Youtube is one of the most popular video-sharing sites and everybody knows it. But what if you can upload videos in PHP directly from your site? The Youtube API allows developers to integrate the functionality of uploading videos directly through your PHP website. And using Youtube API to upload videos in PHP can display video at web application by the Youtube video ID. This will reduce the server space, and offer a simple way of playing videos directly on the website. In this tutorial of upload video to Youtube using PHP, we will discuss how to develop PHP scripts to upload videos in PHP using Youtube API.

Table of Contents

Requirements to Develop This Demo of Uploading Video in PHP Contents
Steps to Create Youtube API Key to Upload Video in PHP (With Code Integration)
FAQs
1. Can I upload videos to YouTube from my website?
2. Is the YouTube API free?
Conclusion

Requirements to Develop This Demo of Uploading Video in PHPContents

In order to develop this demo, we will need the following;

Database
JS
CSS
CODE
Includes
Src

First, let’s start with the Database.

Log in with your PHPMyAdmin – http://localhost/phpmyadmin
Find the create button, and create a new database.
Now, click on the import button and select the youtube_video.sql file.
Once the database is imported successfully, the next step is to put the CSS and JS file into the project directory.

Now, we’ll start with the following Code Structure.

1.Index.php
2.Config.php
3.Logout.php

Steps to Create Youtube API Key to Upload Video in PHP

Step 1: Go to Google developers console – https://console.developers.google.com/

Step 2: Create a new project by clicking on the Create Project button.

Step 3: In the project name field, type the name of your project.

Step 4: In the project ID field, the console will provide a project ID. However, the project ID must be unique.

Step 5: Now hit the Create button.

Step 6: Once you create a project successfully, find the APIs tab in the sidebar. Here, a list of Google API will appear.

Step 7:Find the Google+API service and set its status to Enable.

Step 8: Also, find the Youtube Data API service and set its status to Enable.

Step 9: Now go to Credentials under APIs & auth section.

Step 10: Create a new Client ID.

Step 11: A dialog box will appear to choose the application type. Select the Web Application and click on the Configure consent screen button.

Step 12: Next, choose the email address and enter the product name.

Step 13: In the Authorized Javascript origins field, enter your app origin to allow it to run on protocols, subdomains, and domains.

Step 14: Now in the Authorized Redirect URL field, enter your redirect URL.

Step 15: At last, click on Create Client ID.

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Start Code Integration

Index.php

<?php

if(session_id() != '') session_destroy(); 

if(isset($_GET['err'])){ 
    if($_GET['err'] == 'bf'){ 
        $errorMsg = 'Please select a video file for upload.'; 
    }elseif($_GET['err'] == 'ue'){ 
        $errorMsg = 'Sorry, there was an error uploading your file.'; 
    }elseif($_GET['err'] == 'fe'){ 
        $errorMsg = 'Sorry, only MP4, AVI, MPEG, MPG, MOV & WMV files are allowed.'; 
    }else{ 
        $errorMsg = 'Some problems occured, please try again.'; 
    } 
}
?> 

<!DOCTYPE html> 
<html>
<head>
    <title>SPACE-O :: Youtube upload</title> 
    <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="css/style.css"/> 
</head>
<body>
    <div class="youtube-box"> 
        <h1>Upload video to YouTube using PHP</h1> 
        <form method="post" name="multiple_upload_form" id="multiple_upload_form" enctype="multipart/form-data" action="youtube_upload.php"> 
            <?php echo (!empty($errorMsg))?'<p class="err-msg">'.$errorMsg.'</p>':''; ?> 
            <label for="title">Title:</label>
            <input type="text" name="title" id="title" value="" /> 
            <label for="description">Description:</label> 
            <textarea name="description" id="description" cols="20" rows="2" > 
            <label for="tags">Tags:</label> 
            <input type="text" name="tags" id="tags" value="" /> 
            <label for="video_file">Choose Video File:</label>
            <input type="file" name="videoFile" id="videoFile" > 
            <input name="videoSubmit" id="submit" type="submit" value="Upload"> 
        </form> 
    </div>
</body> 
</html>

DB.php

define('HOST', 'localhost');
define('USERNAME', '{USERNAME}');
define('PASSWORD', '{PASSWORD}');
define('DATABASE_NAME', 'youtube_video');

// Connect and select the database
$db = new mysqli(HOST, USERNAME, PASSWORD, DATABASE_NAME);

if ($db->connect_error) {
    die("Connection failed: " . $db->connect_error);
}

NOTE: change value of HOST, USERNAME, PASSWORD, DATABASE_NAME after change run your DB.php file in the browser. If you got any error then you may put value wrong

Config.php

<?php

// OAUTH Configuration
$oauthClientID = '{ClientID}';
$oauthClientSecret = '{Scereat Key}';
$baseUri = 'http://localhost/DEMO/youtube_demo/';
$redirectUri = $baseUri . '/youtube_upload.php';

define('OAUTH_CLIENT_ID', $oauthClientID);
define('OAUTH_CLIENT_SECRET', $oauthClientSecret);
define('REDIRECT_URI', $redirectUri);
define('BASE_URI', $baseUri);

// Include google client libraries
require_once 'src/autoload.php';
require_once 'src/Client.php';
require_once 'src/Service/YouTube.php';
session_start();

$client = new Google_Client();
$client->setClientId(OAUTH_CLIENT_ID);
$client->setClientSecret(OAUTH_CLIENT_SECRET);
$client->setScopes('https://www.googleapis.com/auth/youtube');
$client->setRedirectUri(REDIRECT_URI);
$youtube = new Google_Service_YouTube($client);

?>

Youtube.php

<?php

require_once 'config.php'; 
require_once 'includes/DB.php'; 

 // create an object of class DB. 
$db = new DB; 
if (isset($_REQUEST['videoSubmit'])) {
    $videoTitle = $_REQUEST['title'];
    $videoDesc = $_REQUEST['description'];
    $videoTags = $_REQUEST['tags'];

    if ($_FILES["videoFile"]["name"] != '') {
        $fileSize = $_FILES['videoFile']['size'];
        $fileType = $_FILES['videoFile']['type'];
        $fileName = str_shuffle('nityanandamaity') . '-' . basename($_FILES["videoFile"]["name"]);
        $targetDir = "videos/";
        $targetFile = $targetDir . $fileName;
        $allowedTypeArr = array("video/mp4", "video/avi", "video/mpeg", "video/mpg", "video/mov", "video/wmv", "video/rm");

        if (in_array($fileType, $allowedTypeArr)) {
            if (move_uploaded_file($_FILES['videoFile']['tmp_name'], $targetFile)) {
                $videoFilePath = $targetFile;
            } else {
                header('Location:' . BASE_URI . 'index.php?err=ue');
                exit;
            }
        } else {
            header('Location:' . BASE_URI . 'index.php?err=fe');
            exit;
        }

        // insert video data
        $db->insert($videoTitle, $videoDesc, $videoTags, $videoFilePath);
    } else {
        header('Location:' . BASE_URI . 'index.php?err=bf');
        exit;
    }
}

// get last video data
$result = $db->getLastRow();

/* 
 * You can acquire an OAuth 2.0 client ID and client secret from the 
 * Google Developers Console <https://console.developers.google.com/> 
 * For more information about using OAuth 2.0 to access Google APIs, please see: 
 * <https://developers.google.com/youtube/v3/guides/authentication> 
 * Please ensure that you have enabled the YouTube Data API for your project. 
 */ 

 if (isset($_GET['code'])) { 
    if (strval($_SESSION['state']) !== strval($_GET['state'])) { 
      die('The session state did not match.'); 
        } 
  
    $client->authenticate($_GET['code']); 
    $_SESSION['token'] = $client->getAccessToken(); 
    header('Location: ' . REDIRECT_URI); 
  } 
  
  if (isset($_SESSION['token'])) { 
    $client->setAccessToken($_SESSION['token']); 
  } 
  
  $htmlBody = ''; 
  
  // Check to ensure that the access token was successfully acquired. 
  if ($client->getAccessToken()) { 
    try{ 
      // REPLACE this value with the path to the file you are uploading. 
      $videoPath = $result['video_path']; 
  
      // Create a snippet with title, description, tags and category ID 
      // Create an asset resource and set its snippet metadata and type. 
      // This example sets the video's title, description, keyword tags, and 
      // video category. 
      $snippet = new Google_Service_YouTube_VideoSnippet(); 
      $snippet->setTitle($result['video_title']); 
      $snippet->setDescription($result['video_description']); 
      $snippet->setTags(explode(",",$result['video_tags'])); 
      // Numeric video category. See 
      // https://developers.google.com/youtube/v3/docs/videoCategories/list 
      $snippet->setCategoryId("22"); 
  
      // Set the video's status to "public". Valid statuses are "public", 
      // "private" and "unlisted". 
      $status = new Google_Service_YouTube_VideoStatus(); 
      $status->privacyStatus = "public"; 
  
      // Associate the snippet and status objects with a new video resource. 
      $video = new Google_Service_YouTube_Video(); 
      $video->setSnippet($snippet); 
      $video->setStatus($status); 
  
      // Specify the size of each chunk of data, in bytes. Set a higher value for 
      // reliable connection as fewer chunks lead to faster uploads. Set a lower 
      // value for better recovery on less reliable connections. 
      $chunkSizeBytes = 1 * 1024 * 1024; 
  
      // Setting the defer flag to true tells the client to return a request which can be called 
      // with ->execute(); instead of making the API call immediately. 
      $client->setDefer(true); 


    // Create a request for the API's videos.insert method to create and upload the video. 
    $insertRequest = $youtube->videos->insert("status,snippet", $video); 

    // Create a MediaFileUpload object for resumable uploads. 
    $media = new Google_Http_MediaFileUpload( 
        $client,
        $insertRequest,
        'video/*', 
        null, 
        true, 
        $chunkSizeBytes
    ); 

    $media->setFileSize(filesize($videoPath)); 

    // Read the media file and upload it. 
    $status = false; 
    $handle = fopen($videoPath, "rb"); 

    while (!$status && !feof($handle)) { 
        $chunk = fread($handle, $chunkSizeBytes); 
        $status = $media->nextChunk($chunk); 
    } 

fclose($handle); 

// If you want to make other calls after the file upload, set setDefer back to false 
$client->setDefer(false); 

// Update youtube video ID to database 
$db->update($result['video_id'],$status['id']); 

// delete video file from local folder
@unlink($result['video_path']); 

$htmlBody .= "<p class='succ-msg'>Video have been uploaded successfully.</p><ul>"; 
$htmlBody .= '<embed width="400" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/'.$status['id'].'"></embed>'; 
$htmlBody .= '<li><b>Title: </b>'.$status['snippet']['title'].'</li>'; 
$htmlBody .= '<li><b>Description: </b>'.$status['snippet']['description'].'</li>'; 
$htmlBody .= '<li><b>Tags: </b>'.implode(",",$status['snippet']['tags']).'</li>'; 
$htmlBody .= '</ul>'; 
$htmlBody .= '<a href="logout.php">Logout</a>'; 
} $htmlBody .= sprintf('<p>An client error occurred: </code>%s</code></p>', htmlspecialchars($e->getMessage())); 
} catch (Google_Exception $e) { 
  $htmlBody .= sprintf('<p>An client error occurred: </code>%s</code></p>', htmlspecialchars($e->getMessage())); 
  $htmlBody .= 'Please reset session <a href="logout.php">Logout</a>'; 
} 

$_SESSION['token'] = $client->getAccessToken();
} else { 
// If the user hasn't authorized the app, initiate the OAuth flow 
$state = mt_rand(); 
$client->setState($state); 
$_SESSION['state'] = $state; 

$authUrl = $client->createAuthUrl(); 
$htmlBody = >>>END 
<h3>Authorization Required</h3>
<p>You need to <a href="$authUrl"> authorize access</a > before proceeding.</p> 
END; 
}
?> 

<!DOCTYPE html> 
<html> 
<head> 
  <title>SPACE-O :: Youtube upload</title> 
  <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="css/style.css"/> 
</head> 
<body>
  <div class="youtube-box"> 
    <h1>Upload video to YouTube using PHP</h1> 
    <div class="video-up"><a href="<?php echo BASE_URI; ?>">New Upload</a></div> 
    <div class="content"> 
       <? php echo $htmlBody; ?> 
    </div> 
  </div>  
</div> 
</body> 
</html>

And Done!

FAQs

Can I upload videos to YouTube from my website?

Yes. By using YouTube API, you can upload videos to YouTube directly from your website.

Is the YouTube API free?

Yes, you can use a YouTube API for free. However, if you exceed the prescribed quota, a 403 error will be returned by the API.

Conclusion

This was just a simple feature. It’s also possible to include additional features like creating a playlist, receiving subscription notifications, and many other such features that can be implemented on the PHP website. However, if you are not a technical person, then it’s better that you hire PHP developers or get in touch with a PHP web development company with experience to implement the YouTube API feature on your website. Apart from uploading YouTube video on your website you could further increase user engagement by enabling browser push notifications in PHP. This will prompt the user whenever a new video is added to your website. Not only for this feature but you can hire a PHP developer for any other feature that you want to implement.

Here’s a free copy of the PHP Video Upload Demo on Github.