How to Use the WP Media Player Gutenberg Block

The WP Media Player Gutenberg block lets you place a video or audio player directly inside any post or page without touching a shortcode. Pick a media item from the sidebar, choose your alignment, and publish. It takes under a minute.

Insert the Block

Open any post or page in the block editor. Click the + inserter button or press / on a blank line, then type WP Media Player. Select the block from the results.

A placeholder appears on the canvas with the message to pick a video from the sidebar.

Pick Your Media

The block inspector panel on the right has one control: a Media dropdown that lists every video and audio item you have added in the WP Media Player plugin. Open it and select the item you want to embed.

Once selected, the placeholder swaps for a live Vidstack player preview right inside the editor. You can click play to test it before publishing.

Choose the Alignment

The block toolbar above the player has alignment controls. Click the alignment icon and choose Wide or Full to make the player span the full content width. Leave it as Left for the default inline width.

The block respects your theme’s content width when left-aligned, and breaks out to the viewport edges in Wide and Full modes.

What to Check

• The player preview appears in the editor immediately after selecting a media item
• Playback works inside the editor preview
• The alignment choice is reflected in the published output

Next Steps

The block renders the same player as the shortcode, so anything you can configure in the media editor — preset, aspect ratio, chapters, layers — applies here too. For more control over individual embeds, see the shortcode reference to learn which attributes override the saved settings.