Seeing what you attached
An uploaded video renders as its first frame with a play badge over it, rather than a generic gray tile. While the file is still processing you’ll see the placeholder and a progress indicator; the frame appears when it’s ready.
The thumbnail is stored with the post, so it survives a page reload and — importantly — other people see it too. An approver reviewing your post gets the same preview, even though the file was never on their computer.
Tip
Click the tile to play it. A modal opens paused on the first frame with normal player controls — play, scrub, volume, fullscreen. Close it with the X, Esc, or a click outside; playback stops when it closes. Clicking the tile’s X removes the video instead of opening the player.
The thumbnail is for your benefit only — it isn’t sent to any network as a cover image, and it doesn’t change what publishes. If a frame can’t be extracted from an unusual file, the tile keeps the plain placeholder and the player still works.
Who can see the video — privacy defaults
TikTok and YouTube both require you to declare a visibility before the post can go out. Because government video is essentially always meant to be seen, CivAll preselects the public option:
| Network | Field | Preselected |
|---|---|---|
| TikTok | Who can view this video | Everyone |
| YouTube | Privacy | Public |
Both selectors stay visible and fully editable — this is a default, not a lock. Choose Followers, Unlisted, Private, or anything else the network offers, per post.
Warning
The default only applies to a new post. Cloning, templating, or repeating a post that was deliberately set to Unlisted or Private keeps that setting — and editing an existing post never silently flips its privacy. TikTok only offers the options your account is actually allowed to use. If a particular account can’t post publicly, the most public option it does allow is preselected instead, so you’re never left with a value the network would reject.