Step 3: Add Your Welcome Video

Can you think of a better way to be welcomed to an online course than to watch a brief, friendly video of your awesome instructor? We can't either. To complete this step, you will need to have a video hosted on YouTube with accurate captions that is set to either the Public or Unlisted privacy setting. Please note, if you include a YouTube video that you've set to Private, you will be able to see it but your students will not! 

Adding Your Welcome Video

We want your students to see your video before they get to the content pertaining to your course. That means it must be placed in the section just below the header.

1. In the right column of your site's page, you will find the Insert, Pages, and Themes panels. Be sure Insert is selected.
2. From the Insert panel (in the right column), select YouTube.
3. From the Select a file window, click on the Uploaded tab.
   
4. This will show a list of all the videos you've uploaded into your YouTube channel (Please note: If your YouTube channel is associated with another Google account, you will need to use the Video search option and copy/paste your video URL). Scroll through the videos and select the one you'd like to add to your site.
5. Click the blue Select button at the bottom.
6. Your video is now embedded on your homepage in the section below your header.
7. Add a brief welcome note.
   • In the section containing your video, double click in the blank space to the right of the video. A circle will appear with shortcuts to insert different types of content.
   • Select the Tt at the center of the circle. That will insert a text box to the right of your video.
     
   • Click in the text box and write a brief note to your students that warmly greets them and prompts them to view the video. Also, let them know how long the video is. This helps students direct their learning. 
   • Sign your welcome note using the method you wish students to refer to you in their communications.

Check your progress

Awesome job! At this point, you have added a header with a background image and a section containing your welcome video and a welcome note. Here's a sample of our progress: