MAC/ OS and FRONTPAGE 2003: CAN'T VIEW MY VIDEO CLIPS ON SAFARI

[JIMI]

I created my website using FrontPage 2003 on a PC and have now started using the Apple iMac computer. I noticed that none of the video clips I loaded on my website can be seen using Safari or Firefox as browsers... What do I need to do so I can see my website video clips on an Apple computer?

Jimi

http://www.talkfrontpage.com/newthre...ewthread&f=28#

[MandyJay]

Hello,
Can you give us a link to the page otherwise we cant see how you have coded it to then advise you.

Also take a look at this page, as showing videos via flash is realy the best option now .....

http://www.talkfrontpage.com/showthread.php?t=8594

MJ

[JIMI]

Thank You Mandy,

Here's a link to a page .. http://www.noirkss.com/

There are video clips an almost all the pages. Hopefully this will help resolve the issue.

Jimi

[MandyJay]

Okay .... FrontPage is now an old website editor. In fact it is no longer being made. Therefore some of the "tools" it offers are not always totally browser compatible, unfortunately the method of inserting your videos is one such tool. It has nothing to do with using a Mac but everyting to do with not being compatible with Firefox and the like.

These days the best way to insert a video is to convert it to Flash and then embed the flash. This is much simpler than maybe you think.

Here are two free programs. One converts .wmv into flash and gives the code for embedding and the other embeds, but they are both free.

This is one we have recomended for some time:
http://www.dvdvideosoft.com/products...-Converter.htm
- please read the How to and the FAQ. When converting your .wmv you will be given a choice of either .swf or .flv ... you want to select the .flv if you want to embed the player as well. You cant use the player with .swf

The other program I only came across the other day.

http://www.jeroenwijering.com/?item=JW_FLV_Media_Player

It is a brilliant program and although several files are enclosed in the zip dont be put off by them as you only have to actually edit one of them. Again there is a how to section and there is an online wizard to create the code for you. Although you can just edit the code they give. However that program only PLAYS the video, it does not convert.

Okay ... a few pointers on your website - I know you didnt ask .. lol .. but I feel they are important points.

1) file names. For example your .wmv
Browsers cannot translate blank empty spaces between file names, so automatically code is converted into %20. Here is the name of one of your video files:
1013%20DANGEROUS%20CLIP%202007.WMV
You need to replace ALL spaces in file names, whether images, pages or video .. with a hyphen. So your video would end up looking like this:
1013-DANGEROUS-CLIP-2007.WMV
Lower case is also preferable (if you swop servers .. windows/linux problems can be caused between upper and lower). Now to help you achieve both those you can download for free these two tools (space replacer and case changer) that will replace spaces with whatever you want and will also convert upper to lower case from here.

2) you have used layers design your page. Here is an example of the code:
<span style="position: absolute; left: 195; top: 26"> FrontPage is not good at doing layers as it uses inline styling/formatting. i.e. all that styling in the code should be in the head tags of the document or an external style sheet. That is the most compatible way for all browsers to interpet the code. FrontPage sucessor ... Expression Web is good at doing layers. FrontPage is not. I would suggest you use tables and cells to layout your pages.

3) you have on some pages used either Word Art or Text boxes. A VML (vector markup language) viewer is required and not everyone has it installed/working. There is a setting one can use that will subsitute an image for the VML but the code produced for any of the VML is like 1000% greater than using basic html code.

4) Music. If you have background music (voted as the biggest turn-off on the web .. lol) then really you want to consider having a noticeable on/off switch so people can choose. Quite a lot of people will be using their computer to listen to CD's/radio etc and background music on a website will override that. Consider giving people the choice of whether they want to listen to or when they listen to your music.

5) page size. I know on the home page you ahe a message telling people if they are on dial up - then sort of forget it as the page is huge. Well okay firstly those flashing lights cover the text (downside of using layers). Here is a screenshot to show you how I and many others will view it - where the blanked out areas are, that is where your stars are.

Not seeing the video is not an issue with ie7 ... it is an issue with you using the wrong coding .... lol.

It is not just the videos that are a huge size, but the rest of your page, it is just so long, abnormally long for a home page.

the whole page comes to OVER 33MB !! some peoples whole websites are not even half of that size and you have a page that size. I am on broadband with a 8mb connection and the page took forever to download for me. You risk alienating people by making them wiat.

It is not just the videos but the images. You have two images each around 9mb each. Here is one http://www.noirkss.com/1114%20ENCORE%20A.jpg .... although you have made the dimensions of the image smaller on the page, that does not actually change the file size. To do that, you need to click on the image, in normal view, to highlight it. Then on the Picture Toolbar click on the icon for "resampling" that will immediately get rid of around 8.5mb in size just for one image.

6) Fonts. For a viewer to see the font you want, they have to actually have that font on their system. You are using "Ameretto Wide" ... most people will not have that font, so they will see your pages in their default font, which is generally Times New Roman ... which is not that attractive a font as it was made originally for the printed word not for website text. Do a google on "web safe fonts" and you need to select one of those. Trebuchet is quite a nice web safe font as are a few others.

Okay ... like me or hate me for my comments .... lol ... but I felt I had to say something.

When someone goes to your website, you have to remember that their first impressions count! What they see first of all is the DoorWay to your whole website.

What greeted me when I went to your website was a navigation where the text was missing off the ends of some of the images. the rest of the window was telling me what a terrible set up I had as I had to have DSL I shouldnt use IE7 as it is at fault ....... ummmm!!!! Bearing in mind the majority of internet users .. use IE!!

Also you have a message to "click the flaming text to enter here" next to which is your page counter. No flaming text to be seen .... until you scroll the page .... your viewer shouldnt have to scroll the page to find an animated fire text to enter your site ... you dont make your home page inviting for your viewer, it is hard work for them .... here is what I see - Enter Here

As a designer, the golden rule is .. the viewer comes first. A site should be designed with them at the forefront of your abilities. If you want to do something on the website which is going to badly affect the majority of internet users ... think twice! .... Same with the videos, do you have to have so many videos on the home page? If people cannot load your page becuase the area they live in doesnt have broadband etc (believe me that applies to more areas than you can imagine) then you are effectively turning away people as they could very well just not wait. Its up to you to make the website viewer friendly .......

Go on ... kick me if you want!

MJ