WMP Control Issues

Question

This is a follow-up to my original thread (inserting audio files).

When I inserted the WMP control into the page, it displayed fine in Firefox 3 and without a mute/volume button in IE 7.

Steve Easton suggested the code at the bottom of this page.

HOWEVER, in Firefox 3, there were no borders between controls that displayed in IE 7.

 Here's the link:

http://shilohspiritualcenter.org/preview%20player.html

I'm running Windows XP SP3 with WMP 11. (With the WMP 11 Plugin for Firefox).

To make sure it wasn't only my computer, I tested it on another desktop with SP2 and WMP 10 (in IE6 and Firefox 3, it looked about the same), and then tested it on a laptop running Windows Vista SP1.

On the laptop, I met with the same results as my desktop minus the transparency brought on with Vista (no borders between controls and missing controls, like I mentioned).

I don't think it has something to do with the both of them being HPs.

Here's an example of what it looks like in Firefox:

Play Stop Skipback Skipforward Mute  Volume---

IE 7

Play Stop l Skipback Rewind Fast-Forward Skipforward l Mute  Volume-----

<OBJECT id='mediaPlayer' width="320"

classid='CLSID:22d6f312-b0f6-11d0-94ab-0080c74c7e95'

codebase='http://activex.microsoft.com/activex/controls/ mplayer/en/nsmp2inf.cab#Version=5,1,52,701'

standby='Loading Microsoft Windows Media Player components...' type='application/x-oleobject' style="height: 40px">

<param name='fileName' value="Sheree%20Silver%20GMA%20XM%20Radio.wma" valuetype="ref">

<param name='animationatStart' value='1'>

<param name='transparentatStart' value='1'>

<param name='autoStart' value='1'>

<param name='ShowControls' value='1'>

<param name='ShowDisplay' value='0'>

<param name='ShowStatusBar' value='0'>

<param name='loop' value='0'>

<EMBED type='application/x-mplayer2'

pluginspage='http://microsoft.com/windows/mediaplayer/ en/download/'

id='mediaPlayer' name='mediaPlayer' displaysize='4' autosize='0'

bgcolor='darkblue' showcontrols='1' showtracker='1'

showdisplay='0' showstatusbar='0' videoborder3d='0' width="320" height="40"

src="Sheree%20Silver%20GMA%20XM%20Radio.wma" originalAttribute="src" originalPath="Sheree%20Silver%20GMA%20XM%20Radio.wma" autostart='1' designtimesp='5311' loop='0'>

</EMBED>

</OBJECT>

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Answer 1

I see them in my machine XP SP2 IE 7 and FF
Screen shots here:
http://www.95isalive.com/test/mpshots.htm

No audio though because the file name is invalid:

New%20Stories%20(Highway%20Blues).wma

You have to remove the parens and I strongly recommend replacing spaces with dashes - or underscores _

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Answer 2

Ah... here's the thing: you're using WMP 10 (which looks the same on mine too).

In WMP 11 (the current version), it is most definitely different. Anyone here using WMP 11 that can help?

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Answer 3

Give me time to boot into Vista.

Also it would be easier if you posted a screen shot so someone could see what "you"
see.
Posting a page with the code accomplishes little because it's going to display the same way
in my machine.

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Answer 4

I'm doing that now.

In a couple minutes, it should be live on that link.

(Please disregard the fact the control has no audio)

UPDATE: It's live (sorry about the quality, I took it with a digital camera).

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Answer 5

I guess you're still booting into Vista...

Anyone else have a suggestion?

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Answer 6

Well, I also have this little habit called lunch.
Happens about this time every day.

MP looks totally different on my Vista than it does yours.
Screen shot to follow.

Speaking of screen shots.
Oliver, click the Print Screen button and then open Paint and click Edit > Paste.

Or the free IrfanView, http://www.irfanview.com

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Answer 7

 Same link as before:
http://www.95isalive.com/test/mpshots.htm

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Answer 8

Sorry about that (about rushing you, I mean. I was rude).

I tested it on a Vista laptop, too, (in IE7) and it looks like that as well.

The link I gave contains some digital photos of the screen.

Now try previewing the page using the WMP 11 Plugin for Firefox 3 (in Vista), and you should see the difference.

P.S. Note that I'm saying Firefox "3" - the latest version.

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Answer 9

Working on better screenshots (thanks for PrntScreen info).

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Answer 10

I'm back in XP, and I don't have FF installed in Vista yet.
Also, I'm unaware of a MP plug in for FF.

However, I don't think there's any way you're going to change the appearance in FF.

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Answer 11

The clearer screen shots are now live.

And the plugin I got is from the Mozilla Plugins page: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/browse/type:7. WMP 11 for XP.

And if I can't change the way it looks in FF 3, then I'm definitely not going to go with the embedded code you suggested.

Does anyone else have an idea on how to fix this?

Here is the code that EW originally generated:

<object id="media1" style="height: 45px" type="video/x-ms-wmv" width="200">

<param name="filename" value="Sheree%20Silver%20GMA%20XM%20Radio.wma">

<param name="autoStart" value="0">

</object>

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Answer 12

Try increasing the width in FF by increasing the width in the embed portion of the code
and see if the rest of the controls appear.

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Answer 13

I double the embedded width from 500 to 999, and the only thing that happened in Firefox was that it was doubled (the missing controls didn't appear).

I uploaded it onto that link (though of course WMP 10 still can't see it like WMP11)

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Answer 14

Actually, why do two mising buttons make it unusable in FF.
It is still fully functional, correct?

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Answer 15

Yes, the original and embedded control set still works.

I'd just like it to display like it's supposed to.

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Answer 16

It's very possible that the plug in is written to display as it does.
It was written by MSFT.

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Answer 17

Well, here's a suggestion - Microsoft, make the plugin display correctly with your own browser, IE7.

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Answer 18

Ok, now I'm confused. In the images you posted it looks correct to me in IE 7
What am I missing?

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Answer 19

Okay... here's the deal. In my original "Inserting Audio" thread, what I did was inserted wma audio using the insert - windows media player command. That was what I was referring to.

I added some more screenshots to that link I gave.

Here's the breakdown of the extended list (please note that the screen shots are taken in Windows XP SP3):

1st is the original WMP control box screenshot, as seen in Mozilla Firefox 3.0 (with WMP 11 plugin)

2nd is the original WMP control box screenshot, as seen in Internet Explorer 7

3rd is the control box with the embedded code you gave me.

4th is a modified control box from the embedded code you gave me (basically, I doubled the embedded width in code view as you suggested).

5th is the embedded control box screenshot, as seen in IE7.

6th is the embedded control box screenshot, as seen in Mozilla Firefox 3.0 (with WMP 11 plugin).

If you look at this list closely, you'll understand that the solution you gave me is actually worse than the original (from an appearance perspective from one browser to another).

The suggestion I gave was for Microsoft to make the original WMP control box display correctly in IE 7 (their current browser).

I tested this also on Windows Vista. The results are the same, besides the fact that it is transparent (which is normal for Vista).

Do you understand what I'm saying now?

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Answer 20

....................................................

Should I file a bug report (for the original control)?

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Answer 21

Ok, when inserting it via insert > Media > Windows Media Player,
the only way I get the truncated version you showed without the volume slider
is if I right click the control in design view, select Activex Control properties, click the Advanced tab
and uncheck "Full controls."

Did you check to see if full control is checked?

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Answer 22

Again, remember my testing was done in Firefox 3 (WMP 11 Plugin) and IE 7. Both on Windows XP SP3.

Yes, I made sure the "full" control was checked.

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Answer 23

Oliver, I can't duplicate the issue on my XP SP 3 machine in either IE or FF

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Answer 24

I also tested it on a Vista SP1 with Firefox 3 and IE7.

The only other thing they have in common is that they're both HPs.

Where exactly am I going wrong? You can see the code EW 2 generated in my "inserting audio" thread.

Something is amiss...

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Answer 25

Though it does show correctly in EW 2's: "design view." Just not IE 7 (for me).

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Answer 26

....................................................................

[Don't worry, Steve, I'm not mad at you - you're probably eating lunch about now. I'd just really appreciate it if someone else would respond!]

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Answer 27

Nope, not lunch. this time.
Last night was billiards and beer night, ( not necessarily in that order )
and I had to go into the office today.
I don't do the forums from the office because 1: I'm busy with other stuff and 2:
the wireless network in the office makes the forum quite slow.

Anyway, I'm half convinced that the issue is with the FF plug in.
Have you thought about uninstalling it and then checking using the code I gave you?

I don't have the plug in installed and that could be the difference.

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Answer 28

Steve, how would I view the Windows Media Player content if I don't have the WMP 11 plugin? (Which is the only one Mozilla lists)

The difference (as I see it from our computers) is the fact that I'm using Firefox 3 with WMP 11.

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Answer 29

And that still doesn't explain why the original WMP content doesn't display correctly in my IE7s.

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Answer 30

I'm so irritated that I'm half tempted to just dump the WMP control completely, file a bug report, and use a Flash or Silverlight control instead.....

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Answer 31

Oliver, I just did some registry digging,
Try this;

In the page where you've used insert Media > windows media player change
what EW creates from:
<object id="media1" style="height: 45px" type="video/x-ms-wmv" width="200">

to
<object id="media1" style="height: 45px" type="audio/x-ms-wma" width="200">

Save the page and click OK when prompted about the unknown control
and then preview and see what happens.

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Answer 32

That's clever.

What happens is in design view, the player changes from the sleek look to the gray one I had in the embedded code. On preview in browser (IE and Firefox), however, it appears the same as when it said "video."

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Answer 33

So, basically, it didn't work.

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Answer 34

Hmm,
I finally got it to not show the volume control in both IE and FF

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Answer 35

Like I said, it doesn't show the volume slider or mute control in IE 7. Just in Firefox 3 (with WMP 11 plugin)

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Answer 36

But the code I posted does work in both. Correct?
It does on my machine.

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Answer 37

NO. The embedded code you originally gave me didn't have all the controls in my Firefox 3s, and the code you just posted didn't make a difference from the original.

And AGAIN, I'm saying that I am using Firefox 3 and Internet Explorer 7 on two machines. I believe you are still using Firefox 2 with WMP 10, so there's a big gap there.

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Answer 38

OK, I just installed FF 3 and the full control with the volume slider displays
in FF using the code I posted.

The code EW generated for the media player does not show the volume slider.

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Answer 39

Do you mean the embedded code or the code change you gave me?

Don't forget I'm using WMP 11.

The original generated code (plus the change you gave me) don't display mute/volume in IE7 (WMP 11).

The embedded code with WMP 11 and Firefox 3 doesn't show several buttons and has no dividers.

And thanks for sticking with me, on this Steve.

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Answer 40

The code I gave you.

Ok, against my better judgement I'm downloading and installing MP 11.

Give me a few.

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Answer 41

Against your better judgment? WMP 11 is the current standard. ;-)

"The code I gave you." The embedded code, I'm assuming.

Well, once you install that, we should be pretty much on par. I have Windows XP SP3 Media Center Edition, WMP 11, and Firefox 3 with the plugin.

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Answer 42

Against jmy better judgement because of all of the digital rights stuff.

Ok, ready for this?

XP SP 3 with WMP 11.

EW created code

FF 3, all buttons, dividers and volume if width is set to 300
IE 7, all buttons, dividers and volume if width is set to 300

Custom code
FF 3, all buttons, dividers and volume if width is set to 300
IE 7, all buttons, dividers and volume if width is set to 300

Want screen shots?

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Answer 43

Testing in progress...

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Answer 44

It seems to do the job... but would you mind posting those screen shots (so I can compare to make sure)? Thanks

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Answer 45

Ok, give me a few.

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Answer 46

Take your time. I've waited eight days, I can wait fifteen minutes or so more.

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Answer 47

Here ya go:
http://www.95isalive.com/test/mpshots.htm

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Answer 48

Oh, snap. From those screen shots I can see that they look the same in both browsers.

What exactly is wrong with my computer, I don't know. But from my vantage point, in Firefox, I don't have the dividers or the fast-forward/rewind buttons!

I'm not really sure what the best move right now is.

Should I keep the original code (unedited) which looks best in Firefox 3 and without mute/volume in IE? Edited with audio/300 width that looks bad in Firefox and moderately good in IE? Or the embedded one with no dividers in Firefox 3 and okay in IE7??

The screen shot I took of Firefox 3 embedded is still how it looks (when using the "preview in browser" method).

Thank you so much for all of your assistance, though

-O.B.

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Answer 49

I'm convinced it has to be the FF plug in.
I don't have it. ( that I know of )

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Answer 50

Check your list of plug ins. Mine is: "Microsoft Windows Media Player Firefox Plugin: npmswmp," which I was prompted to install (I think) when I previewed the original page with the player. What plugin are you using?

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Answer 51

I have no downloadfs, add ins, or plugins in FF

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Answer 52

So you're saying that when you go to (Firefox 3) Tools-Addons, and the plugin tab, the list is blank?

Because when I disable that plugin, I don't see the player.

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Answer 53

Ah,
I see Windows Media Player plug in Dynamic link library
npdsplay.dll

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Answer 54

Do you see it listed where I said? (Tools-Addons 'Plugin Tab')

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Answer 55

Yes.
Don't know how it got there though.

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Answer 56

Could you find a link for that one? (So I can remove the one I have and replace it on my laptop and this computer?)

Happy 4th of July,

-O.B.

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Answer 57

Oliver, I don't have a link because I didn't download anything except the installer for FF 3
and then run it.

The only thing I ever downloaded / isntalled for FF 2 was FireBug.
Which is not compatible with FF 3 unforunately, because it's a great tool.

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Answer 58

Snap. I guess I'll have to run a search on my own, using that .dll you mentioned.

And here's a suggestion for a future release - improve the default width for the WMP control.

Case isn't closed - yet.

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Answer 59

Steve Easton said:

I have no downloadfs, add ins, or plugins in FF

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Though you did say the above (and yet you knew you had FireBug installed)

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Answer 60

That was wtih FF 2 and FF 3 uninstalled it.
Totally unrelated to WMP, as it's a tool used to examine the document object model.
( DOM )

The default width is 350 px, which does work.
I just used 300 to try something.

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Answer 61

I wasn't talking about FireBug for research (I was just mentioning that you said you hadn't had any downloads installed, but you did). I mean the WMP plugin.

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Answer 62

Where did you get the MP addin you installed.
Also, is media player working as you want it to now?
I've kind of lost track here.

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Answer 63

Windows Media Player is working fine (I hated the look of WMP 10 so much, I couldn't help upgrading). I haven't seen any other WMP content, so I can't speak for that.

Here's the page that lists the WMP plugin: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/browse/type:7

And here is the page where I downloaded the plugin (the listing linked to here): http://port25.technet.com/pages/windows-media-player-firefox-plugin-download.aspx

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Answer 64

Ah,
I didn't download any media player plug in from mozilla,
I just use whatever came with the initial FF install.

Are you seeing what you want in the web pages now?

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Answer 65

Again, NO. In your last post you asked for the links to the plugin, so I gave them.

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Answer 66

Yes, I wanted to see exactly which plugin you had installed.

In FF in your plug in list do you see:
Microsoft Windows Media Player Firefox Plugin Dynamic Link Library: npmswmp

In addition to a different media player listing?

I'm thinking the plugin is the issue and what I would do is uninstall it,
then download and install a fresh copy of FF 3 and run a repair or reinstall
on Windows media player

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Answer 67

I have the (exactly):

Microsoft Windows Media Player Firefox Plugin
np-nwsmp.

And it's at the link I gave.

There are other plugins in the list, but none of them are additional Windows Media Player ones.

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Answer 68

The only other thing I found was that some people said that it didn't work fully with Firefox 3 (it's dated from last year). If that's the case, could you find a plugin that does work? Or should I search?

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Answer 69

Well, as I said, I don't have any other plugins that "did not" come with FF as part of the normal install.
So it's not a matter of replacing the plug-in it's a matter of getting rid of it.

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Answer 70

Steve, here's the thing. If I disable it, the player doesn't even show up.

It's actually a little bit amusing how long this has been going on. 70 replies - just between you and I. (179 more views and nobody is willing to step in and wet their feet.)

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Answer 71

Of course MP won't show if you "disable" the plug-in because if you disable it your telling FF not to show MP.

You need to "Uninstall" the plug in not disable it so that FF will revert to using the default MP

Does it show in Control Panel Add remove programs"?

As I said before, uninstall FF if necessary to remove the plug-in and then download / install the latest FF version / update which was 28 June iirc.

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Answer 72

It's not listed in Add/Remove Programs (like some other plugins I have), but I don't think a Firefox uninstall removes all Firefox-related items.

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Answer 73

Aha! I found the .dll for the plugin located in C:/Program Files/Mozilla Firefox/Plugins.

I'm going to remove it from that folder and move it somewhere else in case I needed to restore it.

UPDATE: The plugin is no longer in the list, but like before I installed it Firefox says that I need a plugin to display all the content in the page. I click on "install missing plugins", it finds the WMP 11 Plugin, and says I have to do a manual install. I click manual install, and it takes me back to the same page where I had the original plugin (and it's the same one).

What now?

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Answer 74

You can't just "move" a dll.
You need to uninstall the plug-in to remove the associated registry entries.

As I said before, I would uninstall FF, download the latest and reinstall.

I do "not" have that file in C:/Program Files/Mozilla Firefox/Plugins in my machine,
just the following:
npnul32.dll
NPOFF12.DLL
nppdf32.dll
nppl3260.dll
nprpjplug.dll
npunagi2.dll
npunagi2.xpt

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Answer 75

Oliver, read this:
http://kb.mozillazine.org/Windows_Media_Player#Restoring_the_standard_plugin

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Answer 76

Well thanks for telling me now!

Against my better judgement, I uninstalled Firefox 3 and am combing my C:/ drive as well as the registry for Firefox entries (I am keeping backups of some things, though, and keeping the Web 2.0 entry for Firefox 3).

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Answer 77

Well, Firefox is re-installed, and I went to that link you gave and downloaded the dlls (which weren't on my computer). It seems to fix a couple things up.

Unfortunately, I also have this installed on a Vista laptop, and I'm not sure I want to do all this work all over again. In a few MozillaZine articles, it says just removing the dll will get rid of the plugin, so I suppose I'll do that and download those dlls for the Vista laptop, too.

When I get a chance to test it on both, and it works correctly, I'm probably going to mark a couple of your posts as answers (though not right now).

Thank you for all of your help on this matter,

-O.B.

(Now I have to reinstall extensions, extensions settings, cookie permissions, bookmarks, and passwords... ugh)

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Answer 78

Thanks.
Waiting to hear the results.

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Answer 79

Just thought I'd jump in and say thanks for 'blazing the trail' guys.

I'd add to this if I could but, I have no time to fight this battle right now - I have other skirmishes going on with EW2!

Suffice to say tho' I went as far as "Insert"ing WMP from EW2's insert menu and in FF2 on a Vista Ultimate machine w/Aero turned off I did not see the WMP control dividers. In IE7 - on the same machine (Intel board w/Intel chips) - I do see the dividers! (You know, this has all the aroma about it of 1px css borders displaying differently in IE7 vs. FF2 - and, those little dividers do look like thin borders - albeit small ones!)

Again, thanks for blazing the trail while I bookmark this thread. You just know I & many others will be needing it in the future!

Some weeks I just don't have the youthful (or otherwise) stamina to disect, analyze and resolve yet another software issue from one of the 'Big Players'.

Thank you.

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Answer 80

Thanks for the feedback.
One of the most frustrating things is trying to help someone with a problem that you can't duplicate..
Searching for instructions on how to uninstall the plug-in is what led me to the page that hopefully has the instructions to fix Oliver's issue.

If there was a beer rating system, I'd call this a six beer thread.
;-)

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Answer 81

Well, I'm glad this turned out being a popular thread.

Yes, it looks like the screenshots you posted (finally), though I am hoping that they will drastically improve the player control for future releases, since at 300 width it is just too long. I'm probably going to switch to a Flash or Silverlight Player (though Silverlight doesn't really work perfectly in Firefox 3, either)

In the meanwhile, I'm debating whether switching it to audio instead of video (in code view). MSFT should probably give you an option between the two (which automatically makes the code changes).

Thanks again, Steve.

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Answer 82

And for people who'd rather not read this entire, five-page thread, here's the rough solution:

The plugin I was using was from 07, and not fully compatible with FF 3 (even though it's the only one on the Plugins page and it's mentioned as coming from MSFT), so I uninstalled FF, deleted folders, combed the registry, and downloaded a few dlls that belong to the default WMP plugin.

After that, I changed the default WMP control width from 200 to 300. It is a long box, but it looks the same in IE 7 and Firefox 3. (Honestly, it looks unproffesional and I think I'll switch to Silverlight or a Flash Player, there are plenty of choices on the web).

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Answer 83

Thanks for the feed back Oliver.
Try changing the width to a smaller amount.
I've found that 275px works fine.

I've also found that audio and video look the same.

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Answer 84

Oh, you're welcome.

I'm removing that page I gave earlier (as there's little point keeping it on)...

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Answer 85

A little thought about Silverlight, not that I'm knocking it, but......
A lot of folks refuse to install it because it's from MSFT!!!!

And to be honest, it adds a lot of overhead to a page just like flash.
Ya gotta remember those folks stuck behind 56k dial up modems, and there's a bunch of them.

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Answer 86

True... true... but then again, Windows users are using a MSFT product. And what's the point of not using at least some Silverlight if you buy the full Expression Studio?

The only thing I don't like about Silverlight (not counting the overhead) is that right now, it's very buggy for Firefox 3 (at least, in my case - it won't even display on the expression home page or silverlight.net).

And the Silverlight forums on this issue? "Update the .js!" That still doesn't explain why their pages don't display Silverlight, but that's another story... maybe someday MSFT will make it fully compatible.

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Answer 87

Put yourself on the other end of your modem.
It's great to have the latest and greatest installed on  a machine,
but if your target audience can't view it what have you gained?

The open source browser folks such as FF, Opera and others, aren't going
to fall over backwards making their browser(s) compatible with anything MSFT

I'm not trying to disuade you from using the newest stuff, but the main objective
or a web designer is to create a site that is viewable by everyone.

A perfect example of the most succesful website ever is http://www.google.com

Plain and simple... period.

Also, there's an old but very apt rule, if a page doesn't load in less than 15 seconds, you've lost the visitor.

;-)

Don't design for you, design for the viewer.

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