Choosing what to import

Each rule’s action sets what gets synced — new videos, new playlists, or the channel itself (Free), plus update actions that refresh existing posts (Pro). See “Sync actions explained” in Getting Started for the full list.

Video Sync de-duplicates automatically: videos, playlists, and channels are matched on their YouTube ID, so re-running a rule won’t create duplicates.

Destination post type

Every rule has a destination post type. Send synced videos to Posts, or to any public custom post type you’ve registered — Video Sync fits your existing content model instead of imposing its own.

Run-once vs recurring schedules

In the Free version, every rule runs once, immediately after you save it — you stay in full control of when content is imported, and the rule auto-disables after it completes.

Pro adds recurring schedules: run any rule hourly, daily, weekly, monthly, or on a custom interval. Recurring rules run in the background via WP-Cron, keeping your WordPress content in step with YouTube automatically.

Thumbnails and featured images

YouTube thumbnails are imported with each item and set as the post’s featured image when none is already assigned — so your archive looks complete immediately. In Pro, individual thumbnail sizes (max-res, standard, high, medium, default) can be mapped to their own meta keys.

Sync history and error logs

Each channel keeps a sync history showing what was imported and when, with a per-rule error log. If a sync fails — a bad API key, an exhausted quota, a deleted video — the reason is recorded so you can fix it quickly.

Taxonomy assignment (Pro)

Automatically file synced items into categories, tags, or any custom taxonomy term as they’re imported. Build an organized, browsable video library without touching each post by hand.

Field mapping (Pro)

Map any YouTube field to your own custom post meta key — including each individual thumbnail size. Field mapping is what lets Video Sync feed your existing theme, blocks, or page builder exactly the data they expect. Missing values are skipped automatically, so an absent field never overwrites good data with a blank.

Filter conditions (Pro)

Add conditions to a rule so it imports only items that match your criteria. Sync selectively instead of pulling an entire channel — ideal for large channels where you only want a subset.

Video protection (Pro)

Turn on Video Protection for any synced post and sync rules will never overwrite it. This preserves manual edits on hand-curated content while still letting other posts update on schedule.

The post metabox and copy buttons

Every synced post shows a Video Sync metabox with all its imported YouTube data, organized into Details, Images, and Sync tabs. Each value has a one-click Copy value button, and dynamic fields (titles, descriptions, view/like/comment counts, thumbnails, channel info) also have a Copy shortcode button — so you can drop a live, auto-updating value straight into your content.

Shortcodes and blocks (Pro)

Display synced YouTube data anywhere on your site:

• [wpbuoy-video-sync] shortcode — output a specific field, the video embed, or a thumbnail by post ID.
• Video Embed block — the responsive video player.
• Video Field block — any single metadata field (title, view count, published date, and more).
• Video Image block — a chosen thumbnail size.

Because these read from the synced post, the values stay current every time the source data updates.

Post meta reference

All YouTube data is stored in standard post meta you can use in templates and queries:

Channel, playlist, and video posts also store titles, descriptions, counts, and thumbnail data in their own _wpbuoy_video_sync_* keys.

Compatibility

Video Sync works with any theme and stores data as standard posts and post meta, so it’s compatible with the Block Editor, classic editor, and popular page builders. Because synced items are normal posts, they work with your existing search, archives, and queries out of the box.

Video Sync requires a Google API key with the YouTube Data API v3 enabled — this is the only external dependency.