Author Topic: m4v File is Prompting Download Instead of Playing in Browser Like m4a...why?  (Read 14158 times)

awarner20

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Hi all,

I've been running PowerPress successfully on this site for over a year and today they linked to an .m4v file for the first time instead of the normal .mp3 and .m4a they usually link to. When clciking on the PowerPress Bluburry play button, instead of loading a little quicktime player in another browser window, users are being prompted to download the file.

It was my understanding that .m4a and .m4v should behave the same way. Am I mistaken? This file came from an outside source so maybe the export settings weren't set to fast-streaming or something?

You can see the behavior here:
http://webtalkradio.net/2011/03/02/mcloughlin-at-work-%E2%80%93-salary-tutor-with-jim-hopkinson/

And this is a normal post using an .m4a:
http://webtalkradio.net/2010/04/19/mcloughlin-at-work-%E2%80%93-duncan-leadership-institute-and-flip-the-funnel/

Can anyone help me figure out what might be going on here or how I can further troubleshoot?

p.s. I've downloaded the file and I'm on a Mac so I could potentially save as another format and test....

mgdell

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I'm not getting prompted to download in the links you gave.  It could be browser settings that is causing this or file associations on the computer they are using.  I'm using a Mac with both Firefox and Chrome.  Both of your links worked the same.  (Play in new window) when I clicked the play button)

-Mike

awarner20

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I just talked with the client and they have since changed the file type to .m4a...it now works for me as well. They are still experiencing push back from their customer who is insisting on .m4v file type (for whatever reason).

angelo

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Make sure you have Quicktime installed on the computer you want to play m4v or m4a files on. That may be the issue.

awarner20

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I'm on a Mac...Firefox and Safari...Quicktime installed. Will be updating this site's core WP along with PowerPress and other plugins and will update this thread after.

angelo

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M4a is restored to using the quicktime embed by default. If you want to switch to hml5/FlowPlayerClasisc, you need to go to PowerPress settings > Appearance tab and enable the option at the bottom.

awarner20

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Hi Angelo,

I have changed my settings to use the Flow Player Classic player but an .m4a file still opens a new window and loads quicktime to play. The .m4a also shows no images.

1. How can I get this to play in Flow Player?
2. Could it be a corrupt .m4a file?

The page I'm seeing this behavior on is here:
http://webtalkradio.net/2011/03/02/mcloughlin-at-work-%E2%80%93-salary-tutor-with-jim-hopkinson/

Any guidance or suggestions for further testing are appreciated.

p.s. I do not have the Media Format Settings checked. See sceenshot.
« Last Edit: March 29, 2011, 01:29:42 pm by awarner20 »

awarner20

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I downloaded that m4a, opened in GarageBand, and discovered there was no image associated with it. I added image and resaved as m4a so now the image can be seen.

My first question stills stands:

1. How can I get this to play in Flow Player?


angelo

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Go to the PowerPress menu on the left, select 'Audio Player'. Make sure 'Flow Player Classic' is selected. All m4a will now play with this player.

awarner20

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Ah, I am starting to see where my confusion my be coming from. Currently they have the 1 pixel out Audio Player as the selected audio player. They have this player's colors customized to match the site. They are also posting mostly .mp3 but some are .m4a and .mov, .mp4.

If I select Flow Player Classic, then this is used for both audio and video yes?
And then the videos should play inside the player instead of opening in new window?
And .m4a images will still show?

Thank you for any clarifications you can add. I am deeply appreciative of your help.

awarner20

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I am seeing intermittent behavior. I have tested on another site using PowerPress with a couple of test posts using the same m4a and move file urls I've been using and on one page load they play in window and another they open in new window. Changes upon browser too. I will post back here in a few hours with a detailed report of what I have tried.

angelo

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We just released an update 2.0.2, there's a significant differences specifically to m4a in this update. from 2.0.2 and on, here's the situation:

m4a is treated like it was in 1.0.x versions of PowerPress without any setting changes. If you want m4a to play in Flow Player Classic rather than as a Quicktime embed (old method of embedding m4a into web page), then you first need to go to Appearance Settings tab and go to the bottom and make sure you check the option for including m4a in Flow Player Classic. Then you need to go to the Audio player settings page and make sure you have the Flow Player Classic configured. Using a different audio player in the case of m4a means that the Quicktime embed is the only option as the other audio players cannot play m4a.

Flow Player Classic can display artwork. To do so is another option you can configure, under Appearance settings again near the bottom.

awarner20

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Angelo,

Thank you for the clarification.

I must be seeing a plugin or theme conflict because I have v2.0.2 of PowerPress installed on two separate sites. I have the settings identical, yet on one site the same .m4a plays within the PowerPress video window (with Quicktime embed which is fine) and on the other site, it opens in a new browser tab and plays within that new page.

Site with .m4a playing in post with Quicktime embed: (this is good and what I'm trying to accomplish on the other site)
http://wpprobusiness.com/1850/testing-powerpress-video/

Site that .m4a opens in new browser tab/window. i.e. Does not play in place with Quicktime embed:
http://webtalkradio.net/2011/03/02/mcloughlin-at-work-%E2%80%93-salary-tutor-with-jim-hopkinson/

You may remember that I also have that custom function pulling the latest post and PowerPress content into a page. I removed that function and tested without it with the same result.

I also have the ShadowboxJS plugin installed that opens movies and images in a pop-up box, but I have that set to only affect .flv videos, and only those with a rel=shadowbox spec. Regardless, I also deactivated this plugin with no luck.

There are many other plugins on this install that I will have to deactivate one by one in order to test, but from my list I don't see any that would affect something like this, but who knows.

I wonder if it could be something in the theme being used?

My settings on both sites:
PowerPress-->Media Appearance-->Media Format Settings - Media Format Settings - "use FlowPlayer Classic....etc." is unchecked on both sites.
PowerPress-->Settings-->Audio Player: Both sites are using the 1 pixel out Audio Player
PowerPress-->Settings-->Video Player: Both sites using Flow Player Classic. Player width/height=blank. Quicktime scale=ToFit (default). Include play icon over poster image when applicable=checked.

If there's anything anyone can think of for me to check, I'm all ears...:)


angelo

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your right on with your thinking, open the JavaScript error console in your browser when you click to play and you will see a JavaScript error. Looks like some sort of Google Analytics plugin may be corrupting the onclick event for PowerPress.

awarner20

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Thanks so much!, and here's what I found that has solved the issue!

The Google Analytics plugin is Google Analytics for WordPress by Yoast. http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/google-analytics-for-wordpress/

The first thing I did was deactivate this plugin and test the .m4a. It played in place with the Quicktime embed as desired. Yay!

I looked a little deeper at the javascript error you alerted me to:
Code: [Select]
Error: syntax error
Source File: http://webtalkradio.net/shows/mcloughlin-at-work/
Line: 1, Column: 110
Source Code:
javascript:_gaq.push(['_trackEvent','outbound-article','media.blubrry.com']);return powerpress_embed_quicktime(

...and that struck a cord. Specifically the
Code: [Select]
_gaq.push(['_trackEvent','outbound-article' part because the outbound article event tracking is a feature of this plugin.

In the Google Analytics for WordPress plugin settings, I simply unchecked the "Track outbound clicks & downloads:" option and presto!, Quicktime play in place embeds! Whoo hoo! (see attached for settings screenshot)

Thank you so much for your patience and help with this issue. I hope other PowerPress users benefit from this!