We're sorry you're having trouble viewing Flocabulary videos.
We'd like to help you get your videos playing as soon as possible. The steps in Basic Troubleshooting help most people get their videos up and running, so we recommend trying them first.
If those steps don't resolve the problem, the Further Troubleshooting section will help you determine whether you have a problem with your browser, computer or network, and will lead you to directions you and your tech department can use to resolve video play issues on the computer or network level.
If you or your tech department need help working through any of these steps, or have further questions, please don't hesitate to contact us for video trouble-shooting help.
Basic Troubleshooting
If you're having trouble playing videos, one of these steps will frequently solve the problem.
1. Close your browser program and reopen it. Try your video again. If that doesn't work...
2. Clear the cache and cookies on your browser. Here are directions for various browsers. Once cleared, try your video again. If that doesn't work...
3. Restart your computer and try your video again. If that doesn't work...
4. Update your browser to the latest version.
If none of the above steps work, continue to Further Troubleshooting.
Further Troubleshooting
The next step is to determine whether the problem is with your browser, computer or school network. Depending on which of those three is causing the problem, we have different tips to help solve the problem.
Browser Problem?
See if your computer has a different browser. (Common browsers include: Internet Explorer, Chrome, Safari and Firefox). Try to watch your video in a different browser. Do you have the same issue?
- If your video plays in another browser, it means that there is an issue with the browser you were initially using on your computer. Try updating the broken browser. And if others are also having issues on that same browser, let us know.
- If your videos DOES NOT play on another browser, the next step is to determine whether it's a problem with your computer or your school's network.
Computer or Network Problem?
If you have access to another computer at your school, log in to Flocabulary.com on that computer and see if your video works.
- If your video plays on the other computer, it means that there is a tech issue with your computer. See our Computer Troubleshooting section for tips to resolve computer problems that prevent video play. You can try them yourself, or send them to your tech department.
- If your video DOES NOT play on the other computer, it means that there is an issue at the network level. Please refer to our Network Troubleshooting section. We recommend that you send these network troubleshooting tips to your tech department, and we encourage them to contact us if they have any questions.
Computer Troubleshooting
You've identified that there is an issue with your computer, and that other computers on the network don't have the same problem. Here are different potential causes to explore. If you check each, and are still having issues with video play, please contact us.
1. Does your computer have enough resources to play streamed video files?
- Do you have sufficient RAM? Are too many programs running concurrently?
- Do you have sufficient hard drive space? Is your drive almost full?
- Is your processor speed / video card fast enough to play video in other contexts?
2. Is your computer’s network connection fast enough?
- Do you have strong enough WiFi signal strength?
- Are there any bottlenecks in network setup? Perhaps one access point for adjoining classrooms?
3. Are your systems up to date?
- Is your browser as up to date as possible?
- Is your operating system (e.g. service packs / patches) as up to date as possible?
Network Troubleshooting
You've identified that there is an issue with your multiple computers on the same network. Here are different potential causes to explore. If you check each, and are still having issues with video play, please contact us.
1. Do you have any firewalls or security policies in place that may be affecting usage?
- Have you whitelisted our domain and our s3 domain? That is: flocabulary.com and flocabulary.s3.amazonaws.com.
2. Does your school or district have sufficient bandwidth to stream media in general (e.g. YouTube)?
- Is there any change in behavior between peak and non-peak hours?
- A good test to see if it’s a network issue: Grab a video file such as https://flocabulary.s3.amazonaws.com/media-jrev/test-video.mp4 and see how long it takes to establish connection and download.
3. Does your school or district use any network management / optimization tools (software or appliances) that could be limiting bandwidth in any of the following ways:
- File extension or MIME type. (Our video content files are MP4; audio are MP3.)
- File size. (Our video files are ~20MB; audio are ~4MB.)
- Limited allocation per user or device
- Prioritizing / deprioritizing traffic from certain domains