Why am I seeing a spinning icon when I try to play a video on my website? And why is my video taking so long to load?
First off, we'd like to take this moment and recommend you to vimeo.com. They are the only company we recommend for hosting video, as they have tons of great features built-in (password protection, mobile compatibility, etc). They have a free plan, and we recommend that all of our partners utilize their service. Plus it integrates seamlessly with our CMS!
For those that need to upload files directly to the website, you'll want to make sure and export your video file in a certain way. In video editing programs, there is an export option called "save for web" (exact verbiage differs from program to program). Exporting your video this way will automatically prepare the video file to be played from your website. If you're experiencing the spinning icon or a long delay before your video starts, then try re-exporting your video using this export option.
What does re-exporting my video do exactly?
There is a data unit in certain video files called the moov atom. In order for video files to begin playing immediately, this invisible piece of data needs to be placed at the beginning of the video file. Re-exporting your video file using the "save for web" option will automatically do this for you. Once you've re-exported your video, upload the file to the CMS and it should stream very quickly.