embed flash into email

[ying-ko]

I have just finished a business card and wanna put it into emails, how do I do this? I don't know how to put it into html either please help!!

Becka

[Ask The Geezer]

Open the fla and go to File/Publish Settings. Check the html box in the first tab and publish the movie. This generates a html page with the movie embedded in it. Then upload the swf and the html page to the server.

With Outlook Express, you can just go to the page in IE6 and use File/Send/Page by E-mail, and it will send the page in the e-mail, but all they will see is the movie.

The problem is, most mail clients, especially AOL and Yahoo mail will strip out the movie. In my tests, only those using Outlook Express can get the mail with the movie intact.

[ying-ko]

I don't seem to be able to get the view in mail thing working at all, it either gets deleted cuz it's an attachment or doesn't work, I have done the publish bit tho....

B

[Ask The Geezer]

The swf and the html page have to be uploaded to a server. It won't work if it stays on your computer.

Also, any firewall and most virus software will kill it.

[ying-ko]

there has to be a way I can do it......can I send it as part of the message and not an attachment.....or something like an electronic business card that will be there as soon as the person opens the email......

[green_eye]

Flash Your E-mail
Note: Wildform Flix Pro will automatically export HTML email code that can be cut and pasted into an HTMLe-mail editor, such as Outlook Express.

"Flash Your Email"
Would you like to have a signature file on your emails that instantly tells recipients you are a good designer? Would you like to bring your client's newsletters to life with all the capabilities of Flash animation? Then this simple technology is for you.

In addition you can:

* Create email stationery for your clients that automatically writes in whatever size, color and typeface they want.
* Create different animations for each department in your client's company, or for each staff member if necessary, and change any number of them remotely whenever you like.
* Use JavaScript to include things like an automatic slide show in newsletters and emails.
* Use GIF animations instead of Flash if, for instance, you have an existing one you want to use.

The only thing required to use this technology is an email client that can send messages in HTML format, and allows you to use "Stationery." However, Outlook will be the email client used as an example in this article.

The first thing you need to do is make your own HTML file to be used as the Stationery, which will hold your Flash animation. I find it easier to make my HTML file and then insert the Flash code using the Object and Embed tags, as spelled out in Flash help. But you can certainly use the "HTML" selection in the Flash "Publish Settings" window for this purpose instead.

Make sure you are using the latest Flash templates when you create your animations. If you have Flash 5 you're OK. If you have Flash 4 or earlier you have to download them from the Macromedia site. They ensure that the newest FlashPlayer automatically downloads to any computer trying to view your animation. It takes less than a minute, and only has to be done once.

After you've built your new Stationery you need to save it in your "Stationery" folder. With a Microsoft operating system the path is C:/Program Files/Common Files/Microsoft Shared/Stationery.

Now you have a choice. You need to go into your email client and either select your new HTML file as your Stationery, or as your Signature. The main difference is that when you use it as your
Signature you can set your email client to add it to Replies and Forwards. With Stationery this will not happen. But when you use it as your Stationery you can change the color of your entire page, which won't happen if you use it as your Signature.

To use your new HTML file as your Stationery in Outlook Express click - "Tools," "Options," and "Compose." Put a check mark in the box beside "Mail," and click the "Select" button. Select
your new HTML file, click "OK," "OK."

To use your new HTML file as your Signature in Outlook Express click - "Tools," "Options," and "Signature." Click the "New" button. Click the radio button beside "File," and browse to select your new HTML file in your Stationery folder. When you get to the Stationery folder your HTML file will not be visible until you select "HTML files," or "All files" in the "Files of Type" field. Select your new file, click "Open," "OK." You must put a check mark in the box beside "Add Signatures to all outgoing messages," and you probably want to deselect "Don't add signatures to Replies and Forwards."

Perhaps the main reason this technology has not been used before is that when you are writing an email your Flash animation is not visible. It's there all right, but it's not visible. You can tell it's there because your mouse changes when it's over. You have to be careful not to delete it accidentally.

If your email client has a Preview mode you can see your Flash animation just as the receiver of your message will see it. If you don't have a Preview mode you can see it by saving the message in your Drafts folder, or by sending the email to yourself.

In order to ensure your Flash animation will not add to the loading time of your email or newsletter you have to save it to a server, and replace the name of your Flash movie with the path to the file on your server, in the Object and Embed code in your HTML Stationery file. The best place to save your animation is on your Web server. This way it is always accessible to anyone reading your email, and to you when you want to make changes. Images for JavaScript slide shows and gif animations are sourced the same way.

The rest is just creating your Flash animation so it streams smoothly at 56K, at a minimum, or even 28K if recipients of your message might be using slower modems. My personal opinion is that reading an email is not something people expect to take a long time to do, so they won't want to wait for your Flash to load before it plays, but there may be exceptions.

By looking at the code for the other Stationeries in your Stationery folder, you will easily be able to set the default size, color and typeface for your new Stationery, as well as margins. You can view and change the code for ny HTML file by opening it in a text editor like Notepad.

The technology has one drawback. If the recipient of your email is behind a large firewall, like at AOL, animations are filtered out and included as attachments. They won't see the animation unless they open the attachment. But, for most people, email just got a lot more fun.
Top
This article was written by Ken Lapp, who is President of Standard Graphics, Ltd. and lives in Vancouver, Canada.
I got this article in my mailbox I dont have the link to it.

[ying-ko]

From what I can tell, this has worked! I am still trying to get the html bg to show as well as the flash, but so far so good

Thanks!

B

[ying-ko]

It doesn't when I send it to other people tho how annoying

lol

B

[Buckwheat469]

I know this is really old, and it's probably been way resolved, but the easiest way to do this is create a webpage with the flash content, background, images, buttons, whetever you want on it. Then in the email html code just put:

<iframe src="http://domain.com/webpage.html" width="750" height="however_high_the_page_is" border="0"></frame>

This will create the email with an piggy-backed version of IE inside of the email. This will completely override the ActiveX control block on the user's email setting. Basically it's like viewing the internet from within an email window.

Make sure the webpage that you create is aligned to the left, and that the borders/margins are set to 0.

Never create a dynamically-sized email, just keep it simple enough to fit horizontally, a little verticle scrolling isn't bad. Always use CSS on the page to keep the design exactly the size you want, people's IE settings (large fonts) can override your html sizes otherwise.

[ying-ko]

It wasn't resolved, everyone pretty much said that virus programs would delete the flash but I will try this suggestion

Thanks for ya help !!

Becka

[yupi666]

why dont you just publish it as a .exe file and add it as an attachment?

you would still have trouble with spam blockers but if you are a reliable source for your target audience they will open it nontheless

[Buckwheat469]

The reason you don't post it as an exe attachment is that most antivirus programs will erase an exe, so a "customer" might get a blank email with no information. Anyway, the Internet community is trying to smarten people up about opening up attachments from people they don't know.

This is why my suggestion bypasses that issue by sticking the flash content in a webpage and linking the webpage into a statically-sized <iframe>.

The iframe tells the email program that there is something linked, but the email program can't figure out what it is. Then, since it assumes that it's a picture it will link it in and behold, you have a website inside of an email.

On this website you can have flash, quicktime, anything you want. I recommend just using a single page though with links that will open up popup windows ([a href="blah.html" target="_blank"], or use javascript so all links go to the same window with the same name [a href="javascript:void(0);" onClick="window.open('whatever.html', 'popupwindow'...)"])