SlideShowPro News

03.31.05 | SlideShowPro 1.0.5 Released

Here we go folks -- a piping hot new update, and the largest one created thus far. There are a number of important bug fixes (including the nasty loadMovie() bug and the random playback issue), some new customization options (custom colors for the preloader, the numerical navigation background and more), plus a big new feature -- permalinks!

I've received countless emails from people asking if it was possible to link directly to a particular album and/or image in SlideShowPro, and until now the answer was no. But thanks to some crafty JavaScript and a very small addition to your XML file, SlideShowPro can now behave just like HTML -- without those annoying page refreshes. Click on a number, and the document path automatically updates with a direct link to that image. You don't have to use permalinks if you don't want to -- SlideShowPro will function just the same as always without them -- but for those of you who've been asking about this, I'm sure you'll love it. The Black Matte demo has been updated with the new permalink functionality, if you'd like to see it in action.

For more information about setting up permalinks, check out this new tutorial. Also read the version history to see all the other things that have been updated / modified as well. Last but certainly not least, login to the User section to download 1.0.5.

03.29.05 | Random Mode / Auto Switch

There's a bug in version 1.0.4 of SlideShowPro when displaying more than one album in random mode, and "Auto Switch Albums" is set to "True." SSP simply doesn't progress to the next album as it should, and instead repeatedly refreshes the first album. A fix is already in the works and will be included in 1.0.5.

Speaking of 1.0.5, expect the latest update later this week or weekend. It will include a number of bug fixes, plus some great (and much requested) new features to look forward to.

03.23.05 | Now accepting Moneybookers

I've been repeatedly asked by potential buyers from countries not supported by PayPal for an alternate payment provider, and after considering a lot of different options I settled on moneybookers.com. They have the broadest international support, and were the most PayPal-like for processing credit cards and other forms of payment.

That said, PayPal is still the preferred method of payment for new orders. SlideShowPro is immediately (and automatically) made available after submitting payment. Moneybookers doesn't offer this level of service. Any orders though Moneybookers will be manually processed, which depending on day and time could take an hour, or much longer depending on my schedule. But at least there is an backup option available.

03.20.05 | CF Manager for SlideShowPro

Developer Ryan Guill has released the first public beta of CF Manager -- a new SlideShowPro administration tool built in ColdFusion. It resizes images, handles all your album and image organization, supports multiple users, and automatically publishes an XML file. It's open source, and completely free too (though a little donation wouldn't hurt if you'd like to support continued development). Download it, and read the installation instructions to get going. My personal thanks to Ryan for not only building such a fantastic utility, but for making it open source as well.

03.18.05 | SlideShowPro 1.0.4 Released

A small update -- just one bug fixed -- but it's a squishy one. Version 1.0.3 unwittingly introduced a start-up bug that would cause the first image loaded into SSP to *blink* if it were cached by the web browser or if a movie was loaded locally. This was causing heavy stress with some who upgraded to 1.0.3, so I fixed it as quickly as possible (it wasn't an easy one to find) and decided to push this out before embarking on other tasks. If you're a user of SSP, log-in to your User account to download the latest update.

And by the way...there's a special (and free) treat coming for users of SlideShowPro in the near future. I can't say more about at this time, but I'm sure some of you will love it. More soon.

03.15.05 | Loading SSP into another swf issue

There appears to be an intermittent issue with loading a swf containing SlideShowPro inside of another movie clip. Sometimes it loads just fine, other times it loads without a navigation, other times not at all. Some developers I have spoken to have had better luck loading an external swf containing SSP into a level than using a movie clip, but in general, I would highly recommend keeping an eye on this until I have time to root out the cause.

This is only affects those who are loading SSP into another Flash movie. If you're publishing a single swf and loading it, this has no affect on you. More soon.

Update (3/19/05): This behavior has been found to affect versions 1.0.3 and 1.0.4. If you are using 1.0.2 or earlier, and are loading SSP into a parent movie, wait until 1.0.5 is released before upgrading. A fix is already in the works, and will be rolled into 1.0.5 (which should be out very soon).

03.12.05 | New tutorial: How to dynamically assign an XML file

A new tutorial has been posted to the Tutorials section -- How to dynamically assign an XML file. It was written to help the many people who wrote in asking either how to change the XML file their movies loaded without re-publishing, or those who wanted to use SlideShowPro in a CMS environment. If interested, check it out!

03.10.05 | 1.0.3 is available...again

Well that was fun. 1.0.3 has returned, and is now available for download in the User section. The "Auto Switch Albums" bug that caused it to be pulled this morning has been fixed, and actually works better than ever now. So give it a go and login to grab it.

1.0.3 Pulled

1.0.3 was (unknowingly) breaking the behavior of "Auto-Switch Albums", so I pulled the file. Sorry for the inconvenience and confusion. If you downloaded 1.0.3 and haven't installed it, don't. If you've already updated, don't update any of your previously created movies. If you need to use SSP, remove 1.0.3 in the Extension Manager and reinstall 1.0.2, which you can find in the Users section.

03.09.05 | SlideShowPro 1.0.3 Released

1.0.3 is now available for all registered users to download. Bug fixes, a change to the start-up behavior of the app, and a few other items of interest. To see what's new in this release, see Version History. Also see "How to Update" if you haven't upgraded in the past.

Login to your account to download the update.

03.08.05 | Frame rate suggestion

One of the things I've noticed when seeing slide shows created by others is that nearly everyone is either not adjusting the default frame rate of their movie, or they're not setting it as high as it could be. By default, Flash MX 2004 creates new documents with a frame rate of 12fps, which is way too slow (please, Macromedia, up this). I always start with a setting of 31fps. Why? Animations are smoother, applications are more responsive, and '31' in particular has produced the most consistent cross-platform results for my work. (You can read more about the 'magic frame rate' here).

All that said, don't be afraid to push your frame rates even higher than 31 -- the online demos of SSP on this site all use 60fps. It doesn't sound logical, considering that the human eye isn't capable (or so I've heard) of detecting higher frame rates than 30 or so, but 60 adds some extra butter to the mix for a very snappy, smooth feel.

So in summary, make a habit of changing your movie's frame rate each and every time you create a new document in Flash for use with SSP or anything else.

03.07.05 | Free pixel fonts from Mean Tangerine

Mean Tangerine, maker of fine pixel fonts for Flash and more, has kindly made available to registered users of SlideShowPro two free pixel font families -- MT Resolution and MT Disclosure -- for you to use when building your slide shows. Mac and Windows versions are available as a single download. Login to your user account to get them both. Thanks MT!

03.04.05 | tnPath bug

How this snuck into the released 1.0.2 update when it had been fixed beforehand is beyond me, but a bug in regard to tnPath is still out there. If you set "tnPath" to an empty attribute, or remove it from the album element, and keep "Show Thumbnails" set to "True," a white 'loading' box will still appear above the numbered navigation when engaged by a user. I had updated this (or so I thought) so that the box would only appear if a thumbnail image was found -- so you can mix albums with and without thumbnails -- but something fell out of the cart on the way to market. I'll get it nailed down for 1.0.3.

SlideShowPro now on the Macromedia Exchange

It took a while, but SlideShowPro has finally found its way through Macromedia's rigorous QA testing process and has been added to the Macromedia Exchange. Nothing special really -- just a link back this site -- but at least people will know that Macromedia has poked and prodded and given it the thumbs up.

03.02.05 | Forums are open!

You wanted forums? You got 'em. Check out the new SlideShowPro support forums. They are open to anyone willing to register. Keep in mind that this is brand new, and there could be some formatting bugs along the way to work out, but from what I can tell it appears to be working just fine. So if you have any troubleshooting questions, requests, bug reports, or want to show off your creation, sign up and post!

(And by the way, I highly recommend PunBB if you're looking for open-source forum software. Very easy to use, and the markup it generates is incredibly clean and light).

PicMark

If you use OS X and are interested in applying watermarks to your images (a question that's been asked of me a few times lately) you should definitely check out PicMark. Lots of filters, options, and very easy to use. And it's free too.

03.01.05 | Backup merchant

I've received numerous requests from people outside of the US -- and some that simply don't like PayPal -- that have inquired about alternate an alternate payment provider. I've looked at 2checkout, but they have a rather stiff sign-up fee (which is bizarre considering they take a chunk out of whatever you sell). If anyone has a suggestion for a service similar to PayPal, without sign-up fees, and can process international payments, please drop me a line.