Flash / Internet Explorer Issues

**caspergomez** · 02-04-2007, 05:04 PM

Hi guys,

Internet Explorer is starting to really get on my nerves. I'm using IE 7, running a 20 sec movie that's 80kb. The html file - I created in Dreamweaver and inserted my flash movie in the center of the html page.

When I view the movie in IE, it frames out the movie with the message 'click to activate plugin'. Suppose you inserted 4 small movies into an html document, wouldn't that get annoying to the user? Firefox does not do this.

Also, IE seems to get off to a slow start, whereas Firefox plays it much smoother in the early part of the movie. IE causes the visual elements and audio to be out of sync in the beginning until it catches up. It's ridiculous because obviously we have to design mainly with IE users in mind.

Any advice would be great how to get around these obstacles!!

Thanks!!
Casper

**Jimbrowski** · 02-04-2007, 05:51 PM

Embed your .swf's with JavaScript to avoid the IE "activate plugin" garbage...

Instructions can be found here: http://www.adobe.com/devnet/activecontent/

Jimmy

**caspergomez** · 02-05-2007, 03:58 AM

Thanks Jimmy... after trying different approaches, I finally got it working!! The only think I cannot figure out is how to align my 550x400 flash movie in my html document. The example I used was swfobject.js by Geoff Stearns, and I placed <center> right above where I placed the <div id="flashcontent"> tags, and that works fine. But where and how would I get the movie to be aligned to the middle? And suppose it wasn't that simple, suppose I wanted to line it up off-center somewhere or in a corner?

Thanks!!
Casper

**Jimbrowski** · 02-05-2007, 10:29 AM

Align the swf within your html page the same way you would an image etc....

I'd use CSS or tables, or however you align everything else in your page.

There's probably far more technically efficient ways of going about it, but as in this example, i've simply put the JavaScript inside a table cell that's set to the dimensions of my swf.

That cell is the centre cell of the table, surrounded by gradient images that allow the table to expand.....whilst keeping the swf in the centre of the screen.....works well enough for me.

http://www.greulich-prochaska.com/GPFlash.html

Jimmy

**caspergomez** · 02-06-2007, 12:03 AM

Thanks for the quick response!!

I'm not really sure where(<head>, <body>) you mean to put the JavaScript and which part of the script.
Here's my html doc:
<title>index</title>
<script type="text/javascript" src="swfobject.js"></script>
<style type="text/css">

</style>
<center>
<div id="flashcontent">
This text is replaced by the Flash movie.
</div>
</center>
<script type="text/javascript">
var so = new SWFObject("index.swf", "mymovie", "550", "400", "7", "#000000");
so.write("flashcontent");
</script>
</head>
<body>
</body>
</html>

**Jimbrowski** · 02-06-2007, 10:08 AM

Simply place your javascript SWFObject business, in the centre cell of a 3x3 table......

The example table below will expand and contract as you resize your browser window. The only cell with a fixed size is the centre cell that contains your movie:

<table width="100%" height="100%" border="0" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" bgcolor="#000000">
<tr>
<td> </td>
<td> </td>
<td> </td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td> </td>
<td width="550" height="400">

<script type="text/javascript">
var so = new SWFObject("index.swf", "mymovie", "550", "400", "7", "#000000");
so.write("flashcontent");
</script>

</td>
<td> </td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td> </td>
<td> </td>
<td> </td>
</tr>
</table>

Like this example http://www.princeps.co.uk

With a little more giggery-pokery, sit the movie inside a gradient table http://www.greulich-prochaska.com/GPFlash.html

Cheers
Jimmy

**caspergomez** · 02-07-2007, 05:46 AM

Thanks again for your time Jimmy!
By now I must seem like a pain in the a**.
I've tried inserting and rearranging what you sent me, but when I view the site, it comes up with a black, blank page. Do you see anything wrong in the following:

<html lang="en">
<head>
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1" />
<title>index</title>
<script type="text/javascript" src="swfobject.js">
</script>
</head>
<body>
<table width="100%" height="100%" border="0" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" bgcolor="#000000">
<tr>
<td> </td>
<td> </td>
<td> </td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td> </td>
<td width="550" height="400"><script type="text/javascript">
var so = new SWFObject("index.swf", "mymovie", "550", "400", "7", "#000000");
so.write("flashcontent");
</script>
</td>
<td> </td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td> </td>
<td> </td>
<td> </td>
</tr>
</table>
</body>
</html>

Also, I noticed that right outside the main blank, black page, there's a small white border. Is it possible to have the complete screen black?

THANKS!
-Casper

p.s. The sites you embedded are sweet! Totally professional, clean, navigable, and effective! Great work!

**Jimbrowski** · 02-07-2007, 09:27 AM

I've never used the SWFObject embed method, so i can't say if that looks correct or not to be honest........i've been using the javascript method as per Adobe's recomendations and had no troubles.

As for the "white border" on your html page......you need to set your Margins to zero......

In Dreamweaver, choose "Modify" from the main menu, then "Page Properties". The "Margin" settings should be visable from there. Set them all to zero, even if they are blank.

Cheers for the good vibes about the sites !!
Jimmy

**caspergomez** · 02-08-2007, 02:19 AM

Thanks Jimmy!

I did what you suggested and got rid of the white border issue. Now I just have to figure out why the movie will not display at all, and how to place the code in the appropriate sections so it will.

Thanks for your time!
Casper

**trepid** · 03-08-2007, 05:43 PM

Above the lines
var so = new SWFObject("index.swf", "mymovie", "550", "400", "7", "#000000");
so.write("flashcontent");

you need a div with an id of "flashcontent" so it should look something like this:

<div id="flashcontent">
everything here will be replaced by the swf
</div>
<script type="text/javascript">
and what you have here should do the trick

trepid

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