Wikipedia:Media help (Ogg)

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Audio and video

Installing audio and video software

This page contains instructions for playing the video (Theora) and audio (Vorbis) files from Wikipedia. To set up your system to play these files, find your operating system (Microsoft Windows, for example) below.

It is highly recommended that you use a program which is capable of playing both Vorbis audio and Theora video since these two different media formats are often in the same container format, Ogg.

All operating systems

To use the integrated video player:

1. Install Java (download)

or

2. Install VLC (download)

Quicktime is also supported if the XiphQT module is installed. This can be done by clicking on the link and going to the downloads section: (download)

Windows

Installing a program (codecs) from Illiminable will allow DirectShow players such as Windows Media Player to play all Wikipedia media.

  1. Most Windows users will already have Windows Media Player installed on their computer. If you don't have Windows Media Player, or you want to use a different player, please install one from the list below. Otherwise, skip to step 2.
  2. Go to xiph.org/dshow.
  3. Download the current stable version (here).
  4. Wait for the setup program to download. This should take less than 2 minutes on a 56k modem.
  5. Once downloading has finished, run the setup program and follow the instructions on screen.
  6. After the Setup Wizard finishes, your player (from step 1) should be able to play audio and video files from Wikipedia.
  7. If Windows does not automatically associate the file type with your favorite program, all you have to do is to drag/drop the file into it, or force the program to be associated with the .ogg file.


  • WikiBrowse a set of open source tools designed to navigate Wikipedia encyclopedia and other media-wikis. Using WikiBrowse you may be able to play all the Wikipedia multimedia clips without using any multimedia player. To open the video or audio using WikiBrowse follow these steps,
  1. Download latest "WikiProjects - WikiBrowse" from the http://wikiproject.sourceforge.net
  2. Run downloaded executable file and install "WikiProjects - WikiBrowser"
  3. Click Start > Programs > WikiProject > WikiBrowser to Open WikiBrowser
  4. Type name of the article in Find “drop down box” and press Enter to open the article using WikiBrowser. (To get more information access WikiBrowse Help)
  5. Click on the Audio / Video file you wish to play.


  1. Go to the Winamp download page
  2. Select a link under Go Pro (buy) or a free version: BUNDLE or FULL (Note: The LITE version doesn't support video)
  3. Wait for the setup program to download. This should take around 20 minutes on a 56k modem, or quicker if you have a faster connection.
  4. Once downloading has finished, run the setup program and follow the instructions on screen.
  5. After the setup wizard is done, go to Preferences (click Winamp main screen, then press CTRL-P) > Plug-Ins > Input, select Nullsoft DirectShow decoder, Configure and add ;Ogg to final of extension list.
  6. You can use Winamp to play audio and video files from Wikipedia.


  1. Go to the Visonair.TV Player Download Page
  2. Select the Download Today button to begin download.
  3. The setup program should download quickly as it is small
  4. Once downloading has finished, run the setup program and follow the instructions on screen.
  5. After installation, run the program and go to settings to disable automatic playback of the Visonair streams.
  6. You can use the Visonair.TV Player to play audio and video files from Wikipedia.


  • jetAudio (CNET user rating (4/5), CNET editor's rating (5/5))
  1. Go to the jetAudio download page
  2. Click the download button for jetAudio 6 Basic on the right of the page.
  3. On the next page click Download Now.
  4. Wait for the install program to download. This should take less than 40 minutes on a 56k modem, or quicker if you have a faster connection.
  5. Once downloading has finished, run the setup program and follow the instructions on screen.
  6. When the Setup Wizard finishes, you can use jetAudio to play audio and video files from Wikipedia.


  1. Go to the VLC player Windows download page
  2. Select a link under Windows self-extracting package
  3. Wait for the setup program to download. This should take around 20 minutes on a 56k modem, or quicker if you have a faster connection.
  4. Once downloading has finished, run the setup program and follow the instructions on screen.
  5. When the Setup Wizard finishes, you can use VLC media player to play audio and video files from Wikipedia.


  • RealPlayer (CNET user rating (3/5), CNET editor's rating (4/5))
  1. If you already have RealPlayer, you only need to install the plugins, please skip to step 6.
  2. Go to the RealPlayer free version download page
  3. Select Download link along from Windows 98/NT/2000/XP
  4. Select a location near you to begin downloading. If an advert is displayed, wait for the download to commence in a few seconds.
  5. Once downloading has completed, run the setup program and follow the instructions on screen.
  6. Go to the Helix Community Xiph Player Plugins page. Click to download, for example xiph_player_plugins_0.6.exe (the latest versions are near to the top of the page).
  7. Once downloading has completed, run the setup program and follow the instructions on screen.
  8. You should now be able to use RealPlayer to play audio and video files from Wikipedia.


  • MPlayer for Windows (CNET user rating (4.5/5)). The Windows version of MPlayer is an application that has both a command line driven version and one with a graphical user interface. It is recommended that users without command line experience use the version with a graphical user interface.
  1. Go to the MPlayer download page
  2. Look at the table under Source and Binaries. Click any of the links along from MPlayer 1.0rc1 Windows GUI to download it.
  3. Wait for the zip archive to download. This should take around 20 minutes on a 56k modem, or quicker if you have a faster connection.
  4. When the archive has downloaded, it can be opened using a utility such as 7-Zip
  • Miro an open-source media player and internet-TV application. Based on VLC media player.
  1. Download from Miro home page

Macintosh (Mac OS X)

  • MPlayer OS X is a media player which can play Vorbis and Theora files.
  1. Go to the MPlayer Mac OS X download page
  2. Click the Download Now button.
  3. Select an appropriate location (mirror) from which you want to download the software.
  4. Click the corresponding icon under the download column.
  5. Wait for the zip archive to download. This should take around 18 minutes on a 56k modem, or quicker if you have a faster connection.
  6. Once downloading has finished, double click the zip archive to extract the files.
  7. Copy the MPlayer Application to your Applications folder.
  8. When the copy operation finishes, you can use MPlayer to play audio and video files from Wikipedia.


  1. Download iTunes from Apple
  2. Install iTunes.
  3. Obtain the XiphQT plugin
  4. Follow the installation instructions in the readme
  5. You may now use iTunes or QuickTime to play (and convert) Vorbis and Theora files, or subscribe to Vorbis-based podcasts (through RSS feeds or XSPF playlists).
  6. Using this method allows playback of Wikipedia audio/video content within Safari and other Mac OS X web browsers.


  1. Go to the VLC player Mac OS X download page
  2. Select an appropriate version of the software to download.
  3. Wait for the disk image file to download. This should take around 18 minutes on a 56k modem, or quicker if you have a faster connection.
  4. Once downloading has finished, double click the disk image to mount it.
  5. Copy the VLC Application to your Applications folder.
  6. When the copy operation finishes, you can use VLC to play audio and video files from Wikipedia.
  • Miro an open-source media player and internet-TV application. Based on VLC media player.
  1. Download from Miro home page

Unix (Including Linux, BSD, Solaris, etc)

Many recent free Unix systems are able to play Vorbis audio without any installation. If you don't have any audio software installed, use your preferred packaging system to browse the players list and pick one. For example, you may install Totem, Amarok, MPlayer, xine, VLC media player, XMMS and others.

  • libtheora is required for Theora video support.
  1. Use your distribution's package management system, such as APT or YUM, to search for and install libtheora.
  2. New media players such as MPlayer, xine, or VLC should be able to play Theora video as well as Vorbis audio.
  • To play Theora video with GStreamer-based players such as Totem, you must install the Theora GStreamer plugin. Again, your package manager should take care of this.
  • Miro an open-source media player and internet-TV application. Based on VLC media player.
  1. Download from Miro home page

Playing the files

You can try your player using the Wikimedia Commons Sound and Video files.

Creating media files

To learn how to create video or audio files for Wikipedia and its sister projects, check Wikipedia:Creation and usage of media files.

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Media_help_(Ogg)"

This article is from Wikipedia. All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License.

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