i think any input on the documentation would be much appreciated. and for what it's worth, many of those media players and slideshow SWFs can be pretty tricky to set up, even for experienced users. i find myself troubleshooting FLV players every time i use them. :)
cheers - philip On Wed, Oct 15, 2008 at 3:52 PM, Jonathan <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Hi, certainly agree re early days of Adobe being better, but, then most > of us were new to it all. I do read threads and articles in Pipwerks as we > are one of the early e-learning providers. And it is some of your examples > that helped me understand Flash much better. I sorted my problem > before finding your help on SWFObject. The code generator is excellent, but, > I was left with "um, what do I do now" for a while. In my case I wanted to > try using Slideshowpro in our system before involving the cost of our > professional developers, so, wanted to utilise SWFObject to do that. There > must be many like me who are not coders, do not have coding skills and > understanding, but, benefit from SWFObject being so well written it is > virtually a turnkey solution to embed Flash. In which case the instructions > need just a slight added comments for code ignorant 'idiots' like me. > > In fact SWFObject worked better than Slideshowpro's own embed code which > failed when used in our application. > > Don't get me wrong, I wasn't referring to learning Javascript, it was the > instructions for deploying SWFObject that I was really referring to, it sort > of got stretched to other things on the way. I started by reading all in > deconcept first version, then version 2, and while it is very detailed step > by step, there are quite a few points were a leap in explanation is made > assuming the reader knows what is meant or knows what to do. > > I will send a copy of the instructions with those points noted for your > comment. Suggest under a new thread called "SWF Leaps". It is not just me as > I joined in this thread seeing someone else note the same thing, and quite a > few before. > > Regards Jonathan > > > > -----Original Message----- > *From:* [email protected] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] *On > Behalf Of *Philip Hutchison > *Sent:* 15 October 2008 22:20 > *To:* [email protected] > *Subject:* Re: IE error message - swfobject is undefined > > one of the best things anyone can do -- experienced or novice -- is use > "view source" on working examples. > > i've spent countless hours creating swfobject examples and posting them on > my site (http://pipwerks.com/lab/swfobject/) with basic instructions. > i've never included instructions that explain how to add a <script> element > to the page, because i assume a certain level of competence in JavaScript. > however, anyone wishing to learn -- or just trying to get it to work without > caring *how* -- should always start by copying working examples. that's > how i learned, and how i continue to learn. it's also what you'd do if you > bought a book on a programming language and followed the book's examples. > :) > > as for this group providing instructions for someone completely new to > JavaScript, i believe that's outside the scope of the group and the > SWFObject documentation. it's obvious we'd like to help, it's just that > starting from zero requires an awful lot of explanation and teaching, and > we're not really here for that. we do care, but our time and resources > aren't unlimited. > > the best thing i can do is recommend some books or sites that help a person > get the basics before trying to do the more advanced stuff. there are > literally hundreds of thousands of JavaScript tutorials and how-tos on the > www, the most famous probably being > www.w3schools.com<http://www.w3schools.com/js/default.asp>and > http://javascript.about.com/. as for books, i think Jeremy Keith's DOM > Scripting<http://books.google.com/books?id=LBTQ83bAz6QC&dq=Jeremy+Keith+DOM+Scripting>is > an excellent primer for JavaScript newbies; it's well-written in an > easy-to-understand style, contains practical examples with lots of context, > and follows today's best practices. > > RE: Adobe's poor documentation, i agree. I think most of it is very dense > and hard to read, even for experienced developers. what's funny is that in > their early days they had *excellent* documentation. i used to work in > prepress as a typesetter, and the books and other printed materials that > shipped with Adobe's software was extremely useful and well-crafted. i > still use some of those books to teach people about printing concepts such > as CMYK, registration, and basic color theory. > > - philip > > > On Wed, Oct 15, 2008 at 10:46 AM, Jonathan <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > >> >> I wonder, will it be aimed at semi experienced people upwards. Have you >> ever, or do you remember back to, when you knew little, tried to follow >> Adobe product manuals. Even their on-line tutorials leaving yawning gaps >> just when you think its making sense. As one who founded on DOS when a >> 33Mhz >> computer was leading edge and cost £6k, I think its even worse today. Even >> their current website is frustrating to follow. I follow several Adobe >> forums, the extent of questions and their nature shows just how others >> struggle to get up to working speed with their products - hence the number >> of 'xyz' for dummies books in my collection. But, Adobe is by no means >> alone >> in this. >> >> Anyway, I will do my suggestion over the next week and hope it will lead >> to >> helping others. As I have gained much from your forums, I would like to >> put >> something back in. >> >> Regards Jonathan >> >> >> >> -----Original Message----- >> From: [email protected] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On >> Behalf Of Bobby >> Sent: 15 October 2008 10:48 >> To: SWFObject >> Subject: Re: IE error message - swfobject is undefined >> >> >> >> Your wish has been granted, in the coming month Adobe Devnet will publish >> 2 >> SWFObject introductory articles, so keep an eye on Adobe Devnet :-) >> >> I will also give a masterclass at the global Head conference (an online >> event): http://www.headconference.com/speakers/bobby-van-der-sluis/ >> >> >> >> > > > --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "SWFObject" group. 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