Support

Media, Shortcodes

Audio

You can share audio on your WordPress.com blog in a variety of ways. Note that, if you wish to upload audio files from your own computer, you will need to purchase the Space Upgrade. Please refer to our documentation on which specific audio files types can be uploaded to WordPress.com with this upgrade.

Adding Audio Files to Your Blog

There are four (4) ways to do this:

  1. Upload an .mp3, .m4a, .ogg, or .wav file somewhere on the internet and link to it using our audio shortcode (if you have found an audio file elsewhere, simply grab its URL). To do this, enter the shortcode, which looks like this: [audio], with the address inside. For example: [audio http://wpcom.files.wordpress.com/2007/01/mattmullenweg-interview.mp3 ] and [audio http://en.support.files.wordpress.com/2012/05/mattmullenweg-interview.m4a ] will produce the following players:


    If your current browser does not support HTML5 audio for your uploaded format, or Flash Player is not installed, a direct download link will be displayed instead of the player. The following browsers support the following formats via HTML5 audio:
    Browser .mp3 .m4a .wav .ogg
    Chrome 25 Yes Yes Yes Yes
    Safari 6.0 Yes Yes Yes No
    Firefox 19 No No Yes Yes
    Opera 12 No No Yes Yes
    IE 10 Yes No No No
  2. Buy the Space Upgrade. This allows you to upload .mp3, .m4a, .ogg, or .wav files to your blog. Upload the file to your blog’s media library. When inserting into a post, make sure to click the None button for Link URL and then click the Insert into Post button (as illustrated in the image below). If your file is an .mp3, .m4a, .ogg, or .wav file, this will insert the audio player shortcode into your post or page.
    insert-audio-player
  3. Create a download link to a file hosted elsewhere, which will require your readers to play it on their own computers. If you are uploading or linking to a file hosted elsewhere, please respect the wishes of the copyright holder.
  4. Embed the SoundCloud Audio Player. This will produce the following player:

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Playlist

You can add several mp3 files to create a playlist. (Other file types aren’t supported at this time.) Please note, if you wish to upload audio files from your own computer, you will need to purchase the Space Upgrade.

Once your mp3 files are uploaded, a Playlist Editor tab will appear in the Add Media window.

playlist_editor_tab

From here, you can choose which audio files to include, drag and drop the order, and insert into your post.

add_playlist

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Customizing the Audio Player

The table below includes all of the current options available to you for customizing the [audio] shortcode output.

Option Description Choices Default Setting
|titles Displays the title of the track. Type in the title of your audio track. Track #
|artists Shows the artist name. Type in the name of the artist. none
|loop Enables looping on the track. yes, no no
|remaining Shows the remaining amount of time on the track, rather than the time elapsed. yes, no no
|animation Sets the player to remain open, rather than expanding only after the play button is pressed. yes, no yes
|initialvolume Change the initial volume of the track as it plays. 0 to 100 60

To use these customizations with your Audio Player, insert the option you’d like to enable after your audio file URL in the audio shortcode. For example, to display the title in the audio track above, add |titles=Matt Mullenweg Interview to the audio shortcode:

[audio http://wpcom.files.wordpress.com/2007/01/mattmullenweg-interview.mp3|titles=Matt Mullenweg Interview]

This will display the Audio Player with the title after the play button is clicked:

When using more than one of the customization options, add one option after the other, separated by a |. For example:

[audio http://wpcom.files.wordpress.com/2007/01/mattmullenweg-interview.mp3|titles=Matt Mullenweg Interview|loop=yes|animation=no]

This shortcode will display the title of the audio track, cause the Audio Player to loop the track, and disable animation, or leave the player open automatically:

For even more customizations to the style of your Audio Player, you can use the Custom Design upgrade to make your playlist look the way you want with CSS.

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Embedding the playlist into your sidebar

  1. From Appearance → Widgets in your site’s Dashboard, add the Music Player widget into a widget area.
  2. Click the link to choose or upload your audio files.

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Additional Information

How can I edit the names of the songs?

You can edit the names of your songs in your Media Library.

Can I make my music auto-play?

You can’t auto-play your music with this playlist.

Can I add a playlist that plays just the first 30 seconds of each song?

The player will play the complete song.

Still confused?

Contact support.