ShockWave Flash

ShockWave Flash (SWF) files are a convenient option for adding animations and other dynamic content to a GooglePage. Many experts agree that Flash technology is currently often overused and abused, e.g., when overindulged by enthusiastic users of certain social networking sites or when used in ads (or other forced content) that resist blocking. But moderate use of well-designed Flash animation can help to make a webpage look more interesting, entertaining, or professional. With their essentially unlimited bandwidth and fast servers, GooglePages are an excellent way to host, for example, a collection of Flash movies.

Flash Content on GooglePages

Adding Flash content to a GooglePage is simplest when using one self-contained SWF file.

  • upload the SWF file into the GooglePages directory
  • in GPC HTML Editor, add the associated HTML code to the place on the page where Flash content will be displayed
  • around the Flash HTML code, add a DIV wrapper, which can be used to control the position of the Flash content on the page
  • "Save Changes" and "Publish" the GooglePage

Example of SFW on a GooglePage

A simple example chosen for this page is a Halloween-themed SWF 3D animation of a rotating skull from the free ShockWave and Flash collection offered by FlashFast. The following HTML code is used to add the corresponding SWF file to this GooglePage.

<div style="width: 320px; height: 240px; margin: 2em auto;">
<object classid=
"clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000"
codebase="http://download.macromedia.com
/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,29,0" height="240" width="320">
<param name="movie" value="halloweenskull.swf">
<param name="quality" value="high">
<embed src="halloweenskull.swf" quality="high" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com
/go/getflashplayer" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" height="240" width="320">
</object></div>

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Known Issues and Caveats

The above procedure is not known to cause the type of adverse effects that can occur when JavaScript code is added to a GooglePage. Flash HTML code is more benign than JS, most likely because the AJAX-based GPC does not parse or execute the code associated with Flash objects. So the only advisable precaution is adding a DIV wrapper around the Flash object.

The major caveat for adding complex Flash content, i.e., more than a single self-contained SWF file, is that such content by default is often implemented using a particular directory structure (e.g., an /images directory used to store images for a Flash-based slideshow). GooglePages currently cannot have subdirectories, so there are two possible options for implementing complex Flash content.

  • the Flash code can be modified to work within a single directory
  • the Flash code can be modified to load content from a remote server that allows the required directory structure

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