Webmaster forum - The case of the elisive Flash content

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The case of the elisive Flash content

K A Nuttall

2006-11-19, 7:55 pm

Hi folks, I wonder if you can put me out of my misery.

I'm having a bit of trouble with a few web sites which use Flash for
splash banners and adverts. Some will work in Internet Explorer, and
some won't (but not on every computer I try).

I'm running the lastest Flash player and plug-ins for Firefox and
Internet Explorer. Everything is fine in Firefox.

So, I fire up Internet explorer and look at my own home page
(www.yammer.co.uk), the Flash works fine. I have another web site
(www.thepassage.co.uk) which needs the double-click thing (not got
round to fixing it yet), but that works fine too.

I got to YouTube and it tells me that I have JS turned off, or don't
have the latest player (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UYgNvomXzQ0),
which is blatantly untrue. I try one of my client's web sites (www.bhp-
online.co.uk) and the Flash banner is replaced with a jpeg, presumably
because the plug-in isn't detected.

It's happened on two computers I've used, and I've had customer reports
of similar problems, so it's got to be a fairly common problem. Damned
if I can find anything on the net though. Does anyone know what's going
on?

--
K A Nuttall
www.yammer.co.uk
Re-type the e-mail address how it sounds, remove .invalid

Brian Wakem

2006-11-19, 7:55 pm

K A Nuttall wrote:

> Hi folks, I wonder if you can put me out of my misery.
>
> I'm having a bit of trouble with a few web sites which use Flash for
> splash banners and adverts. Some will work in Internet Explorer, and
> some won't (but not on every computer I try).
>
> I'm running the lastest Flash player and plug-ins for Firefox and
> Internet Explorer. Everything is fine in Firefox.
>
> So, I fire up Internet explorer and look at my own home page
> (www.yammer.co.uk), the Flash works fine. I have another web site
> (www.thepassage.co.uk) which needs the double-click thing (not got
> round to fixing it yet), but that works fine too.
>
> I got to YouTube and it tells me that I have JS turned off, or don't
> have the latest player (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UYgNvomXzQ0),
> which is blatantly untrue. I try one of my client's web sites (www.bhp-
> online.co.uk) and the Flash banner is replaced with a jpeg, presumably
> because the plug-in isn't detected.
>
> It's happened on two computers I've used, and I've had customer reports
> of similar problems, so it's got to be a fairly common problem. Damned
> if I can find anything on the net though. Does anyone know what's going
> on?
>

These are all common problems.

Basically, Flash should never be used for anything, period.

--
Brian Wakem
Email: http://homepage.ntlworld.com/b.wakem/myemail.png

Dylan Parry

2006-11-19, 7:55 pm

Brian Wakem wrote:

> Basically, Flash should never be used for anything, period.

Don't be so bloody stupid. Flash has its place, just like most media
formats. It's the abuse of Flash in unsuitable places that should be
avoided, not the whole format itself.

--
Dylan Parry
http://electricfreedom.org | http://webpageworkshop.co.uk

Programming, n: A pastime similar to banging one's head
against a wall, but with fewer opportunities for reward.

K A Nuttall

2006-11-19, 7:55 pm

Dylan Parry wrote:

> Don't be so bloody stupid. Flash has its place, just like most media
> formats. It's the abuse of Flash in unsuitable places that should be
> avoided, not the whole format itself.

In a poor attempt to stop this thread turning into a Flash is good/bad
argument, can I direct people back to the original question, please?

--
K A Nuttall
www.yammer.co.uk
Re-type the e-mail address how it sounds, remove .invalid

K A Nuttall

2006-11-19, 7:55 pm

K A Nuttall wrote:

> In a poor attempt to stop this thread turning into a Flash is
> good/bad argument, can I direct people back to the original
> question, please?

Apparently not.

Anyway, for those searching for the same problem in the future, a
partial solution...

It appears that there is a problem with the way the plug-in is
installed for Internet Explorer. In certain circumstances, the plug-in
identification system becomes broken, and browsers are unable to detect
it any more.

The workaround is to run the Flash Uninstaller, and then reinstall
Flash Player. IE will then work with plug-in detection scripts.
Strangely, IE still insisted on downloading the plug-in, even though
I'd just installed Flash Player 9. Presumably, either the plug-in is
separate, or there's a bug in the installation.

This still doesn't help all those indignant users, who insist that
you've made a mistake in their web sites. You can point out that they
need to reinstall Flash Player, but it's not an ideal situation.

I'm still not sure how it gets broken in the first place. I did think
it was something to do with clearing the browser cache, but I can't
recreate it.

--
K A Nuttall
www.yammer.co.uk
Re-type the e-mail address how it sounds, remove .invalid

Charles Sweeney

2006-11-19, 7:57 pm

Dylan Parry wrote

> Brian Wakem wrote:
>
>
> Don't be so bloody stupid. Flash has its place, just like most media
> formats. It's the abuse of Flash in unsuitable places that should be
> avoided, not the whole format itself.

Absolutely.

--
Charles Sweeney
http://CharlesSweeney.com