With auto-embed feature enable in WordPress by default, it is now very easy to put (or better-called embed) any video on your website. You just need to paste the video URL in your post editor, click Save Draft or Publish button and you’ll see the video. However, one thing I found that WordPress is still lack of is the ability to create video thumbnail by default. Of course, with some codes, you will be able to achieve that.
To enable Video Thumbnail in WordPress, you can install a plugin called Video Thumbnail plugin. The plugin also supports custom post type and custom fields.
1. First, you need to install the plugin.
2. To configure the plugin, go to Settings > Video Thumbnails.
3. Next, paste the URL of the video you want to embed in the post editor. Currently, this plugin supports these video services:
- YouTube
- Vimeo
- Justin.tv
- Blip.tv
- Dailymotion
- Metacafe
4. Hit the Save Draft button.
5. Automagically, you’ll see the video thumbnail in the Video Thumbnail metabox on right side of the post editor.

Of course, there’s many ways to use the plugin with your theme. There’s a bunch of useful codes to show the thumbnail on your theme. Please read the plugin description and the FAQ page for more information.
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