Love Director and SlideShowPro Mobile? We need testimonials!
If you’re currently beta testing SlideShowPro Mobile and Director 1.5 and have integrated Director’s new publishing into your site, we’d love to hear from you! For marketing and promotional purposes (both us and you), we’re looking for testimonials we can publish. We’ll of course reciprocate the favor by linking back to your site, so you’ll receive some great return traffic.
Want to submit a testimonial? Here’s how:
1) Send an email to: support AT slideshowpro.net
2) Write about how you’ve used Director and the mobile player, plus a URL to your site.
3) Include your first and last name (or business name) for attribution.
4) Attach a medium-sized photo of yourself (around 250px will be fine).
We’ll pick testimonials from the results and publish them here on the site when Director 1.5 goes live. We appreciate the feedback!
Every day, people from around the world submit web sites to us that use our products, and from those submissions we hand pick the ten most interesting, beautiful, and/or creative works and feature them here as our “Sites of the Month”. As a way of saying ‘thank you’ for making us look so good, each honoree is entitled to a free SlideShowPro t-shirt. If that’s you, contact us to request one.
SITES OF THE MONTH: JULY 2010
Michael GrevesSlideShowPro player, Director
-
Petr AntonovSlideShowPro player
-
SingenuSlideShowPro player
-
Shannon JensenSlideShowPro player, Director, ThumbGrid
-
Nelson D’airesSSlideShowPro player, Director
-
Fabio SteijnSlideShowPro player, Director, ThumbGrid
-
Zera PhotoSlideShowPro player, Director, ThumbGrid
-
Wonder KnackSlideShowPro player
-
Swiss InteractiveSlideShowPro for Flash, ThumbGrid, Director
-
Huntingdon CollegeSlideShowPro player, ThumbGrid, Director
SHARE YOUR OWN EXAMPLE
Build something of your own with our products recently? Share it with us! Your submission will be considered for next month’s roundup.
Director 1.5 beta updated, SlideShowPro Mobile now supports Android
The beta train for SlideShowPro Director 1.5 keeps rolling along. This new build (Build 5394) contains several fixes but most notably is the first beta to include support for Android phones (Android OS 2.0+ required).
One of the more difficult aspects of developing for Android is fragmentation. Unlike iOS, which is used only on Apple devices, Android is used on multiple devices and is often modified to some extent by the manufacturer or the carrier (or both). Because of that, we could really use your help in testing our mobile player if you are running an Android phone (OS 2.0+). You can either try the beta on your own install, or just load up our mobile demo directly. We’d appreciate any and all feedback, and be sure to include what device/OS version you are using. Thanks!
Please note that this is still beta software and should not be used on production websites. We cannot guarantee if it will work or when bugs will be fixed.
New beta of SlideShowPro Director 1.5 / SlideShowPro Mobile available
Over the last week, we’ve had more than 100 early adopters kicking the tires on the SlideShowPro Director 1.5 beta (which also includes SlideShowPro Mobile). Thanks to their testing and feedback, we’ve been able to resolve several issues with the release of the second beta for 1.5, Build 5354. The new beta is available via the in-app upgrade process or the account center.
For more info on the beta, check out the dedicated wiki section for 1.5. We greatly value your feedback, so be sure to drop us a note in the beta form if you encounter any issues or just have a suggestion. Again, thanks for testing!
Please note that this is still beta software and should not be used on production websites. We cannot guarantee if it will work or when bugs will be fixed.
A public beta of Director 1.5, which includes the new SlideShowPro Mobile media player for iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch, as well as integrated slideshow publishing, is now available for users with Director installed on their own servers (hosting subscribers with us will receive the final version).
Because this is technically beta software, we encourage only those who are comfortable upgrading their installations to non-final software install the upgrade. If that’s okay with you, head over to the 1.5 upgrade notes to learn how to upgrade.
Also at the wiki is documentation on the new integrated slideshow publishing, as well as instructions on how to update an existing slideshow to support the mobile player.
As noted earlier, this is technically a beta release, so we ask that you only publish new slideshows or provide the mobile player fallback to existing slideshows on low traffic or non-live sites, just to be safe.
An important note regarding player compatibility: At this time, we only recommend that users of SlideShowPro for Flash or SlideShowPro Standalone attempt to modify their player embed code to support the mobile fallback player. We are working on updates for SlideShowPro for Lightroom and SlidePress that will allow those products to work much more seamlessly with the Director embed code.
We’re offering this beta because we very much want to receive feedback on the work done thus far, and to see if there are any oversights, bugs, or general issues we can assist with. Please contact us if you have feedback.
Our goal is to burn through this beta and get to a final release as quickly as possible. We greatly appreciate everyone’s input and time. Have fun!
New in Director 1.5: slideshow publishing
Back when we announced SlideShowPro Mobile, we explained that the mobile fallback player could be enabled simply by updating your Flash Player embed code (with code provided by us). What we didn’t explain was where the new embed code would come from.
We had a number of options for offering the code (including just plopping it in a wiki document and calling it a day), but one option rose above as the most elegant solution: integrated slideshow publishing. Below is a screenshot:
Director 1.5 (which will be a free upgrade for all Director users) will now allow you to embed a slideshow / photo gallery of any album or gallery without requiring any other products. You simply kick-up the “Embed slideshow” window from inside an album or gallery, choose a style, enter a size, and modify some of the player’s main options. Click “Copy embed code”, paste your clipboard into an HTML document, and you’re done! Desktop users will see the Flash version, while mobile clients (including iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch) will see a clickable poster that leads them to the mobile player.
For new users of Director only interested in the default player, or those who only want to modify a handful of options, this will make slideshow publishing as easy as embedding a YouTube video. And because Director is powering it all, you’ll have a slideshow that works across all desktops, laptops, and compatible mobile devices, as well as the ability to update the content being loaded by both the Flash and mobile player anytime you want.
As an existing user, you may be wondering how your current slideshows factor into this. Here’s how it’ll work. You embed a new slideshow from Director in your HTML document that loads the album or gallery you want to display, then edit the player embed code to point to your own SWF. So you’ll be able to leverage the player embed code Director publishes, include support for the mobile player fallback, while retaining the ability to create your own custom slideshows using one of our SlideShowPro player plugins (including ThumbGrid).
Rest assured, we’ll be posting all the instructions you need (it’ll be easy, really!) at the time Director 1.5 beta drops (which will be this week — maybe even tomorrow).
If you have questions, fire away.
Today we completed work on the 1.5 public beta of SlideShowPro Director that includes the new HTML5 SlideShowPro Mobile player. If nothing catches fire or breaks down over the weekend, you can expect to see a public beta released early next week.
In related news, we’ve posted a demo of SlideShowPro Mobile you can try out. This has all the same content from the demonstration video, plus general improvements.
To view, get your iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad, load this news post, then click this link. That will take you directly to the mobile player itself.
If you try it out and have feedback you’d like to share, we’re all ears.
Oh, and there’s “one more thing” concerning Director 1.5 beta we haven’t written about. We think you’ll like it. Stay tuned!
Today we’re releasing a point update for ThumbGrid 2 that fixes a mathematical rounding problem that would sometimes cause an extra (empty) thumb group to be included. Users of ThumbGrid 2 can download the product update through the account center.
We’ve received a number of questions concerning the recently announced SlideShowPro Mobile. Below are the most common questions with answers. If you have a question not addressed here, contact us.
When will it be available?
The mobile player will be included as part of a SlideShowPro Director 1.5 beta release, which we plan on offering before the end of this month (July).
Is this an add-on for Director I’ll need to purchase?
Nope! SlideShowPro Mobile will be bundled with SlideShowPro Director for free. Any self-install or hosted setup of Director will receive it as part of an application point update. If you don’t have Director, you can purchase it now and receive the mobile player when available.
Can I be a beta tester?
Sure – anyone with a self-install of SlideShowPro Director will be able to try the beta.
I’ve got an iPad/iPhone. Is there a live demo I can try?
We’ll be posting one soon. Watch this space.
What about other mobile devices, like Android?
We’ve focused on Apple’s devices out-of-the-gate not only because of their popularity, but also because they cannot (and may never) support Flash content. So it was important that we addressed those devices first. Android users have (or will soon receive) the Flash Player, so a fallback isn’t absolutely necessary. Nonetheless, we will be including mobile player support for Android, and will look into other platforms thereafter.
Will SlideShowPro Director be required?
Yes. From a usability perspective, it was important to us that the mobile player be easy to implement, and that you wouldn’t be responsible for an entirely separate content creation workflow. Additionally, the mobile player requires some back-end functionality that would be difficult to implement without a centralized application behind the scenes. Director provides the platform for all of the above.
Will both self-install and hosted versions of Director be compatible?
In the final release, yes. The beta test will be first offered to self-install users before deployment on the hosted platform.
I use SlideShowPro for Flash / Lightroom / Standalone. Will the mobile player provide a fallback for it?
Yes. The mobile player can be implemented as a fallback for any SWF loading content from SlideShowPro Director.
Will I need to re-encode / upload my videos?
If your videos are encoded as FLVs or F4Vs, yes, they will need to be re-encoded / uploaded as H.264 in order for them to be viewable in the mobile player. We plan on providing tips and suggestions for video content creation before a final release.
Why mobile? Why not desktop?
We believe that (on the desktop) Flash is still the best delivery method for photo/video galleries and slideshows for it provides the most consistent user experience across all browsers and the broadest range of playback and customization options. As HTML5 support matures across all desktop browsers, we’ll continue to look into alternate presentation options.
Can the mobile player be embedded in my own HTML page?
No. The mobile player has to be served from a special page published by SlideShowPro Director so that user agent and display resolution can be detected, and the player’s user interface fits the screen as intended.
Will the mobile player have all the customization options the Flash player has?
No. We’ve purposely designed the mobile player to feel like a native app on the device, and abstracting from that would erode usability and unnecessarily bloat the player file size (which is crucially important on mobile). You will be able to customize the poster graphic (see video) however you want, but mobile player options will be kept to a minimum.
Will people be able to copy images?
No. Photos aren’t recognized as such by the iPad/iPhone/iPod Touch and thus are not made available to save locally.
Can the mobile player’s orientation be rotated?
Yes. You can rotate the device for either portrait or landscape and the player will adjust automatically.
What about the iPhone 4′s Retina display? Will that be supported?
You bet. We purposely developed the interface using only CSS3 and SVG so that everything scales. As for images, higher resolution versions will be published by SlideShowPro Director. Net result? A super high resolution photo gallery that looks as good as a native application.
Note (7/14/2010): SlideShowPro Director 1.5 beta, which includes SlideShowPro Mobile, is now available.
Chances are by now you’re probably aware of the fact that the Adobe Flash Player is not available on mobile devices manufactured by Apple — including the iPod Touch, iPhone and iPad. There are a variety of opinions on the topic, which you’ll have no trouble finding online, but one thing is for certain. Because the SlideShowPro player utilizes the Flash Player plugin, any slideshows, photo galleries or video players you create will not be viewable on these devices. And unless something changes with Apple’s relationship with Adobe, they may never be.
Two months ago we chimed in with our own thoughts on Flash, with the added promise that (as a business) we would continue to develop products that solved real problems for our customers, regardless of technology or how people accessed the internet. Today we’re delivering on that promise.
SlideShowPro Mobile is an entirely new media player built using HTML5 that doesn’t require the Flash Player plugin and can serve as a fallback for users accessing your web sites using these devices. But it’s not just any fallback — it’s specially designed for touch interfaces and smaller screen sizes. So it looks nothing like the SlideShowPro player and more like a native application that’s intuitive, easy to use, and just feels right.
The best part though is that because SlideShowPro Director (which will be required) publishes the mobile content, you’ll be able to provide the mobile alternative by simply updating the Flash Player embed code in your HTML documents. And just like when using the SlideShowPro player, because Director is behind the scenes, all your photos will be published for the target dimensions of these devices — which gives your users top quality, first generation images. The mobile player will automatically load whatever content is assigned to the Flash version, so the same content will be accessible to any browser accessing your web site.
We’re currently putting the finishing touches on a public beta for the mobile player, and will be providing more information on that in the next few weeks. For now though, click the image below to watch a 10 minute overview video. Enjoy!
(Photo top credit: Erin Purcell. Creative Commons, some rights reserved.)
News subscriptions
Stay where you are. We'll push the news to you.
Subscribe to RSS feed Follow SlideShowPro on Twitter
