Why Subtitles and How Exactly Do They Help Me Reach More People?
Subtitles are indispensable today for making our posts accessible and inclusive for everyone. They enable people with hearing impairments or other limitations to experience our content without barriers. In this article, we show you how you can easily create subtitles yourself and upload them to Swat.io without any complications.
How Do I Create Subtitles?
Subtitles are generally always SRT files. An SRT file is a simple text file that is specially structured to include timestamps that indicate when certain text should appear on the screen.
To do this, simply create a text file and change the extension from “.txt” to “.srt” when saving.
Structure of an SRT File:
A finished SRT file looks like this:
1
00:00:01,000 --> 00:00:04,000
Hello, welcome to our video!
2
00:00:05,000 --> 00:00:10,000
In this video, we show you how easy it is to create subtitles.
The structure is always the same and consists of the following points:
Numbering:
-Each subtitle unit begins with a consecutive number. This numbering is essential to understand the order of the subtitles in the video.
Timestamps:
-Each unit has timestamps that indicate the start and end of the display on the screen.
-The format of the timestamps is Hours:Minutes:Seconds,Milliseconds (HH:MM:SS,MMM).
Text:
-After the timestamps, the text that will be displayed during the specified period follows.
Important: It is especially important to ensure that the complete timestamp is entered, if, for example, the milliseconds are missing, the subtitle will not be able to function correctly!
Proper Storage and Naming of SRT Files
When you create subtitles for your videos, the correct naming of the SRT files is crucial. Here we explain how you can correctly name and store your subtitle files.
Naming Pattern
The pattern specifies the general structure of how subtitle or SRT files should be named and stored when uploaded. The established international format is as follows:
[filename].[language ]_[COUNTRY].srt
This format helps to uniquely identify the subtitles and ensure that they are correctly associated with the appropriate content.
Examples:
✅ Correct: Examplename.de_DE.srt
-de_AT stands for German (de) in Germany (DE). This format indicates that the video contains subtitles in German for Germany.
⚠️ Incorrect: [Examplename].[de]_[GE].srt
-Avoid additional brackets or incorrect delimiters.
Importance of the Codes
Language code (de): Indicates the language of the subtitles. The code consists of two lowercase letters and complies with international standards (ISO 639-1).
Country code (GE): Indicates the specific country for which the subtitles are optimized. This code consists of two uppercase letters (ISO 3166-1 Alpha-2).
Why Are These Data Important?
Specifying language and country codes helps to target the subtitles to specific viewer groups. For example, German-speaking viewers in Austria can be directly addressed. This precise targeting not only improves the user experience but also ensures that the videos function correctly on the respective platforms.
Adding Subtitles to Swat.io Posts
To add your subtitle, you can simply upload it directly to Swat.io. The exact steps for doing this are described in the following paragraphs.
Supported Platforms
Please note that this function is currently only supported by the following platforms:
• Facebook Video & Reel
• YouTube
Adding Subtitles
To add your subtitles to videos, proceed as follows:
1. Upload a video on one of the supported platforms.
2. Once the upload is complete, a button labeled “Add Subtitle” will appear.
3. Click this button and select your correctly named SRT file.
4. After selection, the SRT file is added to the video and the subtitles are displayed in the video.