--- title: "How to Add Live YouTube Video Feed in Elementor?" url: https://theplusaddons.com/docs/add-live-youtube-video-feed-in-elementor/ date: 2024-06-26 modified: 2026-09-21 lang: en author: "Aditya Sharma" description: "The Social Feed widget can show videos from a YouTube channel, a handle, a playlist, a user feed or a search term, on any Elementor page. YouTube uses an API..." image: https://theplusaddons.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Youtube-Video-Feed-1-1024x554.jpg word_count: 1149 --- # How to Add Live YouTube Video Feed in Elementor? ## - The Social Feed widget shows videos from a YouTube channel, a handle, a playlist, a user feed, or a search term on any Elementor page. - The Plus Addons for Elementor Pro ships Social Feed only in Pro, and the widget does not render at all when Pro is deactivated. - YouTube API key goes into the Access Token field, and the widget uses five YouTube Types: User feed, Handle, Channel, Playlist, and Search. - Carousel layout hides Columns Manage and Filter Option, and the slider settings move to Style > Carousel. The **Social Feed** widget can show videos from a YouTube channel, a handle, a playlist, a user feed or a search term, on any Elementor page. YouTube uses an API key rather than an access token, but the widget has one credential field for every network, so the key goes into the field labelled **Access Token**. ***Requirement - This widget is a part of The Plus Addons for Elementor Pro, make sure it's installed & activated to enjoy all its powers.*** [LIVE WIDGET LINK](https://theplusaddons.com/elementor-widget/social-feed/?utm_source=tpae&utm_medium=docs&utm_campaign=text) ## Before You Start - **Edition:** **Pro** — **Social Feed** ships only in The Plus Addons for Elementor Pro. With Pro deactivated the widget does not render at all, and there is no free version of it.- **Prerequisite:** [Elementor](https://wordpress.org/plugins/elementor/) (free) installed and active.- **Widget to enable:** go to **The Plus Addons > Widgets**, search for **Social Feed** and turn its toggle on.- **Prerequisite:** your server must be able to make outbound HTTPS requests. The feed is fetched **server-side** while the page renders, not by the visitor's browser.- **Prerequisite:** a YouTube credential, pasted into the widget's **Access Token** field. Getting one is a separate job on YouTube's own developer site — see [How to Get a YouTube API Key for WordPress? (Easy Method)](https://theplusaddons.com/docs/get-a-youtube-api-key-for-wordpress/). ## Add a YouTube feed - Edit the page with Elementor and drag the **Social Feed** widget onto it.- In **Content > Content Feed**, pick a **Layout** and a **Style**.- Open the item under **Social Feeds** and set **Source** to **Youtube**. ![Open a Social Feeds item and pick the network in the Source dropdown.](https://theplusaddons.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/socialfeed-source.webp) - Paste your YouTube API key into **Access Token**.- Choose a **YouTube Type**, then fill the one field it reveals.- Set **Max Results** to the number of videos you want. The default is **6**. ## The five YouTube Types | YouTube Type | Field it reveals | What it shows | | ------------ | ---------------- | ------------- | | **User feed** | **Username** | Videos from a legacy YouTube username. | | **Handle** | **Handle Name** | Videos from a channel's @handle. Enter it without the @. | | **Channel** (default) | **Channel ID** | Videos from a channel id (the string that starts UC…). | | **Playlist** | **Playlist ID** | Videos in one playlist. | | **Search** | **Search Query** | Videos matching a search term. | ## Find the handle name Open the channel's home page. The part of the address that starts with **@** is the handle. Type it into **Handle Name** *without* the @. ![A YouTube channel page with the @handle visible in the browser address bar.](https://theplusaddons.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/youtube-handle-name.png) ## Find the channel ID The channel id is the string beginning **UC** in the channel's URL. If the channel only shows a handle, a channel-id finder will convert it for you. ![Looking up a YouTube channel ID from the channel handle.](https://theplusaddons.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/youtube-channel-id.gif) ## Find the playlist ID Open the playlist and copy the value of the **list=** parameter in the address bar. ![A YouTube playlist page with the list parameter visible in the address bar.](https://theplusaddons.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/youtube-playlist-id.png) ## Settings in a YouTube feed item | Setting | What it does | Default | | ------- | ------------ | ------- | | **Access Token** | Your YouTube API key goes here. | empty | | **YouTube Type** | User feed, Handle, Channel, Playlist or Search. | Channel | | **Video Order** | How the returned videos are sorted. | date | | **Thumbnail Size** | Which thumbnail size the card uses. | medium | | **Category (For Filter)** | A label for this feed, used by **Filter Option** when you mix several feeds. | empty | | **Max Results** | How many videos this feed contributes. 1 to 100. | 6 | ## Show the videos as a carousel Set **Layout** to **Carousel** at the top of **Content Feed**. **Columns Manage** and **Filter Option** disappear, and the slider's own settings move to **Style > Carousel**. ![A YouTube video feed running as a carousel on the front end.](https://theplusaddons.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/social-feed-youtube-carousel-demo-1024x441.gif) ## How It Behaves - **The credential field is called Access Token even though YouTube gives you an API key.** Paste the key there; there is no separate key field.- **There are five YouTube Types, not three.** **Channel** is the shipped default.- **A rejected key produces a visible error card.** With an invalid key the page renders **Somthing Wrong**, **Error Code : 400** and the word *Youtube*.- **The request is made by your server** while the page renders. ![What a network source renders when the token is missing or rejected: a pink card reading Somthing Wrong, the HTTP code, and the network name.](https://theplusaddons.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/socialfeed-result-notoken.webp) ## Limitations - **The YouTube Data API has a daily quota.** Once a project's quota is spent the API stops answering until it resets, and the widget shows the error card. Turning **Performance** on and leaving **Refresh Time** at **1 day** keeps the number of calls down.- **A restricted key must allow the YouTube Data API.** If you restricted the key to a different API it will be refused.- **When the connection fails you get a pink card and an HTTP code, not an explanation.** With a token that is missing, expired, of the wrong type or simply wrong, the widget renders a card reading **Somthing Wrong** (that spelling is the plugin's) followed by **400** and the network name. It does not say which of those things went wrong. The two cases you can tell apart are an entirely empty **Access Token**, which says **Empty Access Token**, and X (Twitter), which returns **Invalid or expired token.** with **Error Code : 89**.- **The Maximum Posts and Offset Post fields inside a feed item only affect WP RSS Feed.** They are shown whatever **Source** you pick, but the widget reads them only on the RSS path. For every other source the count control is **Max Results** (default **6**), further down the same item.- **Filter Option and Columns Manage disappear in the Carousel layout.** Both sections are hidden when **Layout** is **Carousel**; the carousel has its own column settings under **Style > Carousel**.- **The feed is fetched on your server, and cached.** Nothing is requested from the visitor's browser, so a feed that works on one host can fail on another that blocks outbound requests. **Refresh Time** (default **1 day**) decides how often the request is repeated. ## Not verified So you know exactly what has and has not been checked: - **A feed of real posts from a connected YouTube account.** This page was checked without ever entering a real access token, API key or password, so what the finished YouTube feed looks like once connected was not observed for this revision.- **Video Order and Thumbnail Size.** Both need a working key to have any visible effect, so only their labels and defaults are known.- **Lazy Load.** Only **Load More** was exercised; the **Lazy Load** branch of **More Post Loading Options** was not.- **Styles 2, 3 and 4, and the Style tab as a whole.** Only **Style 1** and **Style 2** were rendered, and no styling control other than **Unique Carousel ID** was exercised.- **Performance, Save Data, Delete and Refresh Time.** The cached-feed path was never exercised — what is written here about it comes from the panel's own notes and defaults.- **On Post Click, FancyBox, the two scrolling bars and Text Limit.** Labels and defaults only; no click-through was measured. ## Troubleshooting ### The page shows "Somthing Wrong" and Error Code : 400 YouTube refused the request. Check the key is pasted into **Access Token**, that the **YouTube Data API v3** is enabled for the project, that any key restriction includes that API, and that the id in the field below **YouTube Type** is the right kind of id. ### It says Empty Access Token The field is blank — paste the API key. ### I entered the handle and nothing comes back Remove the **@**. **Handle Name** expects the handle without it. ### The feed stopped part-way through the day That is usually the API quota. Switch **Performance** on so the feed is served from your database between refreshes. ## Related Docs - [How to Get a YouTube API Key for WordPress? (Easy Method)](https://theplusaddons.com/docs/get-a-youtube-api-key-for-wordpress/)- [Social Feed Elementor Widget: Settings Overview](https://theplusaddons.com/docs/social-feed-elementor-widget/)- [How to Add Vimeo Channel Feed in Elementor?](https://theplusaddons.com/docs/add-vimeo-channel-feed-in-elementor/)- [How to Connect Social Feed Carousel with Remote Carousel?](https://theplusaddons.com/docs/connect-social-feed-carousel-with-remote-carousel/) ## Frequently Asked Questions **Q: What do I need before adding a live YouTube feed in Elementor?** A: The setup depends on three things: Elementor free installed and active, The Plus Addons for Elementor Pro activated, and the Social Feed widget turned on under The Plus Addons > Widgets. The feed is fetched server-side while the page renders, so your server also needs outbound HTTPS requests enabled. For YouTube specifically, the credential goes into the widget’s Access Token field even though YouTube gives you an API key. That detail matters because a blank or wrong value is one of the most common failure points. **Q: Can I show a YouTube channel, handle, playlist, or search results in the feed?** A: The Social Feed widget supports all of those sources on one Elementor page: a channel, a handle, a playlist, a user feed, or a search term. The page’s table shows five YouTube Types: User feed, Handle, Channel, Playlist, and Search. That flexibility matters when you want different content strategies, since Channel uses a channel ID, Handle uses the @handle without the @, and Playlist uses the list= value from the URL. **Q: Why does my YouTube feed show Somthing Wrong and Error Code 400?** A: That error means YouTube rejected the request. The usual causes are a missing or wrong API key in Access Token, YouTube Data API v3 not enabled for the project, a key restriction that does not include that API, or using the wrong kind of ID for the selected YouTube Type. The card is intentionally generic, so it will not tell you which part failed. If you are debugging this in The Plus Addons for Elementor by POSIMYTH, start with the key and then verify the ID type matches the source. **Q: Why does it say Empty Access Token when I add a YouTube feed?** A: That message means the Access Token field is blank. For this widget, that field holds the YouTube API key even though the label says Access Token. A pasted key is required before any feed can render. This is easy to miss because there is no separate YouTube key field anywhere else in the item settings. **Q: What is the difference between Handle Name and Channel ID in a YouTube feed?** A: Handle Name is for a channel’s @handle and must be entered without the @ symbol. Channel ID is different: it starts with UC in the channel URL and points to the actual channel identifier. That distinction matters because picking the wrong type gives you no results even if the text looks close. If a channel only shows a handle, a channel-id finder can convert it for you. **Q: How do I keep my YouTube feed from stopping when quota runs out?** A: The YouTube Data API has a daily quota, so once that quota is spent the widget stops getting new data until it resets. Turning Performance on reduces calls by serving cached results from your database between refreshes, and leaving Refresh Time at 1 day keeps requests down further. That setup matters on busy sites because every render still depends on your server making outbound requests.