Toolvana: production-ready media tools platform (CodeIgniter 4)

- 134-tool registry with programmatic SEO (unique titles/H1/descriptions,
  JSON-LD graphs, sitemap index, canonical 301 enforcement via required filter)
- DB-backed job queue (SKIP LOCKED) with drivers: Ffmpeg, Images (GD),
  Pdf (qpdf/gs/poppler), Youtube (thumbnails), Qr (server-side PNG)
- Security: SSRF guard, MIME validation, rate limits, API-key auth,
  bcrypt admin login, security headers
- Admin panel: dashboard, tools/categories/guides CRUD, SEO audit,
  analytics, job inspector with retry, system health, feature flags
- Docker deployment (nginx + web/api FPM pools + scalable workers),
  PHPUnit suite (19 tests / 1139 assertions), PWA manifest + service worker

content/guides/how-to-download-youtube-videos.md

@@ -0,0 +1,56 @@
+---
+slug: how-to-download-youtube-videos
+title: "How to Download YouTube Videos Safely and Legally"
+excerpt: "A practical walkthrough of saving YouTube videos for offline use — which tools to use, what the platform rules say, and how to avoid sketchy sites."
+seo_title: "How to Download YouTube Videos – Safe & Legal Guide"
+seo_description: "Learn how to download YouTube videos safely: step-by-step instructions, legal considerations, quality options and common pitfalls explained."
+date: "2025-11-02"
+tools: ["youtube-downloader", "youtube-video-downloader", "youtube-thumbnail-downloader"]
+---
+
+Saving a YouTube video for offline use is a reasonable thing to want — long flights, unreliable connections, archiving your own uploads, or keeping a copy of Creative Commons material you are licensed to reuse. This guide covers how to do it cleanly and within the rules.
+
+## What YouTube's terms actually say
+
+YouTube's Terms of Service allow offline viewing through their official **YouTube Premium** download feature inside the mobile apps. Downloading outside that mechanism can conflict with the platform's terms, so it matters *what* you download and *why*:
+
+- **Your own uploads** — always fine; you own them.
+- **Creative Commons licensed videos** — allowed under the license terms.
+- **Anything else** — get permission from the rights holder first.
+
+We designed Toolvana around this reality: video download capability ships disabled by default and every operator has to make an explicit, reviewed decision to enable it. The tools that never touch restricted content — [thumbnails](/youtube-thumbnail-downloader), [metadata](/youtube-metadata-viewer), [transcripts analysis](/youtube-transcript) — work out of the box.
+
+## Step by step: saving a video you're allowed to keep
+
+1. Copy the video URL from your browser's address bar.
+2. Open the [YouTube Downloader](/youtube-downloader).
+3. Paste the link and press Convert.
+4. Pick the resolution you actually need — 720p looks fine on most laptops and downloads far faster than 1080p.
+5. Save the MP4 file when processing finishes.
+
+## Choosing a quality level
+
+| Resolution | Typical use | Approximate size per minute |
+|---|---|---|
+| 360p | Reference only | 5–15 MB |
+| 720p | Laptops, tablets | 25–60 MB |
+| 1080p | Large screens | 50–120 MB |
+
+Higher resolution costs time and bandwidth without visible benefit on small screens. When in doubt, start at 720p.
+
+## Common problems and fixes
+
+- *"Video unavailable"* — the video may be private, age-restricted or region-blocked. Private videos cannot be downloaded at all.
+- *"This tool is disabled"* — the server operator has not enabled stream downloading. Metadata and thumbnail tools continue working.
+- Slow progress on long videos — resolution and duration drive processing time. A two-hour lecture at 1080p takes considerably longer than a three-minute clip.
+
+## Frequently asked questions
+
+**Is it legal to download YouTube videos?**
+It depends entirely on the content and jurisdiction. Your own uploads and properly licensed material are safe; commercial content generally requires permission or Premium's official offline mode.
+
+**Can I download just the audio?**
+Yes — see our [YouTube to MP3 converter](/youtube-to-mp3), which extracts audio tracks in several formats.
+
+**Do downloads expire?**
+Files produced here live for a short retention window (a couple of hours by default) and then vanish from our storage permanently.