YouTube API Key for WordPress Plugin

Did you just realize that you need a YouTube API Key for the WordPress Plugin?

In this tutorial I’ll show you:
1. How to generate a YouTube API key in 2018
2. How to retrieve one if you don't remember it
3. How to secure it, so others can't use it

Google API console: https://console.developers.google.com/

More tutorials on my website: https://punchsalad.com/

API key is really useful for Video metadata which Google uses for ranking videos and websites.

First of all, make sure you are logged in into Google, this will make this tutorial smoother.

Steps to for this YouTube API key tutorial:

1. Go to your browser and type in console.developers.google.com
2. At top of the page Next to Google APIs logo, click on the dropdown
3. A popup will appear that prompts you to select a project, but we just want to create a new project
4. Select “New Project” at the top right corner of the popup
5. Add a project name
6. The location is optional, this just means the location in a folder. It’s useful if you have a lot of different APIs.
7. Then click on create
8. In the search box at the top of the dashboard search for “youtube”
9. There will be few options, but you should select “YouTube Data API v3”
10. On this YouTube’s API library page, click on Enable
11. And in the left column select “Credentials”
12. Click on the “Create credentials” dropdown
13. Then select “API key”
14. Now your API key is created and here is the example of YouTube API key: AIzRSyC4Fm990hgUTK945-ol4MnKU3KZbnMF910

15. You can get YouTube API key, just click on “copy to clipboard” button
16. Now you can paste the key to WordPress and your videos will have full information

To retrieve your API key at any point
1. Go to your projects from the dropdown next to Google APIs logo 2. at the top
3. Select “Credentials” from the left column
4. Here you will see all your API keys
5. Just click on the “copy to clipboard”

So.. let’s go back to the exclamation mark. This is a way for Google to tell you that the API key is not protected. Google recommended that you add a restriction, just to increase the security.

Now please note that some plugins don’t seem to work with the IP restrictions. So double check in the plugin’s FAQs if this will work.

1. We are here in the project we just created
2. Click on edit - it’s the little pen next to your API key
3. Add a name to the restriction
4. Then select how you want to restrict the key.
5. Most common ways are HTTP and IP address restrictions
6. I’ll use IP address. In most cases you will need your website’s IP address.
7. To find your websites IP address, just go to google and search for “find my website ip”
8. Click on first result
9. In the search box type in your website URL
10. The website will give you, your website’s IP address
11. Just copy the IP address
12. And paste it in API restriction
13. At the bottom of the page click on “Save”
You are now protected!