Skip to main content
T
Trudi5E89
Inspiring
March 15, 2024
Question

First page of InDesign publish online documents won't auto play videos

  • March 15, 2024
  • 2 replies
  • 945 views

I have a strange new issue that I've never experienced before.

 

It doesn't matter what video I place on the first page - it will not auto play. (Yes I have the correct settings in the media panel)

 

BUT, if I click through to the second page and then go back to the first page, all of a sudden it works!

The videos on all other pages work fine - it just seems to be whatever is on page 1.

 

I even tried duplicating the page before exporting. Page 1 didn't work, but the IDENTICAL page 2 did.

I've tried viewing it in different browsers (Chrome on my Mac and Microsoft Edge on my PC). The issue is the same regardless of browser.

Any ideas?

    2 replies

    W
    Whtlions333
    Participant
    March 9, 2025

    I can't agree more with all the user comments.  At bare minimum there should at least be an option in InDesign that allows the choice whether or not to animate the first page or not.  There's a whole realm of graphic design work out here that uses presentations for their employer  that goes out to employers or prospective clients as an independently standing presentation, with a direct and personal invitation for viewing. The experts comment is that many people don't like animation, is truly relative.  I can understand blocking that feature if it was like a cold call situation, but again, there's a whole realm of private presentations going on either in-house or to personal clients with a direct invitation. So there should be an autoplay on first page.  It's ironic because that's really the most important page where most presentations would actually have an animation. Two years in a row I have used a start now button which really hurts the design aesthetic.  That one extra step at the very beginning could be really be an issue of whether or not the viewer would even click on it and continue into the presentation.

      Steve Werner
      Community Expert
      Steve WernerCommunity Expert
      Community Expert
      March 15, 2024

      I believe that is a FEATURE. Most users DON'T like videos which auto-play. Sorry.

        T
        Trudi5E89Author
        Inspiring
        March 15, 2024

        But why does it work perfectly well on all the other pages? That's where I'm confused. What is different about the first page?

         

        I
        InnTravel30306558snhj
        Participant
        September 26, 2024

        Okay, but it's not annoying on every other page? Doesn't make sense to me either. 

        I juist want a soft animation on the background of the first page, like a gradient that slowly changes color.  I already did a workaround to make sure the video controls aren't visible on a MP4 (I added empty space at the bottom of my video running off my page) and now it won't autoplay on the first page. 
        I could work with a gif, but I have already experienced that this does not always work with large files because I get an error message when publishing online with a gif. 

        I tried to add a black rectangle over the first page with a fade out animation, after the first animation i want my video to play but it does not work either. Adding an extra first page that transitions automatically to the second page is also not an option in Indesign? Please tell me there is a fix for this. 


        In the end, I hid the video controls in the same way as you, but then created my own buttons to play and pause the video on the first page. The user still has to press a button to play the video, but at least this way design integrity is retained.

        Terms & ConditionsAccessibility statement
        Using the community Terms of use Privacy Cookie preferences Do not sell or share my personal information ad choicesAdChoices