Implementing SoundCloud Player in Your Plugin
Posted on 20th June 2023
Introduction
WordPress is a content management system (CMS) that enables you to create a website or blog from scratch, or to improve an existing website. It is a popular platform because it is free and easy to use.
There are two types of WordPress plugins: free and premium. Premium plugins are usually purchased from third-party websites, while free plugins are available from the WordPress Plugin Directory.
In this article, we will focus on how to implement a SoundCloud player in your WordPress plugin.
SoundCloud is a music and podcast streaming platform that lets you listen to millions of songs from around the world, or upload your own. You can also share your tracks and listen to others’ music.
Adding a SoundCloud player to your WordPress plugin can be a great way to engage your users and provide them with additional content. There are a few different ways to do this, and we will cover the two most popular methods.
Method 1: oEmbed
The first method is to use the SoundCloud oEmbed API. oEmbed is a format for allowing an embedded representation of a URL on third party sites. The SoundCloud oEmbed API allows you to embed SoundCloud content on your website or blog.
To use the SoundCloud oEmbed API, you will need to register for a SoundCloud API key. Once you have your key, you can then use the oEmbed endpoint to get the HTML code for your player.
The oEmbed endpoint is:
http://soundcloud.com/oembed?url={soundcloud_url}&format=json&iframe=true&maxwidth={width}&maxheight={height}
Replace {soundcloud_url} with the URL of the SoundCloud track you want to embed, {width} with the desired width of the player, and {height} with the desired height.
For example, the following URL would embed a SoundCloud track with a width of 400px and a height of 100px:
http://soundcloud.com/oembed?url=https://soundcloud.com/user-123/track-123&format=json&iframe=true&maxwidth=400&maxheight=100
Method 2: iFrame
The second method is to use an iFrame. iFrame is an HTML element that allows you to embed another website or document within your own.
To use an iFrame, you will need to get the embed code for your SoundCloud player. To do this, go to the SoundCloud track you want to embed and click the Share button. From the Share dialog, click the Embed tab and copy the code.
Next, paste the code into the HTML of your WordPress plugin. You will need to wrap the code in an iFrame HTML element. Your code should look something like this:
Replace {width} with the desired width of the player, {height} with the desired height, and {soundcloud_url} with the URL of the SoundCloud track you want to embed.
Conclusion
In this article, we have covered two methods for implementing a SoundCloud player in your WordPress plugin. oEmbed is the simplest method, but it does require you to register for a SoundCloud API key. iFrame is a bit more complex, but it does not require an API key.
Whichever method you choose, make sure to test your plugin before publishing it. SoundCloud offers a number of ways to test your player, including a Developer Portal and a Player Testing Environment.
We hope this article has helped you to learn how to add a SoundCloud player to your WordPress plugin.
Assuming you have followed along with the steps above, you should now have a working SoundCloud player in your plugin. If you encounter any errors, be sure to check the SoundCloud API documentation for troubleshooting tips.
In order to further customize the player, SoundCloud provides a number of options that can be passed in when initializing the player. For a full list of options, consult the SoundCloud Player API documentation. Some of the most commonly used options are listed below:
auto_play: Whether to automatically start playback when the player is loaded. Defaults to false.
buying: Whether to display the “Buy” button. Defaults to true.
sharing: Whether to display the “Share” button. Defaults to true.
show_playcount: Whether to display the number of times the track has been played. Defaults to true.
show_user: Whether to display the name of the user who uploaded the track. Defaults to true.
To set one or more of these options, simply pass in an object with the desired key/value pairs when initializing the player, like so:
soundcloud.addEventListener(‘onPlayerReady’, function(player, data) {
player.setOptions({
auto_play: true,
show_playcount: false
});
});
Keep in mind that these options will only take effect if the track’s owner has not disabled them.
That’s it! You should now have a fully functioning SoundCloud player in your plugin. With a little creativity, you can use the SoundCloud API to create all sorts of interesting applications and mashups.
The following is an example of the SoundCloud Player being used in a plugin. The plugin is designed to play a SoundCloud track when the user clicks on a button.
The plugin will need the following:
1. A button to trigger the player.
2. A container to hold the player.
3. The SoundCloud track URL.
The button can be added to the plugin using the following code:
The container can be added to the plugin using the following code:
The SoundCloud track URL can be added to the plugin using the following code:
var trackURL = “https://soundcloud.com/user-123/my-track”;
The player can then be added to the plugin using the following code:
var player = SC.Widget(“player-container”);
player.bind(SC.Widget.Events.READY, function() {
player.bind(SC.Widget.Events.PLAY, function() {
console.log(“Track is playing”);
});
});
player.load(trackURL);
The player will now play the track when the button is clicked.
There are three ways to implement a SoundCloud player in your plugin:
1. Use the SoundCloud shortcode
2. Use the SoundCloud oEmbed endpoint
3. Use the SoundCloud JavaScript SDK
The SoundCloud shortcode is the easiest way to add a SoundCloud player to your plugin. Simply add the following code to your plugin:
[soundcloud]https://soundcloud.com/your-username/your-track[/soundcloud]
Replace “your-username” with your SoundCloud username and “your-track” with the track slug.
The SoundCloud oEmbed endpoint can be used to embed a SoundCloud player in your plugin without the need for a shortcode. To use the oEmbed endpoint, simply add the following code to your plugin:
http://soundcloud.com/oembed?url=https://soundcloud.com/your-username/your-track
Replace “your-username” with your SoundCloud username and “your-track” with the track slug.
The SoundCloud JavaScript SDK can be used to add a SoundCloud player to your plugin. To use the SDK, simply add the following code to your plugin:
SC.initialize({
client_id: “YOUR_CLIENT_ID”
});
Replace “YOUR_CLIENT_ID” with your SoundCloud Client ID.
For more information on how to get a SoundCloud Client ID, please see the SoundCloud documentation.
