Annotation Links can be used to share a short message with your viewers or direct them to another video or webpage.
Note
Annotation Links cannot be added to audio files.
Add Annotation Links to Your Video
On the media overview page, click Customize and then open the Annotation links tab. In that modal, you can configure the start and end time, display text, URL, position, and color theme of the link.
Timestamps can be entered manually in the "Start" and "End" fields, or adjusted in the customization timeline. Drag and drop the annotation marker to the desired time or click an hold either side of the market to expand and shorten its duration.
Click "Add annotation link" to add a separate annotation to the same video. Manage multiple Annotation Links by collapsing or expanding each link title.
Tip
While you can add as many Annotation Links as you’d like to your media, too many might distract viewers from the video.
Using Annotation Links without a URL
Annotation Links don’t necessarily need to redirect viewers to another page; perhaps you’re just looking to add a quick comment or drop some additional notes during your video. In that case, enter your message in the text field and leave the URL field empty.
Using Annotations to skip to parts of your video
You can also configure Annotation Links to direct viewers to a specific point of the same video — think Netflix’s “Skip Intro” button. To generate a link to a specific point in your video, plug your video’s unique hashed ID into the snippet below:
#wistia_(HashedID)?time=0s
Enter that snippet into the URL field to point the Annotation Link to the specified timestamp. For example, the following snippet will lead viewers to the 20-second mark of the specified video: #wistia_a62xl92vp9?time=20s
For videos over a minute or an hour long, adjust the timestamp to include minutes or hours (i.e., ?time=00h00m00s).
Check out the video below to interact with a live Annotation Link example:
Tracking Annotation Link Engagement
To see how many of your viewers clicked on your Annotation Links, navigate to the media's Analytics page, then open the Engagement tab and Show Details. The number of Annotation Link clicks will be listed in the Actions row.
For more details about media actions, refer to this section of our Media Analytics Overview page.