YouTube Video Import Automation
Automated daily publishing workflow
Challenge
The client publishes to their YouTube channel frequently, and wanted their full video library — plus every new upload — mirrored on the website. Keeping that in sync by hand had stopped being realistic given how often they were posting.
Solution
Built a plugin that automatically imports videos from a given playlist on a schedule, filtering out anything deleted or set to private, and removing a video from the site the moment it's removed from the source playlist on YouTube.
How it works
A scheduled job polls the client's YouTube playlist via the YouTube API and diffs it against what's currently published on the site. New videos in the playlist get published automatically; anything no longer in the playlist — removed, deleted, or switched to private — gets taken down from the site in the same pass. The client doesn't touch WordPress at all to keep the video library current; it follows the playlist.
What I built
- ✓Scheduled automatic import from a specified YouTube playlist
- ✓Filters out deleted or private videos before they ever reach the site
- ✓Two-way sync — a video removed from the YouTube playlist is automatically removed from the site
- ✓No manual publishing step — new uploads appear on schedule with no client or developer involvement
Results
- ✓Site's video library stays continuously up to date with zero manual work
- ✓No stale, deleted, or private videos ever linger on the site
- ✓Client no longer needs to track or manually mirror new uploads
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