Problem
I used to use the Binary Blue theme with WordPress, and noticed that IE would output “Internet Explorer cannot open the Internet site” whenever I embed a Youtube video onto my blog.
I’ve tried numerous plugins and all of them have resulted identically when opened with IE…
Solution
You need to take the Youtube code and remove EVERYTHING except the very last set of embed tags:
Instead of…
<object width=”425″ height=”355″><param name=”movie” value=”http://www.youtube.com/v/qPE2fHs5-_I”></param><param name=”wmode” value=”transparent”></param><embed src=”http://www.youtube.com/v/qPE2fHs5-_I” type=”application/x-shockwave-flash” wmode=”transparent” width=”425″ height=”355″></embed></object>
You have…
<embed src=”http://www.youtube.com/v/qPE2fHs5-_I” type=”application/x-shockwave-flash” wmode=”transparent” width=”425″ height=”355″></embed>
Problem solved
Use <div></div> tags to centre and you’re good to go.
Related posts:


This is one of the biggest frustrations about WP and YouTube (in fact most embedding media). You do get plugins, but you need multiple plugins to handle the various items, and none of them really nail the problem. Human intervention is still probably the best option, especially with service like you got here! I wish people answered my emails as quickly
You’re a life saver! I’ve been having compatibility issues with Youtube videos in general since moving to WordPress a couple of weeks ago. I couldn’t get them to preview in any browser. I just stripped the code as indicated in your article and VOILA…they work! Thanks so much!
Thank you! This rude error message was driving me mad! I am so happy that the solution was so simple!
Thank you so much, this was very helpful.
Thanks! I was pulling my hair out trying to figure this one out. Someday, M$ will make things that work right.
Thanks a million!!! I love you!
I spent hours trying to solve this irritating problem in Drupal embedded Video CCK field for Youtube. Upon loosing hope I tried to google it for the 100 time and stumbled upon this post this time.
Thanks a lot. This saved me a lot of trouble.
We all love you
Gracias panita, me salvaste la molestia. Eres el mejor
“Thanks panita, you saved me the inconvenience. You are the best”
Thanx form Venezuela
Thank you very much. I worked for me too. I didn’t why my web site worked fine with everything but Explorer and then I noticed the only pages it didn’t work with were the youtube embeds. I think Youtube should change the embed code so this can be avoided. I didn’t want to have to install programs to make it work.
You saved me so much time! thanks! this is an example of the when the internet works – people helping each other.
pamela
Ahh..that’s the trick that will solve it! Thank you for the heads up and solution as I would have spent countless time on my WP blog trying to figure it out.
thank you so much.
Peace
I use Firefox as my browser, and I try to make sure all of my code at least functions in Firefox. However, you absolutely cannot ignore IE. EVERYONE running Windows at least has IE on their PC, and most of them use it exclusively. But I simply hate it! Firefox is way better!
hay its magic. It looks like you have solve a million dollar question.I was nearly stuck by that error and consult with lot of developer but non of them are helpful. You post works like injection to us.
I still can’t get youtube videos to work on my yahoo 360. Thanks to you, the videos show up and actually play in the compose box, but when I preview them, tey won’t show up at all. I used to post videos like this without any complications at all, but that was in September 08. Now it just won’t work.
Davion,
Does it display any error messages? Which browser are you using?
I used to embed YouTube videos on my Yahoo 360 blog successfully, too. Then they just stopped working. I use IE7. Any ideas?
Forgot to answer part of your question to Davion. I get no error message. In the compose box, there is a black square where the video should be. It has no play button in the middle. In “preview” or “Posted” there is nothing but blank space.
Marbie & Davion, here’s what I dug up:
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080925044638AAcKF9t
Perhaps it’s a yahoo glitch of some sort? If anyone else comes up with solutions paste them here.
Thank you for your efforts, Eastwood. When I visited the link, it said that Yahoo Answers was taking a coffee break. Who knew? haha I will keep checking back until they are available.
Here’s what I found at http://www.jeroenwijering.com/?item=Embedding_Flash.
“There seems to be a lot of confusion about the code needed to properly embed Flash objects within a website: it’s the most frequently asked question at this site’s forum. The rise of social networking sites like Myspace (who filter lots of codes) and the “Eolas patent enforcement” have thrown quite some confusion into the mix. In this tutorial, I’ll shortly align the best options to embed Flash.”
Visit this site for a detailed discussion on the solutions available. Apparently, there was a legal matter between Microsoft and Adobe, I guess, called the Eolas Patent Enforcement, which prevents IE from embedding Flash videos, as it used to do.
Work arounds have been devised by others.
Thanks for the link. Hopefully it’ll be of some help to others.
I had a problem with IE not showing the Youtube video I embed into my website.
Your post solved it. Thank you very much!!
You’re very welcome, Masa!
Same thing with me, I was wondering what was causing the problem until now. It was actually those video’s fault.
Thanks! You’re a lifesaver. That was driving me crazy.
Not a problem at all!
Thanks m8 – very helpful!
Thanks for that! I was just about ready to give up!
Thanks a ton for the simple fix. Can’t believe I missed it earlier ;( saved me thinking i was gonna have to dig deep into the CMS files looking for screwy scripts.
Wow, you really really saved my life!
Thanks!
Well does I tried for yahoo 360 blog, yet it STILL appears white after posting? Is it Yahoo problem, or am I still doing something wrong?
Thank you a lot for this post! It helped me with a problem of mine!
Anytime!
Thanks for a great post. I spent days trying to find a solution for this issue. Yours worked the first time. But I didn’t use it for Youtube or other videos, my issue was with Amazon Associates Deals Widget. I cut out the appropriate code from Amazon and used your structure, it works!
Thanks you. Now it really works!!!
It seems this is not right.
I think we should use this to fix the problem:
object type= application/x-shockwave-flash style= width:425px; height:350px; data= linkyoutube param name= movie value= http://www.youtube.com/v/7_6B6vwE83U” / /object
Is this HTML code you’re referring to?
Something like an object tag?
Thank you so much!
Where is the “Buy me a beer” button?
You’re most welcome!
We’ll save it for another day
Thank you so much! I was almost going insane here, trying to find out what caused the errors in IE. Now it’s fixed
Everybody else is happy, except by me it won’t work. What’s wrong with this code (without completed brackets):
embed src=”http://www.youtube.com/v/JlOFBqDVfhE&hl=de&fs=1″ type=”application/x-shockwave-flash” wmode=”transparent” allowscriptaccess=”always” allowfullscreen=”true” width=”425″ height=”344″>
I also tried with object-tag and both together but my IE6 just won’t show the video. Firefox has no problems with them.
Thanx for help!
Hmm… not sure what the problem is. Is it still giving you the “operation aborted” error?
Try removing the “allowscriptaccess” and “allowfullscreen” sections. Good luck!
Sorry, that didn’t help.
I don’t get any error messages, the browser just doesn’t show anything except white box as a “placeholder”. You can check the code in a dummy page:
http://www.transhumanismus.net/index2.php
thnx!
From Firefox, I see 3 embedded videos on your page. The first and second are contained in “youtube [begin] / [end]” html comments. Both of them are using the “object” tag — this is not recommended. Try viewing your source and editing out the excess code.
Sorry for late answer, I was on a holiday!
I had the same video three times with different ways on the page to test them, and neither of them worked. I deleted the “objects”, however even the embed-version doesn’t show it in IE. Am I really so stupid or what’s wrong with the code?
Thanks. This saved my day.
No matter whether w3c already depricated the tag and promotes tag instead, WP, Youtube and IE make a wonderful combination.
Its IE, it doesn’t have to comply with the web standards .. haha
and my [embed] and [object] tags got stolen too!
Put them back in place to read my comment. Funny!
Haha… that’s IE alright!
Thanks man! … the solution works!!
Thanks i really like this trick. i busy with this task almost 2 day. Now got your solution.
Thank you, thank you. I really love this solution and I wish that IE would get with it.
THANKS! I have been fighting this and am so glad to have it working!
this is bloody brilliant! Dreamweaver also generates lot of useless script code as an additional string to your YouTube embedded code. Do away with all the extra rubbish and it works fine in IE
ok, google owns youtube and the embed code provided by youtube works in chrome but not IE. hmmm….I wonder why? lol