Setting up plug-ins

You use the Plug-in Inspector to set up all plug-ins--Plug-in, SWF, QuickTime, RealMedia, or SVG. The options available in the Basic, More, and Attribs (attributes) tabs are similar for all plug-ins. However, the name of the last tab and the options available in that tab change depending on the MIME type mapped to the plug-in (QuickTime, Special, and so on). For the predefined plug-ins, you rarely need to change the default settings in the Inspector. For the Plug-in icon, you must define all the attributes in the Inspector. To do so, you must understand what attributes need to be assigned to each plug-in to work well with different browsers.

The Attribs tab of the Plug-in Inspector lets you add, edit, and delete plug-in attributes manually. You can use this tab with the Plug-in icon to edit the attributes of media extensions that GoLive does not support directly.

Important: Although Adobe has tested all third-party plug-ins and media extensions currently available, no warranty is granted, either implied or expressed, that plug-ins play properly when embedded in your Web pages. Be aware that poorly programmed plug-ins may produce crashes and may damage your files.

To set up the Basic tab for a plug-in:

1. For the Plug-in icon, select Mime, and choose the MIME type from the pop-up menu. For the SWF, QuickTime, RealMedia, and SVG plug-ins, Mime is automatically selected and the MIME type is predefined.

Note: You rarely need to change the predefined settings for the SWF, QuickTime, RealMedia, and SVG plug-ins.

2. Depending on the MIME type and the HTML option selected, the Class option is disabled, enabled, or predefined.
• For the Plug-in icon, <embed> is defined by default for HTML. If you select the <object> or <embed & object> tag from the HTML pop-up menu, select Class, and specify the class ID for the required plug-in or W3C Object control, or select the class ID from the pop-up menu.
• For the SWF plug-in, <embed & object> is defined for HTML, and Class is predefined in the Class pop-up menu.
• For the QuickTime plug-in, <embed & object> is defined for HTML, and Class is predefined in the Class pop-up menu.
• For the RealMedia plug-in, <embed> is defined for HTML, and Class is disabled.
• For the SVG plug-in, <embed> is defined for HTML, and Class is disabled.
3. Enter a value in the Width text box for the width of the media clip in pixels or as a percentage.
4. Enter a value in the Height text box for the height of the media clip in pixels or as a percentage.
5. Choose an alignment option from the Alignment pop-up menu:
• Default to position the icon according to the browser's preferences. If the browser does not specify any alignment preferences, the clip will be left-aligned. (Most browsers do not specify alignment preferences.)
• Left to position the icon in the upper left corner.
• Middle to position the icon in the upper middle.
• Right to position the icon in the upper right corner.
6. From the HTML pop-up menu, select the scripting that browsers will use to detect the required plug-in and ensure that the content is played back correctly in different browsers. For example, to play back Macromedia® Flash™ (SWF) content, a browser needs the Macromedia® Flash™ ActiveX® control or the Macromedia® Flash™ (SWF) plug-in. The ActiveX control is used by Internet Explorer and America Online® on Windows 95 or NT®. The SWF plug-in is used by other browsers that support Macromedia® Flash™ (SWF) and by Internet Explorer and America Online on Windows 3.1 or Mac OS. The <object> tag calls up the ActiveX control; the <embed> tag calls up the SWF plug-in. Choose <Object> & <Embed> from the pop-up menu to accommodate both the ActiveX control and the SWF plug-in.

To set up the More tab for a plug-in:

1. Click the More tab in the Inspector.
2. Type a unique name for the multimedia element in the Name text box.
3. Select Page, and specify a file for the link destination for the Plug-in installation instructions. For a SWF or QuickTime plug-in, a destination link appears by default.
4. Select Code for RealMedia, and SVG plug-ins, and specify a file for the link destination for the code base. The Macromedia® Flash™ code base, for example, specifies the location of the Macromedia® Flash™ player ActiveX control that the browser can download if the control is not installed. The code base is provided by default when you use the predefined SWF or QuickTime plug-in.
5. From the Palette pop-up menu, select an option to determine whether the plug-in appears in the Foreground or Background palette. Select Default to place the palette in the background.
6. Type a value in the HSpace text box to set the horizontal space between the multimedia element and the surrounding text (the padding to the left and right). Enter a value in the VSpace text box to set the vertical space between the multimedia element and the surrounding text (padding above and below).
7. Select Is Hidden to hide the plug-in on the page. You might want to hide the plug-in if you want to play an audio clip as soon as the page is loaded (without any controls being displayed on the page).

To set up the attributes tab of a plug-in:

1. In the Attribs tab of the Plug-in Inspector, click New  to add a new attribute. In the left text box below the list box, type an attribute name. The attribute name appears in the Attribute column of the list box.
2. In the right text box, enter an attribute value. The attribute value appears in the Value column of the list box.
3. To delete an attribute, select the desired entry from the list box, and click Delete .