NeatClubs.COM directly supports the inclusion of Flash Content (SWF or "shockwave flash" files) in the header. The process for upload Flash files is described here.
In the Website Layout & Preferences, Website Setup Information, you may select an uploaded Flash file (ending in the suffix .SWF) as your animated header as long as the graphic is in the system image group called "Web Header Graphics". You should specify the exact size of the Flash file as you would any other graphic image so that NeatClubs can constrain the size appropriate to your site layout. NeatClubs.COM will automatically generate the necessary HTML to start the browsers flash player and reference the flash object you have uploaded. This procedure is explained in The Website Setup Information documentation.
For the HTML enthusiasts in the crowd, the HTML generated will look something like:
<!-- Start of Header Table -->
<div class="header_background" width="100%"><object classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000"
codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,29,0"
width="768" height="117"><param name="movie" value="http://mysite.ca/uploads/header_intro.swf"/>
<param name="quality" value="high"/><embed src="http://mysite.ca/uploads/header_intro.swf" quality="high"
pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" type="application/x-shockwave-flash"
width="768" height="117"></embed></object><script language="JavaScript" type="text/javascript" src="./javascript/ieupdate.js">
</script></div>
Not all browsers support Flash however, and if you provide a flash header only, the visitor may be unimpressed with the appearance of your page. The actual message displayed when the Flash player is missing depends on the browser, but in general it does not look very professional.
On internet explorer for example, with Flash disabled or not installed, the header would appear as follows:
Needless to say, this does not convey a very positive image of your business (or our web-site tool!) :-)
Supporting an Alternate Static Graphic when Flash is not supported.
Luckily, NeatClubs.COM provides a mechanism to directly address the problem of Flash not always being present in a browser. You can specify a secondary static GIF, PNG or JPG graphic to be loaded into the header in the case where the browser does not support a flash player automatically. This file should be created to be the same size as your flash graphic.
Below is an example setup screen with the alternative graphic configured.
Normally, this "smart check" will be disabled since the check itself requires some resources (an additional javascript module is downloaded dynamically to facilitate the check). If an alternative graphic file is supplied however, (assumed to be a valid file-name uploaded to the web-site in the ./uploads directory) this graphic will be displayed as an alternative to the primary Flash image if it is determined when the page is rendered that the browser does not support Flash. If the primary header graphic is a static image, the contents of this optional alternate header field will be ignored.
For example, viewing the configuration above in a browser "with" flash will look as follows:
In a browser "without" flash, using the settings above, the browser will appear as follows. If they look the same to you, that's kind of the point :-) - the only way the site visitor knows that their web-site was unable to properly display your content, is a subtle warning message indicating that the browser does not support flash - also, if they "mouse-over" the header graphic/banner, they will see the message "alternative-header" appear. This is far preferable to not being able to display a header at all when no Flash player is present in the browser. This is far preferable to seeing an error message indicating that Flash is required before you can see the header element.
