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Training videos

Any menu or prep recipe can carry one short “How it’s done” video. A new hire watches how the item is made on their own phone instead of waiting for someone to show them.

What it is and why

Recording a video once means everyone learns the item the same way, and nobody has to stop what they’re doing to teach it again. Many people also simply learn better by watching than by reading a list of steps. The video sits on the recipe page, right next to the ingredients and instructions.

Who can add it

Managers and admins. Open a recipe (or create a new one) and paste the link into the How it’s done video field under Instructions. Staff can watch the video but can’t change it. To remove a video, clear the field and save. It’s optional, and a recipe without a video looks exactly as it did before.

Which links work

  • YouTube (recommended).
  • Vimeo.
  • A direct link to a video file ending in .mp4, .webm, .mov, or .m4v. This is the one to use if you already keep files somewhere like Dropbox, Google Cloud, or your own website.

Paste the normal share link and ShelfCount tidies it up. ShelfCount never stores or hosts the video, only the link. Google Drive and Loom links are not accepted, because their players can’t be locked down. A link that doesn’t fit is rejected with a message when you save.

Sharing and privacy settings

Your staff aren’t signed in to your video account, so the video has to be viewable by anyone who has the link.

  • YouTube: set the video to Unlisted. Private videos will not play for your staff. Public works too, but anyone can find it.
  • Vimeo: Unlisted is fine. Paste the full link Vimeo gives you, including the code after the video number. Videos set to Private will not play.
  • Direct files: the file must be reachable without a login.

Anyone who has the link can watch, so keep truly confidential material off it.

What staff see

Staff see a How it’s done card on the recipe page with a Play button.

Every video plays in ShelfCount’s own player. It shows only that one video: no host logo, no links to YouTube or Vimeo, no suggested or related videos, nothing that autoplays, and nothing to click that leaves the recipe. When the video ends, the only thing they can do is watch it again. Staff cannot use it to browse YouTube or Vimeo.

Controls

  • Play and pause, and a seek bar to jump around.
  • Volume and mute.
  • Captions (CC) for YouTube videos, and for Vimeo videos that have caption tracks.
  • Full screen.
  • A speed slider that snaps to 0.75×, 1×, 1.25×, 1.5×, and 2×. Slower is handy for a first watch, faster for a refresher. On Vimeo, the speed control depends on the video owner’s Vimeo plan and is hidden when it isn’t available.

On a phone, the first tap starts the video. Turn the phone sideways for a full-screen view, and turn it back to leave. The full screen button does the same thing.

Captions and languages

YouTube adds captions automatically to most videos. ShelfCount turns them on in the language of the phone or browser when YouTube has that language, and the CC button hides them. Other hosts show only captions that were uploaded there. If you want captions in a second language, upload the video to YouTube and add that caption track there.

Nothing loads until Play is tapped

The recipe page makes no request to YouTube or any other host until someone taps Play. The card itself is drawn by ShelfCount. Once they tap Play, that host serves the video the way it would on any website.

Tips for recording

  • Keep it short, one to three minutes.
  • Hold the phone sideways.
  • Show the hands and the station, and say each step out loud.
  • Make one video per recipe.
  • Re-record when the recipe changes.

Troubleshooting

“This video couldn’t be played,” or a black box. The usual causes: the video is Private; embedding is turned off on YouTube (look for Allow embedding in the video’s advanced settings); or a file link needs a login.

A Vimeo video shows nothing. The video’s privacy is set to Private, or its embed setting is off.

A link is rejected when you save. It isn’t one of the supported hosts or file types. Check the list under Which links work above.

The video starts muted with a “Sound is off. Tap to turn it on” button. The phone blocked sound on the first try. Tap the button once.

More on recipes in Recipes and costing, and on who can edit them in Your team and roles.