# OUTPUT TEMPLATE
-The `-o` option allows users to indicate a template for the output file names. The basic usage is not to set any template arguments when downloading a single file, like in `youtube-dl -o funny_video.flv "http://some/video"`. However, it may contain special sequences that will be replaced when downloading each video. The special sequences have the format `%(NAME)s`. To clarify, that is a percent symbol followed by a name in parentheses, followed by a lowercase S. Allowed names are:
+The `-o` option allows users to indicate a template for the output file names.
+
+**tl;dr:** [navigate me to examples](#output-template-examples).
+
+The basic usage is not to set any template arguments when downloading a single file, like in `youtube-dl -o funny_video.flv "http://some/video"`. However, it may contain special sequences that will be replaced when downloading each video. The special sequences have the format `%(NAME)s`. To clarify, that is a percent symbol followed by a name in parentheses, followed by a lowercase S. Allowed names are:
- `id`: Video identifier
- `title`: Video title
In some cases, you don't want special characters such as δΈ, spaces, or &, such as when transferring the downloaded filename to a Windows system or the filename through an 8bit-unsafe channel. In these cases, add the `--restrict-filenames` flag to get a shorter title:
-Examples (note on Windows you may need to use double quotes instead of single):
+#### Output template examples
+
+Note on Windows you may need to use double quotes instead of single.
```bash
$ youtube-dl --get-filename -o '%(title)s.%(ext)s' BaW_jenozKc
The general syntax for format selection is `--format FORMAT` or shorter `-f FORMAT` where `FORMAT` is a *selector expression*, i.e. an expression that describes format or formats you would like to download.
+**tl;dr:** [navigate me to examples](#format-selection-examples).
+
The simplest case is requesting a specific format, for example with `-f 22` you can download the format with format code equal to 22. You can get the list of available format codes for particular video using `--list-formats` or `-F`. Note that these format codes are extractor specific.
You can also use a file extension (currently `3gp`, `aac`, `flv`, `m4a`, `mp3`, `mp4`, `ogg`, `wav`, `webm` are supported) to download best quality format of particular file extension served as a single file, e.g. `-f webm` will download best quality format with `webm` extension served as a single file.
If you want to preserve the old format selection behavior (prior to youtube-dl 2015.04.26), i.e. you want to download the best available quality media served as a single file, you should explicitly specify your choice with `-f best`. You may want to add it to the [configuration file](#configuration) in order not to type it every time you run youtube-dl.
-Examples (note on Windows you may need to use double quotes instead of single):
+#### Format selection examples
+
+Note on Windows you may need to use double quotes instead of single.
+
```bash
# Download best mp4 format available or any other best if no mp4 available
$ youtube-dl -f 'bestvideo[ext=mp4]+bestaudio[ext=m4a]/best[ext=mp4]/best'
### Adding support for a new site
-If you want to add support for a new site, you can follow this quick list (assuming your service is called `yourextractor`):
+If you want to add support for a new site, first of all **make sure** this site is **not dedicated to [copyright infringement](#can-you-add-support-for-this-anime-video-site-or-site-which-shows-current-movies-for-free)**. youtube-dl does **not support** such sites thus pull requests adding support for them **will be rejected**.
+
+After you have ensured this site is distributing it's content legally, you can follow this quick list (assuming your service is called `yourextractor`):
1. [Fork this repository](https://github.com/rg3/youtube-dl/fork)
2. Check out the source code with `git clone git@github.com:YOUR_GITHUB_USERNAME/youtube-dl.git`
projects / youtube-dl.git / blobdiff