Kaltura MediaSpace: Use Channels to Group and Control Access to Media

Kaltura MediaSpace allows you to create Channels, which are collections of related media/videos. Use channels to:

• upload and group media
• add users and modify their channel permissions
• share content

Types of Channels:

• Restricted Channels: for any user at the University of Minnesota
• Private Channels: for specific people at the University of Minnesota

Note: MediaSpace is also capable of Public channels, which are viewable by anyone. To request a public channel, please contact Technology Help and include a link to the channel you want to be made public.

In this article:

• Creating a Channel in Kaltura MediaSpace
• Adding Users to a Channel
• Adding Media to a Channel
• Using Playlists to Control the Order of Media Added to a Channel
• Setting the Channel to Allow Downloads or Use of a Transcript Viewer for All Media

Creating a Channel in Kaltura MediaSpace

1. In MediaSpace, select the My Channels tab.
2. Select Create Channel.
3. In the Name field, enter a unique descriptive name for your channel.
   • Note: Channels may not have the same name
   • Add an optional Description for your channel
   • Add optional Tags for users to find your channel
4. For Privacy, decide who should be able to see the channel and its contents:
   • Restricted - choose if you want the channel/contents to be viewable by anyone with a University of Minnesota Internet ID.
   • Private - choose if you want the channel/contents to be viewable only by specific users with a University of Minnesota Internet ID.
5. Note: Under Options, there is a checkbox to allow users to subscribe to your new channel and receive email notifications when new content is added. This functionality does not currently work and this is being investigated in summer 2023.
6. Select Save.

Adding Users to a Channel

As the owner of a channel, you can give other people access to it with various roles.

To add users to a channel:

1. In mediaSpace, select the My Channels tab.
2. Select the edit (pencil) icon in the corner of the channel you wish to edit.
3. Select the Users tab.
4. Select Add Members. The Add Members pop-up screen appears.
5. In the Type a user or group name field, enter a University of Minnesota email address (e.g. [email protected]). 
   • If you cannot find who you are looking for, go to Adding Users to Kaltura MediaSpace.
6. Choose the user's permissions:
   
7. Select Add button. The Users tab updates to reflect changes.

Adding Media to a Channel

1. Go to the My Channels tab.
2. Select the channel to which you wish to add media.
3. Select the Add to Channel button. The Add Media to Channel page appears with all media stored in your My Media listing.
4. Choose from two options:
   • Select from your existing My Media contents:
     1. Select the checkbox(es) to the left of media you wish to publish to the channel.
     2. Click Publish. The Channel page appears with the green status message All media was published successfully. You may need to refresh the page for the newly added media to appear.
   • Upload new media by selecting the Add New dropdown menu.
     • Upload Media: Upload from your computer or mobile device. When the upload completes the media is automatically published to your Channel.
     • Record Webcam in Browser: Record a video using your webcam or built-in camera that publishes directly to your channel.
     • Connect to a Video in YouTube: Paste a public video link from YouTube to upload.
       • Note: For additional information go to Linking to Content in YouTube.
     • Kaltura Video Quiz: Select media upon which to build a Video Quiz.
       • Note: For additional information go to Kaltura: Create and Manage Video Quizzes.

Using Playlists to Control the Order of Media Added to a Channel

Within a Channel, media is shown by Creation Date - Descending, so the most recently uploaded media appears at the top of the listing. You can create a playlist to organize your media or to highlight specific media items.

To create a playlist:

1. Go to My Channels tab and select the channel you wish to edit.
2. In the upper right, from the Channel Actions menu, select Edit.
3. Select the Playlists tab.
4. Select the + Create Channel Playlist.
5. Enter a title, then select Create.
6. Next to each item you want in the playlist, select +.
   • The media appears in the media listing to the right.
7.  Repeat step 6 for other media you want to add to the playlist.
8. To change the order in which media items appear:
   1. On the right side of the window, select and hold the two stacked lines to the left of a media item and drag it up or down in the list.
9. When done, select Go to Channel. 
10. Next to Edit at the top of the page, select your Channel title to return to your channel. The Playlists tab now appears with your new playlist listed under it.

Setting the Channel to Allow Downloads or Use of a Transcript Viewer for All Media

By default, viewers are not allowed to download media. You have the option to allow viewers to download the Channel media to their devices. You may also allow viewers to access media with a transcript viewer. 

To allow users to download all media that has been added to the Channel, or to show a searchable transcript viewer based on the closed captions:

1. Go to My Channels and select the channel you wish to edit.
2. In the upper right, from the Channel Actions menu, select Edit.
3. Select the Theme tab.
4. In the Channel Player Set menu, select "Players with download option" or "Players with transcript viewer."
5. Click Submit.

Notes:

• Media added to Kaltura are processed into multiple versions to optimize playback for different viewing devices and platforms. For the Download player set:
  • Downloads for videos are the closest version to 900 kbps for a good balance of quality and download size.
  • Downloads for audio recordings are the original file.
  • When you link from Kaltura to a YouTube video, YouTube videos are not available for download.