Help Embedding Downloadable Music Files Below Audio Player
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Hello,
I was hoping to get some information on how to present music downloads correctly for my users through my wordpress blog. On many wordpress blogs I have seen the expandable arrow audio player followed by a download link placed right below. Often times users can click the file to stream a quicktime version of the song, while they can right-click it to download it straight to their computer. Here is an example of what I am referring to
http://sarcasmandthecity.wordpress.com/2009/07/14/july-14-album-releases/
I am sure this is not a difficult task but I was hoping to get some direction from the folks here. Thank you -
hey there... you linked to my blog, so this is how i did it.
i have a free wordpress.com blog. they have their own audio player. if you have a free wordpress.com blog (different from wordpress.ORG) then the code is [audio http://wherevereyouhostyourfiles.com/song.mp3] . i host my mp3s on my godaddy account. hope that helps. -
i like FoxyTunes, a FireFox add on. the main feature is that it syncs with itunes, pandora, etc as you listen to whatever music you play. but it also adds the yahoo music player automatically to whatever mp3 is on a blog you view. i'm thinking of just informing my blog readers of that feature and suggesting they add it if they use firefox. i've had no problems w/ it whatsoever and i love that it automatically streams.
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Ok this makes sense. Thank you for the responses. Specifically though, I am looking for direction on how to the downloadable file BELOW the audio player. As I said, I'm looking to figure out how to post the download link so that if you click the link it will take you to a streaming quicktime page that plays the song and if you RIGHT-CLICK the file it will download straight to your computer.
Thanks so much for the guidance thus far. I appreciate it very much. -
Weird Sean, I've had no problems with the yahoo one, and I go to my site often (as it has my favourite bookmarks for other sites) and have had no problems on either computer (or my wife on a different browser on either of her computers)... Hmmmm...
And W&B, don't know about BELOW, but if you look at the yahoo one, it's a little circle with an play triangle in it next to the link. The link is very separate and allows d/l's while things are streaming in the player that shoots out.
Beyond that, no clue man. -
Thanks Tsuru I actually used to use the yahoo player and recently switched to a mixpod player. However for my wordpress blog I am using their own player. When I say BELOW I am referring specifically to the clickable link. Here is an example from this site:
http://wearebinary.blogspot.com/2009/07/hey-champ-cold-dust-girl-only-children.html
If you scroll down and click on the file link: "Hey Champ - Cold Dust Girl (Only Children Remix)" It will take you to a quicktime screen where the song automatically streams. It seems as though the file is from box.net as the url reads http://www.box.net/shared/static/8de69a3if4.mp3 after I click on it. THANK YOU ALL FOR THE ASSISTANCE! -
Yeah, you shouldn't have to do anything to get the quicktime stream. That's the default when you click on most any mp3 link.
@Tsuru - It happens to me on both my Mac and my PC. I'll go to say, leave a comment, and the Yahoo player will randomly start. I'm not sure what causes it, but it drives me crazy. -
I can't access that yahoo player on any blog on my apple laptop (it's a couple years old, slow but not antiquated), that's always a turnoff and why I don't use that player
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i quite like Streampad
http://www.streampad.com/ -
Tart - seriously? Hmm, I've never noticed anything like that. Weird, and somewhat annoying.
Tsuru - Matthew is me: http://songbytoad.com -
ah, thanks & sorry.... there's quite a few matts in the bloggin' world for some reason. I've used your streamers (that's fun to say, "streamers") on TSURURADIO before, didn't care for them too much... Yahoo's nice because there's nothing to do, it's in and it does the rest. but, I'm checking into streampad now.
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love it, just added it to songs:illinois and swedesplease, btw tsuru - you could add the delicious playtagger thing as well as using streampad like I do on songs:illinois, check it out I think it's the solution you want:
http://www.songsillinois.net -
actually not so fast, streampad is not working on Swedesplease
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http://delicious.com/help/playtagger
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Tried them all, playtagger, steampad, the excellent yahoo-er (excellent on firefox (only) that is) but I've found nirvana with this:
http://1bit.markwheeler.net/ -
Nice nice nice.
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(Disclosure: I am speaking as the former lead on the yahoo player, but don't work for yahoo any more)
The Wordpress.com player is known as the 1pixelout player. See http://www.1pixelout.net/code/audio-player-wordpress-plugin/ . IMO this player was great at the time but now is pretty lagging edge. for example, to skip from song to song you have to stop the first instance before starting the second. With more modern players like streampad and yahoo media player you don't have to stop the previous song manually. The Mark Wheeler player and Playtagger have that problem too.
This behavior is *always* the default for a user with the Quicktime plugin: "if you click the link it will take you to a streaming quicktime page that plays the song and if you RIGHT-CLICK the file it will download straight to your computer." But that doesn't work on Linux or Android, or on Windows out of the box, or anywhere else without Quicktime.
The streampad player is really nice. It adopts some features of the yahoo player and makes some improvements. That's by the same guy who originally did PlayTagger. (The Streampad player is now owned and operated by AOL, I think).
The way they do the download link at http://wearebinary.blogspot.com/2009/07/hey-champ-cold-dust-girl-only-children.html is (1) using 1pixelout player (2) specially formatted link in your post to insert that player (3) another link to the mp3 for somebody to click on. To do the same with yahoo media player use this code as a template:
click here to download -
The audio plugin for Wordpress doesn't require you to manually stop the previous song. When you click on the new song, the previous instance will automatically close.
For example, on this post, if I'm playing Edith Piaf but then click on Francoise Hardy, the Edith Piaf player will automatically close. Perhaps it didn't in an old version, but it definitely does now.
And having just installed Streampad, yes that's definitely an AOL product. -
You're right about the 1pixout player not requiring you to stop the previous song. (Though that doesn't apply to playtagger or the Mark Wheeler player). Not sure what the story is on whether that's a change or was always that way.
Still, the 1pixelout player is IMO not competitive at this point. For example the pause button goes offscreen when you scroll through the document, so users have to hunt to find how to turn off the music when the phone rings. It doesn't auto-playlist the page or do any playlisting at all. It conceals the MP3 link, so that a user can't even click directly on the MP3 when on iPhone or another setup w/ broken Flash.
BTW I am digging batteryinyourleg. It's a new discovery for me. -
Thanks for the compliment Lucas!
I think Playtagger will just attempt to stream each new instance, which I definitely found frustrating. The main issue I had with the Yahoo player was the bug I mentioned before, where it will suddenly stream a song (though as Tart pointed out, that might have been a hotkey issue, I don't know). I also didn't like the fact that you couldn't skin it. The kind of bland gray color never seemed to fit the site's color scheme. Whereas that Pixelout player is pretty simple in terms of customization.
I see what you're getting at, definitely. I think the Streampad player seems best for the playlist/scrolling feature. And that you can pop it out in its own window, so if you're skipping around different pages on a site it can stay with you. I think that's a key advantage. Their blog also says the new version they're working on will have custom color schemes, so I'm looking forward to that -
Dunno about the suddenly streaming thing. I haven't heard of it before, though that doesn't mean it didn't happen...
About skinning, you have to have an appetite for CSS hacking. Maybe I'll do a web app to generate the customization CSS. But maybe not. It's time for me to move on. :) -
"Is that any different than playtagger really? Seems like the same basic thing."
The main difference is the ease with which it can be customised, plus playtagger is a pain to align correctly. -
Between the Yahoo Player and Streampad is my perfect player.
I like how the Yahoo Player adds a play button before each track without the need for any [] or other markup. Using the Wordpress plugin for the Yahoo Player also enables you to use your own Amazon affiliate ID for the shopping cart which is nice.
However, I would like the default effect of clicking on the mp3 link (not the play button) to be downloading the mp3. Anyone know how to do this? This is obviously how it is with Streampad, but they don't offer the play button next to each song which I really like...
The playlist features on both are really useful options as well. -
Well I finally got round to having a look at customising it, and have removed the learn more about this player link and a couple of other things from the Yahoo player.
- All info from what I guess is Lucas' blog at - http://gonze.com/blog/2009/01/16/bizepsorat-goose-hacks/
Now just for that link to download not play... -
Tim, to download not play what you do is make two links, one for playing and one for downloading. Like this:
click here to download
Yah, that is my blog. -
oops now I'm hiving a problem with Streampad; I'm getting this message after I post something via Wordpress. Any ideas?
Warning: domxml_open_mem() [function.domxml-open-mem]: xmlParseEntityRef: no name in /home/cbonnell/songsillinois.net/wp-content/plugins/streampad/class-Streampad_DB_Manage.php on line 82
Warning: Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /home/cbonnell/songsillinois.net/wp-content/plugins/streampad/class-Streampad_DB_Manage.php:82) in /home/cbonnell/songsillinois.net/wp-includes/pluggable.php on line 850 -
SoundCloud now has a Wordpress plugin - http://en.blog.wordpress.com/2009/08/13/soundcloud/ - if they could just add a playlist feature...
I just wish SoundCloud was cheaper - even my lazy blogging has more than 15 mp3s per month.
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