Title: DS Custom Audio Player Author: Dennis Knake Published: September 23, 2025 Last modified: June 4, 2026 --- Search plugins ![](https://ps.w.org/ds-custom-audio-player/assets/banner-772x250.png?rev=3366751) ![](https://ps.w.org/ds-custom-audio-player/assets/icon-256x256.png?rev=3366751) # DS Custom Audio Player By [Dennis Knake](https://profiles.wordpress.org/dennisknake/) [Download](https://downloads.wordpress.org/plugin/ds-custom-audio-player.zip) * [Details](https://twd.wordpress.org/plugins/ds-custom-audio-player/#description) * [Reviews](https://twd.wordpress.org/plugins/ds-custom-audio-player/#reviews) * [Installation](https://twd.wordpress.org/plugins/ds-custom-audio-player/#installation) * [Development](https://twd.wordpress.org/plugins/ds-custom-audio-player/#developers) [Support](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/ds-custom-audio-player/) ## Description The **DS Custom Audio Player** provides a lightweight, flexible and accessible alternative to the default WordPress audio player. It is designed for bloggers, podcasters and musicians who want more control over the look and functionality of their audio embeds without functionality overkill. It’s still just a simple player. Comes with Language files for German, French, Spanish and Italian WordPress Installations ### Features * Customizable player width and colors (buttons, icons, background) * Normal, compact and super compact view modes * Metadata display (Artist – Title) read directly from audio files (MP3, OGG, FLAC, M4A, AAC) * Optional volume control with instant mute/unmute * Optional download button (filename based on metadata or original file name) * Optional playback speed button (cycles through 1x / 1.5x / 2x) * Optional heading text displayed above the player (centered, italic, in theme font) * Responsive design that works on desktop and mobile devices * Lightweight: no external libraries required * Accessibility-friendly controls (ARIA labels, keyboard navigation) * Works with both **Gutenberg (Block Editor)** and the **Classic Editor** This plugin uses the text domain `ds-custom-audio-player`. ### Shortcode Usage Basic example: [dscap_audio src=”https://example.com/audio/song.mp3″] ### Available attributes (override global defaults): * `src` – **required**, URL to the audio file. * `width` – CSS value, e.g. `400px` or `100%`. * `color` – Button background color, e.g. `#0073e6`. * `bg` – Player background color. * `icon` – SVG icon color, e.g. `#ffffff`. * `compact` – `0` = normal view incl. Metadata, `1` = compact view, `2` = super compact view * `show_volume` – `1` = show volume control, `0` = hide. * `show_download` – `1` = show download button, `0` = hide. * `show_speed` – `1` = show playback speed button, `0` = hide. * `heading` – optional heading text displayed above the player (max. 50 characters). * `show_heading` – `1` = show heading, `0` = hide. * `align` – alignment: `left`, `center`, or `right`. Example with overrides: [dscap_audio src=”https://example.com/audio/podcast.mp3 ” width=”100%” color=”# ff0000″ icon=”#000000″ compact=”1″ show_download=”0″ align=”center”] ## Screenshots [⌊Global Settings Menu⌉⌊Global Settings Menu⌉[ Global Settings Menu [⌊Different appearences⌉⌊Different appearences⌉[ Different appearences [⌊Gutenberg Support⌉⌊Gutenberg Support⌉[ Gutenberg Support ## Blocks This plugin provides 1 block. * DS Custom Audio Player Custom audio player with three views: Normal (with metadata), Compact and Very Compact (without metadata). Includes volume and download options. ## Installation 1. Upload the plugin folder `ds-custom-audio-player` to `/wp-content/plugins/`. 2. Activate the plugin in the WordPress backend under **Plugins Installed Plugins**. 3. Configure default values under **Settings Custom Audio Player**. 4. Insert the shortcode `[dscap_audio src="URL"]` into posts or pages or use the ** DS Custom Audio Player Block** in Gutenberg. ## FAQ ### Which audio formats are supported? All formats supported by the browser, including MP3, OGG, WAV, FLAC, M4A, and AAC. Metadata extraction works best with MP3, OGG, and FLAC. ### Can I place multiple players on one page? Yes, you can add as many shortcodes or blocks as you like per page. ### Does it work in the Gutenberg Block Editor? Yes, the DS Custom Audio Player provides a custom block that you can insert directly in Gutenberg. ### Will my old shortcodes still work? Yes. Shortcodes from earlier plugin versions like `[custom_audio]` are automatically replaced with `[dscap_audio]` for backward compatibility. ### How does the download file naming work? If metadata (Artist/Title) is available `Artist - Title.mp3`. Otherwise, the original filename is used. ### Is it accessibility-friendly? Yes, all controls use ARIA labels and are keyboard-navigable. ## Reviews There are no reviews for this plugin. ## Contributors & Developers “DS Custom Audio Player” is open source software. The following people have contributed to this plugin. Contributors * [ Dennis Knake ](https://profiles.wordpress.org/dennisknake/) [Translate “DS Custom Audio Player” into your language.](https://translate.wordpress.org/projects/wp-plugins/ds-custom-audio-player) ### Interested in development? [Browse the code](https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/ds-custom-audio-player/), check out the [SVN repository](https://plugins.svn.wordpress.org/ds-custom-audio-player/), or subscribe to the [development log](https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/log/ds-custom-audio-player/) by [RSS](https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/log/ds-custom-audio-player/?limit=100&mode=stop_on_copy&format=rss). ## Changelog #### 2.7.0 * New: Optional playback speed button (cycles through 1x / 1.5x / 2x) – enable via global settings or shortcode attribute `show_speed`. * New: Optional heading text above the player – configurable in global settings, displayed centered, italic and in the theme’s body font. Enable via global settings or shortcode attributes `show_heading` / `heading`. * Fix: Player CSS was not loaded in the WordPress Site Editor (Full Site Editing/ block themes), causing buttons and icons to appear unstyled. * Fix: Focus ring color inconsistency on the speed button. * Fix: Radio buttons and checkboxes in the settings page were vertically misaligned in some language installations. * Translations updated for German, Spanish, French and Italian. #### 2.6.1 Bugfix: Gutenberg editor no longer shows “Invalid parameter(s): attributes” when“ Show volume control” or “Show download button” is unchecked in global settings. Classic Editor: Inserting an audio file via “Add Media” now correctly inserts [dscap_audio src=”…”] instead of the WordPress default [audio …][/audio] shortcode. #### 2.6 Added Super Compact View Translation fixes #### 2.5.2 Bugfix: More reliable display of total Audio File length from start #### 2.5.1 Minor fixes for WordPress.org submission requirements. Legacy shortcode handling improved. #### 2.5 Added Gutenberg block compatibility and improved shortcode rendering. … ## Meta * Version **2.7.0** * Last updated **1 month ago** * Active installations **50+** * WordPress version ** 5.0 or higher ** * Tested up to **7.0.1** * PHP version ** 7.2 or higher ** * Language * [English (US)](https://wordpress.org/plugins/ds-custom-audio-player/) * Tags * [audio](https://twd.wordpress.org/plugins/tags/audio/)[audioplayer](https://twd.wordpress.org/plugins/tags/audioplayer/) [HTML5](https://twd.wordpress.org/plugins/tags/html5/)[mp3](https://twd.wordpress.org/plugins/tags/mp3/) [podcast](https://twd.wordpress.org/plugins/tags/podcast/) * [Advanced View](https://twd.wordpress.org/plugins/ds-custom-audio-player/advanced/) ## Ratings No reviews have been submitted yet. [Your review](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/ds-custom-audio-player/reviews/#new-post) [See all reviews](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/ds-custom-audio-player/reviews/) ## Contributors * [ Dennis Knake ](https://profiles.wordpress.org/dennisknake/) ## Support Got something to say? Need help? [View support forum](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/ds-custom-audio-player/)