On 25 November 2025, I published an article detailing some technical hurdles I was experiencing regarding my video archive, a collection of over 350 videos uploaded since 2014.
I am pleased to share that, following a Subject Access Request, the Dailymotion team provided me with a comprehensive list of my old videos hosted on the platform. While the original source files were no longer hosted on the platform, this data was vital; it allowed me to identify every video, the total count, and the video upload dates.
The investigation confirmed that the disruption was caused by a technical issue during a server migration, which explained why nearly all of my old videos had stopped playing. I am glad that my own investigation into these missing files helped the team to identify these specific issues within their system, allowing for a clearer resolution.
The Dailymotion staff have been incredibly helpful in allowing me to manually re-upload these videos back to their original XIDs (the Dailymotion equivalent of a YouTube video ID). I have prioritised the most essential archive material, specifically the videos used as embeds for my old articles, as I had already begun restoring these to ensure my past content is fully functional.
Given that re-uploading nearly 350 videos is a considerable task and I have decided not to re-upload all of them to save time, my plan is to merge many of them into "video mixtapes," compilations, or even movies to reduce the number of uploads needed. As I have the main source videos saved on my external drive, I can merge them to create these new videos.
You can expect to see these videos in the near future, and I will be sharing them here as well as across my social media channels.
I truly appreciate the patience shown by the Dailymotion team and the technical support provided to help me partly restore my library. While not all videos are back up, I have focused on the main ones embedded into my articles. I would like to express my sincere gratitude to them for their hard work and for the privilege of being able to get my content back online for my readers. Having used the website for over a decade, I am glad to continue my journey with the platform and appreciate the support in honouring that loyalty.
Thanks once again. As we have built a unique connection through this process, you and the team, especially those who have an interest in transport, are welcome to reach out to me by email or on my social media any time. 🙂
One important piece of advice for anyone reading this: it is crucial to retain your original videos and photos. There is no guarantee that servers will last, as data can be lost due to faults or other issues. This can happen to any website, which is why it is essential to save your source videos and raw photos, and back them up on external drives or other secure storage.
I would like to extend an invite for you to follow me on X (formerly Twitter) for transport-related updates. You can find me by searching for @CLondoner92 or by clicking on the direct link to my X page here. I am also present on BlueSky and Mastodon. I look forward to connecting with you on these platforms. Thank you for your support.
