Reels v1.2.27

Reels converts any forum into a video board. Members post YouTube or Twitch links as threads, then upvote, sort, watch, and organize them into playlists.

REELS DEMO

Blatchy Reels turns any XenForo forum into a video-first feed. Set a forum's type to Reels and threads stop being walls of text — they become embedded YouTube and Twitch clips in a responsive grid, with voting, watch tracking, playlists, and live Twitch streams built right in.

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What it does

Members paste a YouTube or Twitch link, and the thread becomes a video. The forum view drops the standard thread list and shows a grid of clips instead — thumbnails, titles, scores, view counts, the works.

Live Twitch streams

Twitch links aren't just clips — channel URLs go live. When a member's stream is broadcasting, the thread picks up a LIVE badge with the current viewer count, pinned to the top of the Live sort. A dedicated cron refreshes live status on its own schedule so the grid stays accurate without slamming the Twitch API. When the stream ends, the badge drops and the thread settles back into the regular feed.

Sort it however you want

• Hot — the algorithm-y one
• New — most recent first
• Top — highest score
• Live — Twitch streams currently broadcasting, sorted by viewer count
• Most Watched — by tracked views
• Replies — most discussed

Filter any of the above by Today, This Week, or All Time.

Voting & watch tracking

Upvote and downvote per video. Watch counts increment when members actually view a clip — not just when they scroll past it. Per-forum permissions decide who can vote and whose views count.

Playlists, done right

• Public or private collections
• Drag-to-reorder entries
• One-click Play All
• Public playlists are shareable by URL
• Sidebar widget shows the visiting user their own lists
• Per-user playlist limits via permission

Admin controls

• Per-forum posts-per-day limit (kills the "guy who posts 40 clips at 2am" problem)
• Vote / watch-track / playlist permissions per user group
• Optional "require YouTube URL" enforcement on post
• Configurable threads-per-page and metadata refresh interval
• Two crons: general metadata refresh + dedicated live-status refresh

Widgets

• Reels: Your Playlists — sidebar widget, hidden for guests
• Two new widget positions (reels sidebar and video sidebar) for stacking your own widgets next to the grid or video pages

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Requirements

• XenForo 2.3.7+
• PHP 8.0+
• YouTube Data API key (free, required for YouTube metadata)
• Twitch Client ID + Secret (required for live status and Twitch clip metadata)

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