Simple Flash Video 1.6 Beta 4 is here!
About
The Simple Flash Video Plugin builds on the plugins that all ready allow easy posting of .flv or .mp4 files on the popular WordPress platform. Simple Flash Video allows for all of the JW FLV options to be utilized via its config.xml file and post level overrides. With this plugin you can easily post .flv or .mp4 videos to your blog and have your viewers instantly watch the video without having to fully download the video before watching. It also combines the popular Shadowbox utility to allow for the videos to float over the website content for a clean look. This plugin was built from the ground up to take full advantage of the JW FLV Player and Shadowbox. On top of this it is the only plugin for WordPress that utilizes the Simple Stats App for JW that gives users a total look at the video viewership of their website. Code has been used from the Flash Video Player by Joshua Eldridge as per the licence agreements of the respective software. When you put the code in your plugin it will be replaced by a Link to the video that will open in a Shadow window. If a .jpg file is in the same directory with the same name as the flv it will also use that photo in the link. If no image is found it will simply place a Text link in your post. If you wish you can also disable the Thickbox feature in the post command.
- Updated to JW 4.1 and included new variables
- Added Default Image variable in settings for use when no image is found with the video
- Updated to Simple Stats 1.2.1
- Added ability to remove padding from shadowbox around the video
- Added Longtail adverts
- Youtube Videos now supported
- Simple Stats Updated to latest stable version 1.2
- Checks for version 9.0.115 and requires update for .MP4 files
- Added Delete Logs Option for Simple Stats
- Added Options Saved Notification
- Fixed Centering Bug for videos in Shadowbox
- RSS Feeds now get a proper .mp4 file or link to FLV
Want to say thank you for the plugin? Just leave a comment or send an email if you found the plugin useful. Or if you want you can make a donation to the project. All of these methods are always appreciated and will certainly help keep up the motivation for future releases. Thanks!
Demos
FLV File
FLVs will simply be changed to links to the post in the feed.
H264 File
This video will also properly download via the feed in itunes or your favorite software.
Youtube Hosted Video
Video with Longtail Ads Enabled
To enable on a per post basis you must add longtail=true and plugins=ltas to the video command
| Simple Flash Video Gallery |
Special Thanks
Daniel G. Taylor – Programming
Borrie Sven – Beta Testing
Installation
- Download and unzip Simple Flash Video.
- Transfer Simple-Flash-Video directory to your `/wp-content/plugins/` directory
- CHMOD the config.xml to be writable by the server, 666 or better
- Activate the plugin through the ‘Plugins’ menu in WordPress
Usage
To use the plugin you simply need to insert:
into your post.
You can add the following variables after the filename variable:
- shadowbox=off – Disables ThickBox and simply puts the player into the post
- embed=true – Uses embed code instead of SWFObject Code
- vid_image= – set the URL of an image to use for the video link instead of the default.
- ALL JW FLV Variables in lower case format ex: width=200
For the Stats simply goto the SFV Stats page that is linked under the main admin page. From there you can see the over all stats or search for a specific file or IP address.
F.A.Q
Q: I cannot get the stream.php working what is wrong?
A: to use it you have to set the stream variable to the location and file. So for most people this will be: /wp-content/plugins/simple-flash-video/stream.php – If you have your WP install in a subfolder that will have to be added. Also, if you are using Lighty Webserver please use its FLV Mod instead of the stream.php
Q: I have activated the plugin, but don’t see the video player. What do I do?
A: Check and make sure that you have the appropriate hook in your template file for the header: wp_head();
Q: How do I change a setting for a single post?
A: If you just want to change a single value for one video you can do it by modifying the code in your post. To Change the hight you would simply put:
You can put any of the variables in this way using all lower case variablenames without spaces in the name.
Q: How do I change the defaults?
A: The config.xml file contains all of the current variables of JW FLV 4.0 . You can modify this file to change any of the default settings that the plugin will use.
Q: Help! I can’t figure this out!?
A: No problem! Give us a shout using the contact form @ http://www.simplethoughtproductions.com/contact/ and we will see if we cant help you. We also recommend posting a comment on the version of Simple Flash Video player to allow the community to assist as well. Find the post for your version @ http://www.simplethoughtproductions.com/category/simple-flash-video/
neat plugin, works a treat! was using the more bells-n-whistles shadowbox plugin, but that one didn’t make customising the jw player easy.
only a few things i’d mention:
-would it be possible to set the jwplayer internal poster frame to be the same as the preview jpg? that way when the video finishes playing, it could go back to a nice still rather than black.
-an option to customise or even remove the ‘click to watch!’ text would be nice.
-a play icon overlaid on the preview image, possibly always there, possibly only when the mouse hovers? could do in flash or css, css probably more standards compliant blah blah…
-to make SFV work i had to disable the shadowbox plugin. i assume making them play nice would be nigh impossible, instead how easy would it be to optionally extend SFV to handle jpg’s, or even the rest of the file options for the lazy (like me!)
Well, that worked…sort of. Thanks. I’ll post more info under the RC1 post so that users with the same problem will find it there.
well its white because it is not getting the full URL of the plugin.
Add this to your config.xml file in the SFV folder:
I went ahead and set up a limited copy of my development site in another subdomain I was planning to create anyway. (This subdomain will be changed at some point.) It has the same theme, all the same plugins, and all the same settings. The only differences are that it only has a couple posts and the newer version of your plugin. The post page I created with the video is an exact copy of the working one I already have. I figured that this would would be the best environment to see if maybe something is interfering with it.
Current Working Video From Old Plugin:
http://cms.ptvguy.com/willy-nates-slimy-problem/
Current Nonworking Video From New Plugin:
http://screening.ptvguy.com/willy-nates-slimy-problem/
Hmmm. Can you put it up again so I can see it or if not, can you open up one of the links in a singular page and copy the source and send it to me?
If I can see what the source code of the video page that is just white I can figure out what is going on.
Just in case I did it wrong TWICE yesterday, I tried it again today. I still get the white box. Any other ideas?
The white box comes from when the full_plugin_url variable does not get into the config.xml.
It should be the full URL to the folder that contains the plugin.
such as:
http://www.simplelthoughtproductions.com/wp-content/plugins/simple-flash-video
It is put into the config when its activated. Usually that error comes up when the config.xml is not CHMODED before activation.
Well, that was an interesting experiment. I deactivated the old plugin, deleted the entire directory from the server, uploaded the new plugin, CHMODed the config.xml file and stats directory, and activated the new plugin.
All my videos became simple white rectangles that did nothing. I tried several different configurations including switching between SWFobject and embed and even playing with some of the code. Same result. I finally gave up, reversed the process, and put the old plugin back.
You disabled shadowbox. The images that vid_image point to are the ones used as a link when shadowbox is on! It should also be passed as a variable to the player so it can use the image before it starts playing! Will try and work up that solution. The stats are not there because of a bug that was discovered in the 4.1 version used of the JW Player. It did not pass the requesed information. Please download SFV 1.6 RC1 and the stats should work as it uses the 4.2 :)
Any ideas why I’m still not getting a video image to display in the post initially?
[video filename=http://cms.ptvguy.com/wp-content/uploads/willyNatesSlimyProblem.flv vid_image=http://cms.ptvguy.com/wp-content/uploads/willyNateVideo.jpg shadowbox=off longtail=true plugins=ltas /]Also, any ideas why I’m not getting any stats?
ahhh. Indeed it does. Will see what I can do!
Specifically, it’s still loading the script calls in the header. (See below.) Since there is no admin option to disable Shadowbox, I used the shadowbox=off variable. (http://cms.ptvguy.com/willy-nates-slimy-problem/) This prevents the plugin from opening the video in a shadowbox, but leaves the script calls in the header. The thing is, I don’t really need the shadowbox at all. The only problem I’m still having is getting the vid_image to show.
If shadowbox is set to off there should not be anything for shadowbox. It should just put the player on the page. Which parts are you still seeing for shadowbox? Also, it is possible to use moo tools with shaodwbox. You can get its translator from the shadowbox website.
Just a followup. I got the player working great (including LongTail advertising and full screen functionality) without conflicting with other JS libraries on my site by commenting out all the Shadowbox calls in the simple-flash-video.php file. Unfortunately, the plugin’s default behavior is to include Shadowbox scripting even if the shadowbox=off variable is included when posting videos. Thanks for a great plugin.
I’m trying this out on my development site (http://cms.ptvguy.com/willy-nates-slimy-problem/) to see if it’s compatible with the mootools library I’m already using for a feature gallery on the home page. Just thought I’d mention that I had to CHMOD the stats folder and the config.xml file to 777 to get the stats package working. The lower setting suggested wouldn’t work.
I was thinking that it might be the PHP commands only work with PHP5 or something. Sadly wordpress will no longer see the file with the new extension.
Interesting idea but no love. Changed it to php5 but then couldn’t see it in the plug-ins listing. Any useful tricks?
For fun change the PHP extension to .php5 on the simple-flash-video.php and see if that changes anything.
Still trying to find a moment to look over the logic. Still not sure why it would fail as I use that style of url for my vidoes and the .jpg files show up fine.
I’m using 1and1.
– By default .php files are parsed as PHP 4.
– All files ending in .php3, .php4 and .php are handled by PHP 4.
– All files ending in .php5 are handled by PHP 5.
Indeed. When I go directly to your blog the shadowbox preforms as expected. I will see if the latest shadowbox has a fix for that.
As for the photo. Im not 100% sure why it is failing as the picture does exist in the location as a .jpg
I am looking over the code to look for logic errors when the plugin tries to determine if a photo exists.
Can you tell me what version of PHP is running on your server? Thanks!
Thanks Josh
I did a little more work and discovered the cause of the shadowbox problem. I’m running WP in an iFrame on a broader site. It seems the iFrame is getting shadowbox *real* confused.
I can leave SVP activated until 3:30 pm EDT today, at http://tnsl.ca – it’s the “Why/How to subscribe” posting. But I’ll need to revert to FVP after that. If you find it useful, I can create a separate page for you on the site for testing.
re the path, it looks like there was one simple path I hadn’t yet tested that does work (but now it doesn’t find the poster image)
Those are some issues but not one I have had before. Can you get me a link to the page so I can see the errors? I have seen where other JS has thrown off the Shadowbox so it might be another plugin so If you can tell me the others you use I can possibly test with them.
I just tried V1.6B4. Here’s some feedback (using WP2.6.2)
1) SFV is only finding the video if I enter the entire URL of it’s location, but not when I only enter the abbreviated path (and I tested every possible path, just in case I was missing some logic somewhere). FWI, I don’t have this problem with Josh Eldridge’s FVP
2) The Shadowbox is showing up off screen, well down the page, requiring a visitor to scroll down to find it. However, the poster image shows up, in the right spot.
I’ve deactivated all other video-related plug-ins so I doubt there’s a conflict. I’ve CHMOD’d the config.xml file to 666. Any other suggestions?
Well. Which part has you confused?
Okay guys, you’re going to have to explain a little better for us non-techies out here.
1) What the heck!? I have no idea how to do that?
2) Again, what does this mean?
I may not be able to use this. Is this just for people who know how to code?
Thanks,
Dave