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Embed third-party content

Summary

Embed content from third-party tools (eg. Padlet, Xerte) using a HTML embed code.

Relevant VLE site design principles

  • 3.7 Essential: Direct, descriptive links are given to open embedded content (eg. video, Padlet or Xerte objects) in full screen.

Embed with HTML embed code

  1. Copy the HTML embed code for the content to embed (see below for how to find this in key tools).
  2. In your Ultra site, hover where you want the embedded content to appear.
  3. Click the plus icon then Add HTML.
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  4. Paste the embed code into the HTML editor and then click Save.
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  5. Click the plus icon above your embedded content and then Add content. Add in some contextual text for the embedded content, including a hyperlink to open the content directly.
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  6. Click Save.

Watch a demonstration:

Embedding content in Ultra [YouTube]

Warning

Only use the HTML content block for embedding third-party content. For other HTML uses, see our Upload HTML guide.

Where to find HTML embed codes

Padlet

  1. Open the Padlet in your browser and click the Share icon.
  2. Click Embed in your blog or your website.
  3. Click Copy.
  4. To copy a link to your Padlet, return to the Share menu and click Copy link to clipboard.
    Accessing the share menu in Padlet and showing the embed content and copy link buttons

Xerte

  1. Open Xerte in your browser and click the name of the Xerte object you want to embed.
  2. In the Project Details box, copy the embed code from the Embed Code text box.
  3. When creating the link to your Xerte item, copy the URL above the Embed code text box.
    Accessing the project details in Xerte and showing the embed code and URL

Google Docs, Sheets, Slides & Forms

Changes to a Google file will be updated in the embedded document, so this can be a good option for sharing the same content in multiple VLE sites.

Warning

To embed a Google file you must publish it to the web first, which makes it widely accessible. Before doing this, review Google's guide to publishing and embedding files and consider if this is an appropriate choice for your file.

As an alternative, you can link to a Google file instead of embedding to maintain sharing settings.

  1. Open the Google file you want to embed and click File > Share > Publish to the web.
  2. In the pop-up window, click Embed, select any options for that file type and click Publish and Ok in the confirmation pop-up.
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  3. Copy the embed code that appears.
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  4. Make sure that Automatically republish when changes are made is ticked.
  5. Optional: to restrict access to the published file, click Published content and settings and tick Restrict access to the following, making sure that University of York is shown in the drop-down.
  6. If you want to stop publishing and fully restrict access in the future, click Stop publishing.
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