BLT Tube releasesself-updates

A WordPress plugin that imports videos from a YouTube playlist into any Custom Post Type — with full field mapping, thumbnail import, transcript capture, keyword tagging, scheduled sync, and a shortcode for embedding playlists anywhere on your site.

Features

• YouTube API Integration — Connect with a YouTube Data API v3 key, search for channels, and browse their playlists.
• Playlist Embed Shortcode — Drop [blt_tube_playlist] into any post, page, widget, or block to embed a playlist player. No API key required for embedding.
• Custom Post Type Support — Select any registered post type (built-in or custom) as the import target.
• Field Mapping — Map any YouTube video data (URL, title, description, duration, view count, etc.) to WordPress custom fields. Supports ACF and all registered meta keys.
• Featured Image — Downloads the highest-resolution YouTube thumbnail and sets it as the post's featured image.
• Description as Post Content — The YouTube video description is imported as post content (or mapped to a custom field).
• Transcript Import — Fetches auto-generated or manual captions and maps them to a custom field or appends them to the post body.
• Keyword Tagging — YouTube video tags are assigned as WordPress post tags (or the first non-hierarchical taxonomy on the CPT).
• Manual Sync — One-click "Sync All Videos Now" button to import all existing playlist videos, with a live progress bar.
• Scheduled Sync — Configurable cadence (every 5 min, 15 min, hourly, twice daily, daily, weekly) to automatically check for and import new videos.
• Duplicate Detection — Videos already imported are skipped based on their YouTube video ID stored in post meta.
• Sync Log — View a history of all sync operations with counts of found, imported, skipped, and errored videos.

Requirements

• WordPress 6.5+ (tested through WordPress 7.0)
• PHP 7.4+
• A YouTube Data API v3 key — only required for importing (create one here). Embedding via the shortcode works without one.

Do I need a YouTube API key?

The shortcode embed uses YouTube's public IFrame Player (youtube.com/embed/videoseries?list=...), which is the same mechanism YouTube provides on every "Share → Embed" dialog. It's free, public, and does not count against any API quota.

You only need a YouTube Data API v3 key if you want BLT Tube to pull playlist metadata into your WordPress database (creating posts, importing titles, descriptions, etc.). The free Google Cloud tier (10,000 units/day) is more than enough for typical sync workloads.

Installation

1. Download or clone this repository into wp-content/plugins/blt-tube/.
2. Activate the plugin from Plugins → Installed Plugins.
3. Navigate to BLT Tube in the admin sidebar.

Setup (Importing Videos)

1. Enter your API Key — Paste your YouTube Data API v3 key and click Validate Key.
2. Select a Playlist — Search for a channel and pick a playlist, or paste a playlist ID directly.
3. Choose a Post Type — Select the target Custom Post Type from the dropdown, then click Load Custom Fields to discover available meta keys.
4. Configure Content Options:
   • Choose where the video description goes (post content or custom field).
   • Choose where the transcript goes (post content, custom field, or skip).
   • Toggle featured image import and keyword tagging.
5. Map Fields — Add rows to map YouTube data fields to WordPress custom fields.
6. Set Sync Cadence — Choose how often the plugin checks for new videos.
7. Save Settings and click Sync All Videos Now to import existing videos.

Embedding Playlists with the Shortcode

The fastest way to display a playlist anywhere on your site — no import required.

Basic usage

Uses the playlist ID configured in BLT Tube settings:

[blt_tube_playlist]

Specify a playlist by ID

[blt_tube_playlist id="PLxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx"]

All supported attributes

Full example

[blt_tube_playlist id="PLxxxx" responsive="yes" autoplay="no" privacy="yes"]

A quick reference is also available in the WP admin under BLT Tube → Shortcode Help.

Available YouTube Fields for Mapping

File Structure

blt-tube/
├── blt-tube.php                       # Main plugin entry point
├── includes/
│   ├── class-bltt-youtube-api.php     # YouTube Data API v3 wrapper
│   ├── class-bltt-admin.php           # Admin pages, settings, AJAX handlers
│   ├── class-bltt-sync-engine.php     # Video import / sync logic
│   ├── class-bltt-cron.php            # WP-Cron scheduling
│   └── class-bltt-shortcode.php       # [blt_tube_playlist] shortcode
├── assets/
│   ├── css/
│   │   └── admin.css                  # Admin page styles
│   └── js/
│       └── admin.js                   # Admin page interactivity
└── README.md

Upgrading from ZymTube

BLT Tube is the rebranded successor to ZymTube. On first load it automatically migrates the legacy ztube_settings and ztube_sync_log options into their bltt_* equivalents. Previously imported videos remain deduplicated (the old _ztube_video_id post-meta key is still honoured alongside the new _bltt_video_id).

License

GPL-2.0-or-later