ensure that users who do not have support for unfiltered HTML will be able to insert videos into WordPress posts.

Insert Videos in WordPress using URL

Step 1: Create a new post in WordPress.

Step 2: Go to YouTube ^[3] or to any other supported oEmbed providers ^[4] in WordPress 2.9 and copy the URL of the video or image you want to include in your post.

Step 3: Paste the URL of the video directly into the post, make sure it is not hyperlinked. Save or publish the post as usual.

You will only see a URL inserted into the post edit area, but that is fine as all the magic happens under the hood, so after you have inserted the video, visit the post and the video will automatically be embedded into WordPress.

If you view the source of the page, you will see that the URL has been converted into an actual embed code using oEmbed technology. Super cool right :-). You can also insert images and polls using the same method.

The supported providers for oEmbed inserts include, YouTube, Vimeo, DailyMotion, blip.tv, Flickr, Viddler, Hulu, Qik, Revision3, Scribd, Photobucket, PollDaddy, Google Video and WordPress.tv.