FLARE

How to post a video

You upload to YouTube and give us the link. FLARE reads the rest from YouTube itself, so there is no file to send, no encoding to worry about, and nothing to fill in twice.

If you have never uploaded to YouTube before, the five steps below are the whole process, in order.

Step by step

  1. Upload it to YouTube

    Any account works, including a personal one. FLARE never holds the file. We store the link, the video stays on your channel, and you keep control of it. Take it down on YouTube and it stops playing here.

  2. Set the visibility to Unlisted

    You can do this on the upload screen, or afterwards under Visibility in YouTube Studio.

    Unlisted means the video does not show up in search, on your channel, or in anyone's recommendations, and that anyone holding the link can watch it. FLARE is the only place we put that link. Public works as well, if you would rather the video be findable on its own.

  3. Check that embedding is allowed

    In YouTube Studio, open the video, expand Show more under the details, and look for Allow embedding. It is on by default, so usually there is nothing to change.

    If it is off, FLARE cannot play the video and the form will say so when you paste the link.

  4. Copy the link

    From the address bar or the Share button, whichever is quicker. A watch link, a youtu.be link, and a Shorts link all work, and extra text on the end of the URL is fine.

  5. Paste it into the upload form

    FLARE reads the title, the thumbnail, and the length straight from YouTube. You fill in a description, a difficulty level, a topic, and anyone you made it with. Check the thumbnail preview is the right video before you publish.

    Posting is switched on per account by a sponsor. The upload form opens along with the library.

Choosing a level

The level describes what your video assumes the viewer already knows, not how old they are and not how hard the subject is. Ask what someone would need to have learned already for your explanation to land.

Pitching low is not a lesser contribution. Level 1 is the hardest to write and the most watched.

  • 1Spark

    Assumes nothing. What a paycheck is, what a bank does with your money.

  • 2Ember

    Assumes a first job. Pay stubs, a simple return, how credit is scored.

  • 3Blaze

    Assumes earned income. Index funds, 1099 work, student loans, and aid.

  • 4Torch

    Assumes introductory coursework. Monetary policy, filings, valuations.

  • 5Flare

    Assumes study in the field. One narrow question, examined at length.

What makes a good FLARE video

None of this is about production quality. A phone camera and a whiteboard are fine.

  • Cite what you claim, on screen

    If a number comes from the IRS, a bank's fee schedule, or a news article, put the source on screen while you say it. A viewer who wants to check you should not have to ask you where it came from.

  • Teach how it works, not what to buy

    Explain how a credit score is calculated. Do not tell anyone which card to open. The line is whether a viewer could act on your video by understanding something, or only by buying something.

  • No sponsors, no referral codes, no affiliate links

    Not in the video, not in the description, not read out at the end. FLARE takes no sponsorship and nobody is paid for what they publish, and that is only true if it is true of every video in the library.

  • Say so when you are not sure

    “I could not find a clear answer on this” is a good sentence and you should use it. Confident guessing is the failure mode that costs a viewer money.

  • Answer one question

    A video that explains what a W-4 is will be watched to the end. One that covers all of payroll will not. If your outline has two halves, that is two videos.

  • Stay inside the level you picked

    Use a term a viewer at your level would not know and you have either got to define it or move the video up. This is the whole point of the ladder: someone else can take the harder version.

Everyone in the video has to agree to be in it

Anyone who appears or speaks in your video has to know it is going to be posted and be willing for it to be. For anyone under 18, FLARE needs a signed release on file before the video goes up. The officers keep those on paper, so ask one of them for a form before you film, not after.

The upload form asks you to confirm this. That checkbox is a record that the releases exist, not a replacement for collecting them.

Check your screen recordings before you upload, too. Account numbers, balances, addresses, and other people’s names have a way of sitting in the corner of a frame for the whole video.