Flash node - flash content made easy

Flash node is designed to provide a very easy way to upload flash content on to your Drupal website. It creates a new content type that accepts swf (or flv and mp3) files as an upload. It then does all the necessary work to display the flash content on your page.

Because it shields the content author from all the code it is not necessary to know how embed flash content, nor to give users access to input formats like PHP. This means it is especially useful for sites where you want to allow lots of users to be able to add flash content.

It will work "straight out the box" for display of swf content by using simple embedding mark-up. If you also install SWF Tools then flash node will take advantage of this to use features such as javascript embedding methods. By adding SWF Tools flash node also acquires the ability to accept flash video (flv) and mp3 audio files and present them for play back using whichever player is specified in the flash node settings. This means you can use flash node as a very simple audio upload module too.

Flash node also comes with its own macro format so you can re-use flash content from one node in another. The macro provides options for resizing and scaling flash content when it is re-used in other nodes.

If you want to use more complex flash content then flash node lets you pass flashvars to swf files, and if you enable the PHP filter these can even be dynamic to create content such as photo galleries that adapt as your site grows. Flash node also supports, and lets you alter, the base parameter so you can support ActionScript features such as loadMovie more easily.

And if the above means nothings to you and all you want to do is upload simple swf content without having to write a line of code then that's exactly what flash node is for!

Creating simple flash content

Simple content

Example sites using flash node

You can get an idea of the sites that are using Drupal and flash node by following this link. This will open a query in Google that lists

Flash node and SWF Tools

Flash node will take advantage of SWF Tools if it finds it is installed. There are no settings required in flash node - it can tell if SWF

Flash node input filter

When you install flash node it provides a new input filter. By enabling the filter as part of an input format you can you re-use content

Flash node permissions

Flash node provides the following user settings to control what roles are and are not able to do:

Importing multiple/large flash files

If you have a lot of flash material that you want to import, or you have files that are too large to upload via HTTP, then you might want to

Installing flash node

Installation is very straightforward and is not different to installing any other Drupal module.

Javascript substitution text

A new installation of flash node uses direct embedding to output the flash content, using the and tags. That's fine for basic use but

Putting flash in a block

The easiest way to do this is to configure an input format that can use the flash node input filter. Then you create a flash node to hold

Theming flash node

Flash node uses two theme functions to produce output.

Updating from flash node 5 to flash node 6

It is essential that all users of flash node who are moving from Drupal 5 to Drupal 6 read these instructions - failure to do so may break

Use flash node content in a template

You can use flash node as a relatively easy way to add flash content to a template. To do this create the flash node and note the node

Using flash node with FCKeditor

If you are using the FCKeditor module to provide WYSIWYG editing, but switch off the Advanced flash node options then the editor doesn't

Using flash node with content template

A default installation of flash node is configured to put the flash content at the top of the node, just before the body content. With flash

Using flashvars

If you want to use flashvars to create dynamic flash content then this is easily done with flash node. You can set flashvars under Advanced

Using loadMovie, loadSound or xmlData.load and the base parameter

In order to keep the size of flash files down it is possible to separate a large file in to a number of parts and load the other sections as

Using thumbnails with Wijering player

If you are using flash node with the Wijering media player and SWF Tools then it is very easy to set a thumbnail that will display before

Guide maintainers

Stuart Greenfield's picture