Block or allow video playlists

You can block or allow access to specific YouTube playlists if:

• YouTube is blocked, and you want to allow access to specific playlists.
• You allow YouTube, but want to block access to specific playlists.

Alternatively, you can also block or allow specific videos.

Hybrid setups

If you have a Hybrid setup, you can manage your Categories and Web Filter Policies in either place.

On-Premise Appliance

1: HTTPS Inspection

HTTPS Inspection is required for Video filtering applied by Smoothwall On-Premise Appliance to work. Without it, Smoothwall Appliance can’t analyse the video’s URL to compare it to your custom list.

2: Manage your block and allow lists

1. Go to Guardian > Policy Objects > Categories and select an existing Category or create a Custom Category.
2. Select Advanced, paste the YouTube playlist IDs into the Video ID filtering field, and Save the changes. For example, in the playlist URL https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL9t6_hQVM324K3FfjehcWl4doMySeTCVm the playlist ID is PL9t6_hQVM324K3FfjehcWl4doMySeTCVm
3. Create a Web Filter policy to Block or Allow your Custom Category as required.
4. Additional step if you block YouTube: Create a Web Filter policy for the YouTube Allowed Videos and Playlists Category with Allow as the Action. Don’t edit this category.
5. Order the new policy above any other policies that cover YouTube.
6. Log out of On-Premise appliance to sync your changes.

Cloud Filter

1. Go to Filter > Custom Categories and Edit an existing category or select Add category.
2. Go to the Videos tab, paste the full YouTube Playlist URL into the field and select +Add Video Id.
3. In the list, you can see the thumbnail and title of the playlist.
4. Repeat steps 2 and 3 to add another playlist.
5. Create a Web Filter policy to Block or Allow the Custom Category as required.
6. Order the new policy above any other policies that cover YouTube.
7. Go to Filter > Publishing and select Publish to sync your changes.