Simple Flash Video 1.7 Beta 2 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.
- Tested with WordPress 2.8 Final
- Fixed Issue where the file name was not passed to the video.php when there was no image.
- Fixed Title so it is given to the Player without &. This will fixe issues with Longtail Ads on the Premium side Added support for description.
- Cleaned up some code (Reduced main function by 50%) and added more comments
- REMOVED embed option – plugin will default to swfobject code. embed was never able to validate.
- ADDED Bitsontherun.com support using mp4 link.
- ADDED Blip support (PHP 5 Required)
- ADDED Customizable Title under the image that used to be hard coded to: Click to Watch. User can now set it in the admin to anything or nothing.
- UPGRADED to Longtail JW FLV Player Version 4.4.198
- Image Variable now set using the image that the plugin finds or one set via vid_image. This is displayed before the video starts playing, and afterwards.
- Shadowbox now closes when videos are complete.
- Updated to latest Simple Stats
- Fixed issue where the swfobject code did not have a DIV of mediaspace for ads.
- Fixed issues where div was not closed properly in video.php for swfobject code.
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.
Bits on the Run Hosted file – Shadowbox off Autostart Off
FLVs will simply be changed to links to the post in the feed.
FLV File Different Image
FLVs will simply be changed to links to the post in the feed.
H264 File With Custom Title
This video will also properly download via the feed in itunes or your favorite software.
Youtube Hosted Video
Blip.TV Hosted File
<-Note that you must add ?skin=rss for the plugin to get the correct information.
Video with Longtail Ads Enabled
To enable on a per post basis you must add longtail=true and plugins=ltas to the video command
Hi, I am using the SFV plugin and it works great in a static page.. but my client would like a link in the sidebar – I’m using the TEXT widget, but its not reading the code as code… just puts it in as text, any idea how to make this work?
Thanks,
Erica
To do this you would need to put in the actual HTML code. I have added a Widget to my todo list for the next versions but for now. You could put the video you want in a new post. Preview it. Copy the code the plugin generates which is basically a long HTML Link. Copy the link and then paste it into your text widget.
thanks- this worked perfectly!
Hi Josh, is there a way to turn off shadowbox when the link has rel=lightbox?
You would have to modify the shadowbox.js file to not process the lightbox rel tags. I am not sure which lines you would need to edit though.
Hello, great plug-in and movie about the near misses until he finally goes back inside.
What I’m wondering, is there a way to always enable longtail, instead of having to enable it on a per post basis. I’d rather disable it on a per post basis than have to enable it every time.
Also, is there anyway to automatically show the first frame of the video instead of having to name a .jpg with the same name?
And I guess failing that, is there a way to export a .jpg from a video file easier….the ones I know are using a screen recording tool like snagit.
Thanks for the all the work you’ve done, it’s awesome.
Thanks for the kind comments :)
Yes, you can set LTAS to enable and set the channel etc. in the admin panel which will enable it for all videos. Secondly the only way I know of to have it show the first frame of video would to either have it extract it using FFMPEG or load the player and have the video pause after 1 second. Either way these methods either require you installing additional programs on your web host, which many cannot, or it requires a lot of flash players.
Taking a screen export is usally easier Method. If you are actually making your own videos your video should also have the option to export a frame of video. If not print screen and paint are your friends on PC and on a Mac you can use Open Apple + Shift + Number 4 Key and draw a box around the video which will create a png screen shot of what ever was in the box, be sure to convert to a .jpg before uploading though.
Thanks for help. I’ll stick to the screen capture method to keep things simple for the moment.
How do I set LTAS to enable? I looked in the settings page and I don’t see it there (unless maybe I’m not using the latest release candidate. My version is 1.7 from the wordpress plugins directory. Or is there a file I need to configure within the plug-in?
And one last thing….videos don’t close automatically. Is that because there’s a newer version, or something else. You can look at my website and click on the to video to see what I mean (it’s only 20 seconds long or so).
Thanks,
Tim
Hey Tim, Simply fill in the longtail information and then in the plugins box add LTAS. That should do it. As for it not closing I am not sure. Possibly some Java script issues but the version from WP is the latest and greatest which is 1.7.
How do you take out the “Click here to watch!” text even when you have an image showing instead? It’s in a ton of places in the PHP file, I just don’t want to delete the wrong one.
Thanks!
In the Admin settings just remove the text and save. This will work in the 1.7 Betas
Thanks Josh. Do you mean the Admin settings in my post? I don’t see it showing up because it’s just the [video] parameter, no text outside it.
No, sorry.
I mean the plugin admin page. There you will see a setting for default click text. You can set that to nothing and then no text will show up below the image.
got it and found it. Thanks for the help Josh. Great plugin, by the way.
Hi there
Am using the lastest WP.
I am getting the following error when trying to activate the plugin.
Warning: chdir() [function.chdir]: Permission denied (errno 13) in /home/content/a/n/d/andrewlai/html/blog/wp-content/plugins/simple-flash-video/simple-flash-video.php on line 49
Warning: SimpleFlashVideoPlugin::require_once(functions.php) [function.SimpleFlashVideoPlugin-require-once]: failed to open stream: No such file or directory in /home/content/a/n/d/andrewlai/html/blog/wp-content/plugins/simple-flash-video/simple-flash-video.php on line 50
Fatal error: SimpleFlashVideoPlugin::require_once() [function.require]: Failed opening required ‘functions.php’ (include_path=’.:/usr/local/php5/lib/php’) in /home/content/a/n/d/andrewlai/html/blog/wp-content/plugins/simple-flash-video/simple-flash-video.php on line 50
Please make sure you make the stats folder readable. This error would suggest that the script either coud not find /stats or that it was unable to read inside of the folder due to permissions.
Josh,
Thanx for the reply, and anything that you can do would be greatly appreciated.
Bill, The plugin uses an earlier version of shadowbox. Having another version of shadowbox and lightbox activated will cause them to fight. I do not know of any way to have an extra shadowbox plugin and lightbox plugin on all at the same time. At some point I would like to update to the newer shadowbox but that will be a version or two away. I recently saw it is possible to check for other plugins. I will try to add some code that will not add my shadowbox if it detects another shadowbox plugin. This would hopefully remove some of these issues.
A little further testing…
ShadowBox ON and SVF OFF:
flv false, no library
Lightbox on images works
SVF ON and ShadowBox ON (same changes as above)
Lightbox on images inoperative
Video plays but at 0,0
Change ShadowBox to flv true
Lightbox on images inopertive
Video plays but at 0,0
SVF ON and ShadowBox Off
Video plays but at 0,0
Lightbox on images inopertive
Note: configuration for shadow box is the default for attr i.e., no ‘rel’ tag for href
Josh,
I think there may be a conflict between SFV and WP ShadowBox v3.0. I haven’t figured it out but there are some interoperability issues. I’ve tried the ShadowBox configured with libs = none | jquery | prototype.
I wish I could tell you some more. I’ll keep working on it.
Josh,
Using with WP2.8 with ShadowBox 3.0 plugin installed For some reason, I’m not getting complete ShadowBox layout properly. Video plays, but is rendered in same frame at 0,0 not centered in light box. (safari 4)
As far as WP player plugins for flv go, I’ve tried them all and yours is by far the cleanest — hope I can get it to work.
Here’s the call:
[video filename=http://yadda/yadda/pathtovid/nameof.flv height=360 width=640 title=My Cool Custom Title /]
Any help greatly appreciated, and thanx in advance.
billray
Don’t worry with time. Its about 4pm here in France and I’ll leave in 1 hour so… It can wait a little !
Hi Josh,
I’m testing this beta 2, and it works fine here : http://www.a2b-prod.com/realisations/(it in French…). I really apreciate all the new improvement.
You did great !
Awesome to see it working. I think there is at least one more beta left (Beta 3) before we hit some RCs and a final 1.7.
Hopefully all said and done in the next 2 to 3 weeks.
Hi josh !
I have a little request… is it difficult to make sfv supporting dns masking with bitsontherun hosted videos ?
I’d like to make a donation… and I can’t found any link to do so !
Have you tried to use one of your masked URLs? I think it would work as they are just redirecting and the bits URL is one to the bit gravity servers and that works. Also, the donate button is just above the first video demo on this page. If it is not working for you let me know and I will email you my paypal address. Thanks!
Using the masked URL gives this result : the video is launching allright, but I get no thumbnail…
Ohhhhhhh. OK, i got it. the reason it no longer works is because my plugin is looking for a bits on the run URL to know to use the bits thumbs. We basically just need to add a rule similar to the one for bits on the run, but have it look for your domain instead. it will then work.
Ok then, If it is just a rule to modify by changing an url I would probably be able to do it (as I did to add a border around the thumbs see here :
http://www.a2b-prod.com/realisations/
).
If it is a matter of tweaking a little part of the code by changing an url, I think I could do it myself and let you focus on other important coding issues. ;)
Well I am working with the Bits guys at the moment and what my solution will be is a new option that will allow you to set it to true. If its true then it will go with the bits info and you won’t have to tweak anything. It will also remove the water mark of the player as it will load their SWF instead of the one with this plugin. I hope to have something ready for you to test later today which will become beta 3 in the next few days.