File or video

File or video shows a file attached to the page right there in the page. A video plays in a player, a PDF opens in a viewer, a sound file gets a player, and anything else becomes a card to download it. Use it when readers should see or hear the file where they are reading, rather than hunting for it among the page’s attachments.

What it shows is decided by the file itself: you choose the file, and Tesria draws it the right way.

Insert it

Type the command at the start of a line, or after a space, and press Enter. Or choose + on the toolbar, then File or video. If you had text selected, the block takes its place.

The block has a File menu listing the page’s attachments, and an Upload button to add a file from your computer, which then shows at once. Typing /video lists Embed first, for a video from a site such as YouTube, and File or video second, for a video file of your own.

What each kind of file looks like

A video

A video plays in a player with the usual controls: play, pause, sound, full screen, and a bar to jump back and forth. Use it for a walkthrough or a recorded talk, anything people want to pause and rewind. For example, a short recording of the slash menu:

A video can also play as an animation: silently, on a loop, with no controls, like a GIF. That is for short clips of something being done; see Animation.

A PDF

A PDF opens in the browser’s own viewer, with a link under it to download it. Use it for a document people should read in place: a handout, a signed policy, a form. For example, a launch handout:

A sound

A sound file gets a small player. Use it for a voice note, a recorded message, or a sound the team is choosing. For example, a new-message chime up for approval:

Any other file

Anything else becomes a card with the file’s name and size; clicking it downloads the file. Use it for a spreadsheet, a zip file, a design file: things people open in another program. For example, the sign-up figures as a spreadsheet:

A picture

A picture shows as the picture. An Image is usually the better choice for one, because it has a size, a position and a caption.

Changing and removing it

• File switches to another of the page’s attachments; Upload adds a new one and shows it.

• Show as, for a video, chooses A video with controls or An animation: silent, looping, no controls.

• To remove it, click its edge to select it and press Delete. The file stays among the page’s attachments.

If the file is later deleted from the page’s attachments, the block says That file is no longer attached to this page instead.

Good practice

• Say what the file is in a sentence above it, so readers know whether to open it.

• Keep videos short and small. A long, large video is slow to start on a phone.

• Name files for people. kestrel-launch-handout.pdf tells readers what they are downloading; scan0042.pdf does not.

Related elements

• Animation plays a short video silently on a loop, like a GIF.

• Embed shows a video or document from another site, such as YouTube.

• Image shows a picture, with a size, a position and a caption.

• Attachments lists every file attached to the page.