Two questions about the "watch the next video" functionality
Paul Douglas
Crackerjack
I'm not sure how long this functionality has been around but we recently noticed a couple of instances where it was very much unwelcome and we have a couple of questions... but first, let me explain.
There are a few instances where we realised that videos in a folder needed to be ordered alphabetically as the default ordering was not alpha/numeric. So we turned on the 'Set the display order for this folder' tick box in the folder's Settings -> Order tab. However, there is a side effect of doing this which is: seeing the "watch the next video" functionality.
What do I mean by "watch the next video" functionality?
Let's say you need to enable ordering in a folder that contains a bunch of videos. At the end of viewing a video in that folder, the viewer sees a message: "This video has ended..." as per the screenshot below.
What's wrong with that?
Well, having that functionality forced on you is one thing. But also, a couple of actual scenarios we've come across.
Embed API
Using the Embed API to create branching video scenarios is awesome. We think it will be a very useful resource for our teachers. However, it looks really bad to have a branching choice menu overlay on top of the 'watch the next video' functionality. So we cannot enable ordering in those folders (to make file management easier).
LMS-provisioned folders
A teacher in our LMS delivering content via screen recordings using Panopto. The teacher embeds the videos in the appropriate course in the LMS. There are other videos in the LMS-provisioned folder for that course but the teacher doesn't want students to watch those (for a number of reasons) until those videos are embedded. However, if the student clicks on the 'Watch in Panopto' button and views a video on Panopto, they will be encouraged to watch other videos in the folder. So the teacher would not be able to order the videos on the folder (for their own benefit) because they can't turn off this functionality.
So my two questions are:
- Has anyone else run into these issues?
- Is the only answer going to be to submit a Feature Request?
Answers
Hi Paul,
At this time, we do not have a way to disable the 'Watch Next' behavior when using the folder ordering feature. Please feel free to submit a Feature Request for this. As a workaround, I know that some organizations will create a playlist of the videos in the correct order: How to Create and Share a Playlist.
If you have any additional questions, please feel free to ask - we're always happy to help!
Best wishes,
Cait
Watch Next and Display Order shouldn't be linked.
I can see why someone might use both, and it makes sense that you couldn't use Watch Next without having a display order set, but why would Panopto essentially implement the Watch next feature by default just because the Display Order is enabled?
Did they consult with any customers who use the Display Order feature before doing so?
Hi Charles,
Display order is considered a legacy feature and is the predecessor of our playlists feature. I've spoken to some colleagues about your feedback, and it looks like there is an existing feature request for this in particular. We've added this request to your account internally so that our leadership is aware that you'd like to see this improvement in a future release.
Best wishes,
Cait
@Cait McCabe would you be able to add Iowa to that list as well? We've had a question or two come in on this "watch next" functionality, and how to use it effectively for serial content but frankly, before this thread, I had no clue that it was tied to setting display order.
On the future state of the features here, I think that display order and playlists are two distinct features, they are similar, but one is not a replacement for the other IMHO.
Hi Michael,
Sure! We've added this request to your account.
Best wishes,
Cait
I was thinking the same thing. Assuming they're the same is like saying that an m3u playlist is a replacement for numbering your tracks correctly in a folder of mp3 files.
I stopped recommending "order" sessions. Looking forward to a site-wide for disabling playing next video automatically.
@Elba Rios I hope it's not a just a binary enable/disable at the site level.
I'd like to set a site wide default of it being off, but allow users to turn it on per folder if they chose to do so.
@Charles Barbour I agree... default "off" and making "optional" at folder level.
I'm really glad this has kicked off a bit of a discussion. It's encouraging to hear I'm not the only one with these thoughts :)
Thank you all for your thoughts. They are very much appreciated!
@Cait McCabe, I really don't see the playlist as a 'work around' since our teachers would need to use another work around in order to embed a playlist in the LMS using the LIT plugin for Brightspace. Currently, there is no way to automatically assign permissions to a playlist (using the standard Insert Stuff method) because it can't be embedded in this way. They would have to manually embed and set permissions manually.
@Michael Espey, we had no clue of the link either - and I couldn't find any documentation that mentioned this 'feature' going back through some of the release notes. Either it's an older thing or it wasn't mentioned.
@Elba Rios, we too are very much looking forward to being able to choosing whether or not we turn on the "watch next video" functionality without having to turn off ordering!
Any updates on this request?
Any updates here, had a faculty member ask me about this yesterday. Can this be turned off at folder or site level?
Is playlist still the answer?
Don't think there is any change on this.
@Caitlin McCabe - can you confirm?
Hi @Kevin Hartman and @Paul Douglas,
I can confirm that the playlist workaround is still the answer.
If you have any additional questions, please feel free to ask - we're always happy to help!
Best wishes,
Cait
If I understand this thread properly, I think I came up with another clunky workaround that does the trick.
For all my embedded videos, I gave them their own folder. So, if the series of videos I want to show is in the "Math Facts" folder, then each individual video in that folder would have its own sub-folder. This seems to have eliminated Panopto's ability to recommend another video since the video is all by itself in its sub-folder.
Hope this helps someone!
Zander
Hey Zander,
That's an interesting work around.
Unfortunately, nearly all my use cases rely on multiple other images being in the same folder for convenience… but it might offer an option down the track.
Cheers!
P.
While that would work, that's incredibly inconvenient. Sad that it's the best viable option.