WLED Quick Start Tutorial - Presets/Macros + Alexa Setup

Hey everyone! Here is our WLED quick start guide to get you started on transforming your home office, gaming room, or really any spaces with awesome WiFi controlled LEDs. In this video we are covering the complete getting started experience - starting off with downloading WLED, installing it on your mobile device, configuring it for first time use, and even showing off how to make your first presets/macros/scheduled tasks. In this tutorial we also go over how to setup WLED to work with Alexa!
0:00 - 1:45 - Intro
1:45 - 2:55 - Download WLED and Flash NodeMCU
2:55 - 3:28 - Connecting to NodeMCU
3:28 - 4:42 - WLED Settings/Configuration
4:42 - 6:05 - Create Custom Preset Effect
6:06 - Alexa Setup
-- Relevant Links --
wled.me
github.com/bluebottech/ESPEasy
Hardware Focused Vid - • DIY Smart WiFi Control...
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Music: Bensound

[@Mattbmusiclessons]

Exactly What I needed! Bonus Points for lowering the volume when you said “Alexa”. LOL!

[@BlueBotTech]

Haha glad we could help!

[@Filipius99]

Yes, absolutly perfect :D

[@davidw9791]

Yeah... Double bonus points for muting yourself when you say Alexa! (AKA she who shall not be named.... FOR A REASON) 🤦🏻‍♂️ Come on guys... Good video... But should videos about smart home tech... Gotta me a little smarter 🤦🏻‍♂️

[@BlueBotTech]

@@davidw9791 it's okay the coming of the robot apocalypse only will begin if you say who shall be named 3 times...oh crap.

[@davidw9791]

@@BlueBotTech Well played!!! 😉

[@haywouldugetmeadrink8994]

I have been searching, trying to find something like this. Thank you!

[@BlueBotTech]

Glad we could help!

[@ricardeefranks7119]

Exactly what I needed!

[@michaelkrause7278]

great description, straight forward ... I like !!

[@BlueBotTech]

glad you liked it!

[@bnd123us]

Perfect video. Just the things you need and no BS. Keep up the good work. I am big fan of WLED myself but sometimes I find all the menu options bit confusing. That's where good soul like you come to help.

[@BlueBotTech]

Glad you found it useful!

[@saliston]

This is exactly what i needed thank you

[@gabrielurena8429]

Thanks Master!

[@vicentesalinas8259]

I don't do Alexa but I think I understood the turn on and off. I will find out in the morning! great info video!

[@BlueBotTech]

Thanks glad you found it useful!

[@anthonykavanagh1510]

Bot Tech thanks for making this tutorial, a API video together with a structured demonstration of how to use a manual press button facility and configure it correctly would be awesome.

[@manukalias]

Very Nicely Done Video No bullshit, Just Bull's Eye 👁️ Keep up the great work 👌🏼👌🏼🙏🙏🇮🇳🇮🇳

[@BlueBotTech]

Thanks!

[@oberfragger]

Great. This was relly helpful! Im just struggling with a MagicHome Controller. The olf Tasmota ones... I tried to put some thing extra on it, but today i decided to use a Wemos or NodeMCU instead and also use 3 different lightstrips with WS 28xx LEDs. Thanks a lot!

[@BlueBotTech]

Glad you found it useful!

[@Can_I_Have_A_Go]

hi my learned friend. I pulled another all nighter on this problem. 3rd night. I have absolutely No clue what I'm doing. I remember basic programming back in the long lost day... But after subscribing to what I call "bumble bee logic" I actually managed to compile a wled.bin wuhooo.. Now this may not be an achievement to the majority as I don't talk code fortran c++ or anything like that. I'm still on English 101. Anyways.. Truley if I can do it.. Many of those who think they can't.. really can.. (that makes sense right..?) Now flashed my resulting hard work lol onto 4 esp32s..with wled 14 with sound reaction. That's all I wanted and that what I got. And yes in the end it was relatively easy.

[@danieldalcorso3474]

I liked the clarity of your presentation in this video. I took note that you've used FastLED which I also use. And like you I find the ease of WLED very appealing. The question I'm looking to get answered is: Can I integrate some of my arduino/fastled sketches into a WLED playlist? If so, how? Thanks

[@dazlave]

Is there any way of having Alexa change the effects of the light strip? This is the only thing that's making me hesitant to go the wled route. The WS2812B controller isn't wled specifically, and I'm sure misses out on a ton of effects wled offers, but it does provide the ability to use Alexa to change effects via the Fairylight app (seems very similar to the Magic Home) app you mention in this video.

[@image001de]

Hey, great video. Thanks. Do you have a vid about how to add hardware buttons (best wireless) to call presets. I want to drive home cinema lights from the couch. 😃

[@Filipius99]

Great Video, thanks alot

[@Filipius99]

Even tho my alexa doesn't want to connect :(

[@BlueBotTech]

@@Filipius99 thanks! Have you tried power cycling the Alexa? It is sometimes a bit touchy.

[@01thejota]

Thanks for the tutorial. Do you have any video how to sync WLED with Google home. Thanks

[@rgarza7264]

Great video! I would love to see a video on the API part.

[@BlueBotTech]

We will certainly look into it!

[@andreamitchell4758]

What about the preset settings, do they show up in Alexa as well? can I use Alexa to turn on the different effects if I make a preset for them? and are there any addressable strips that have warm white LEDS that are compatible with WLED? preferably ones that integrate the white LEDS into the RGB diode package as opposed to being alternating with the colored ones on the strip? or is there a way to use a different GPIO pin to control a separate white LED strip and then configure it in WLED so that when I ask Alexa to set the light to white it will turn on the white strip instead of turning on the R, G, and B channels to on to make "white" light?

[@chrislambe400]

Great video. The Alexa integration part was very helpful. Using Alexa on off Presets for effects is a little tricky: Set the Alexa Off Preset to a Rainbow or something, then set the Alexa On Preset to a solid colour. Only then will Alexa allow you to change the colour using voice.

[@BlueBotTech]

Thanks for the feedback and passing this info along!

[@andreamitchell4758]

@@BlueBotTech I would like to see a video tutorial on how to use Alexa to control the different effects

[@beastcrawler1280]

Same!

[@ledstevo]

Nice video! Which Alexa device are you using? Echo Dot or is the Echo with the built-in Zigbee hub required?

[@BlueBotTech]

Echo Dot, and first gen Alexa.

[@vitalistwal9516]

How do you trigger the presets with alexa? Or for that instance google home or both?

[@OrehGanu]

Sorry for my English (I'm using Google Translate). First: Thanks for your video, I managed to configure it here. Second: Is there a way to make Alexa change the wled presets? Thanks for your video, I managed to configure it here.

[@createinvent]

Thanks for the info! If you're not using Alexa, can you forgo setting that up and just check the preset times that you want it to be active? I was going to have one preset for on, one for off - Jeremy

[@BlueBotTech]

Yeah I think that should work.

[@createinvent]

@@BlueBotTech Thanks - it seems to!

[@bajol5940]

wow great video! thanks for that. just one thing... what else can cause my alexa not to discover my wled? i did it like 10 times. any ideas?

[@BlueBotTech]

It can definitely be kind of touchy at times. There have been a couple times where I just couldn't get it to connect and then a couple days later I tried once and it worked. Make sure your Alexa and WLED are on the same WIFI network (both on 2.4G). Try re-flashing your nodemcu.

[@carloselmano6725]

Hello. Great vídeo. is it possible to have 2 presets? like the first one is blue and the second one is green? how I differentiate them on Alexa. the idea is to create a routine for when the phone is charging the color turns red. when it reaches 100% it turns green. thanks. More details for effect preset!

[@BlueBotTech]

You can have multiple presets linked to a button. An example is one press turn preset 1 on, hold press turn preset 2 on. Unfortunately Alexa only allows you to turn on, change colors, and adjust brightness levels at the moment.

[@chackyboy123]

Do I need to add actívate a skill in the Alexa App for it to work?

[@amundstave]

I would love a video about the API commands!

[@BlueBotTech]

I'll do some digging and see if there are some cool things to cover on that. Anything in particular you find interesting/useful about it?

[@amundstave]

@@BlueBotTech The possibility’s on what you can program and how complex. For example I have a problem with the esp8266 dropping of my network so I would love to see if it is possible to have the board automatically reset when it does so.

[@ObsequiousV4]

Is it possible to export settings to the nodeMCU so it has a default of a preset? I'd like to have it default to a preset every time I plug it into a powerbank (for offline use)

[@ObsequiousV4]

I figured out the option for this after: In the LED preferences panel there's an option to "apply preset on boot" default is zero. Make a preset in the preset panel and the number is listed on it. Enter that number and save.

[@adamstastny9166]

hello, do you need to have alexa echo or etc. to connect to Wled? or you can just use alexa app in phone without echo? Thanks

[@BlueBotTech]

That's a good question. Aircookie currently only has this working for physical Alexa devices unfortunately.

[@heresjhonny702]

Can i set a command on alexa to switch the led from anything like an effect or solid color to change back to "pc mode"(ambilight)?

[@BlueBotTech]

Alexa is capable of turning on and off the light as well as change the color. It's not currently able to adjust the effects settings. You can do some tweaking of the turn on and off commands in WLED settings to trick her into starting an effect, but you will lose the on and off capability.

[@wmb3858]

my wemos d1 mini is not recognizing the push button on GPIO0 (pin d3), what can I do?

[@BlueBotTech]

Do you have GND and the D3 pin connected to your switch? Also, make sure you have the correct legs of the switch connected.

[@TheKingdomSecrets]

So how would the program go from the NODEMCU to the leds themselves?

[@BlueBotTech]

Hi TheKingdomSecrets, if you are talking about the hardware aspect of wiring up your NodeMcu to your LED strips check out our video where we did just that. The video also has a solid wiring diagram in it. kzbin.info/www/bejne/l6eUn5Z-h7Zkhck

[@TheKingdomSecrets]

Blue Bot Tech thank you so much for responding quick! And I’ll check that out right now. But how I got to your video is I found this account on Instagram name is AuraLEDS. They are taking credit and claiming this is there own software and own programming but in reality I see that all they did was watched your videos and claimed it was there own product.

[@BlueBotTech]

@@TheKingdomSecrets Ah it's not our software either! It's open source software developed by an awesome dude named aircookie who was kind enough to make all his hard work accessible to anyone who wants to use it. github.com/Aircoookie/WLED

[@xawwnee]

Does this support multiple channels like 2 set/strips?

[@BlueBotTech]

Wled does have segment support and allows you to control the segments separately with with esp controller even with chained strips connected together. There are only two hardware led accelerated driving pins on an esp8266 so connecting multiple strips that way is tough.

[@xawwnee]

Spec: 35 x 2 WS2812B, 220 Ohms Resistor x 2, 5 Volts 2.1 Amps Supply.

[@josephjones8609]

Can you change the modes with Alexa or just the colours ?

[@BlueBotTech]

Hi Joseph Jones, unfortunately at this time Alexa integration only supports on/off, brightness, and color change commands. It is possible to change the Alexa default on/off preset (which is 0) to your own presets. It works fine as long as you want the light to turn on to a set preset every time you use Alexa to turn it on.

[@DilanPathirana]

Hi Can you change presets via Alexa ? if so what are commands ?

[@BlueBotTech]

@@DilanPathirana unfortunately at this time Alexa integration only supports on/off, brightness, and color change commands. It is possible to change the Alexa default on/off preset (which is 0) to your own presets. It works fine as long as you want the light to turn on to a set preset every time you use Alexa to turn it on.

[@vitaledss]

I was wondering if this would work with Google Home?

[@BlueBotTech]

I do not believe there is google home support built in at this time.

[@helpmyspacebarisbroken]

I can not for the life of me discover my lights on my alexa app i did everything you said to do. what do i do?

[@BlueBotTech]

I also sometimes struggle with getting alexa connected. Are you using an older Alexa? I would try re-flashing if nothing else works.

[@brunofernandes7209]

My echo doesnt find my wled. Can you help me?

[@BlueBotTech]

A couple things you can try: 1. Make sure your echo is connected to the se WiFi network. (2.4G) 2. Power cycle your echo by unplugging it for about 30 seconds. 3. Power cycle your node mcu or whatever you are using.

[@moth.monster]

Thank you for mentioning the wifi band, i was on the wrong one haha

[@Mihovil10]

I deregistered and after registering again they won't connect again...

[@BlueBotTech]

Check to see if your nodemcu went back into Access Point mode. If you do not see it in your WiFi networks then check to see whether it is already connected to your network and you just need to add it to your WLED app. Login to your router and check for a connected device with wled in the name. If it shows that it's connected and online copy it's IP address and add it to your WLED app manually. If neither of these work try reflashing WLED.