In this Issue...
 INTRO |
Changes at the speed-of-Internet
I'm beginning to think that changes on the Internet are approaching the speed-of-light. I guess if you
think about the fact that most of the Internet
backbone runs on fiber optics then it is moving as
light over the wire. No wonder change happens
as fast as it does. Whew...Catch your breath
and hold on!
This April issue addresses two of the biggest
changes many of us are faced with today. Funny
that Microsoft is in the middle of both of them. As
expected, they must be one of the biggest 'change
agents' -- both proactive and reactive -- that we all face
in our business.
Our first article provides a workaround to
address a recent update by Microsoft to Internet
Explorer, which requires users to activate ActiveX
controls before they use the control. Microsoft
has recently started delivering this hotfix as part of a
security update through Windows Automatic Update.
This update, as a result of the Eolas/Microsoft
lawsuit, has a direct impact on the use of Flash
navigation and other Flash elements that allow for
user interaction. Fortunately, the site user only
has to click the ActiveX control once to activate
the control and once to use the control. The user
does not need make any updates in the IE browser
options (actually, there is no option to do
this). Unfortunately, this new browser experience is
not ideal for the user and definitely not preferable
for
the site owner.
Here, we introduce
you to a solution called SWFObject that will allow
you to modify your site's HTML code to avoid the
need for your site users to activate the ActiveX
control. Even better, the code provides a number of
additional features that help with search engine
optimization and alternate content. I highly
recommend reviewing the article, our written
tutorial, and our video demo for implementing the
code.
In our second article I'll provide a brief on
Microsoft's upcoming changes with FrontPage, and
address some confusion that has been caused by their
announcements. Don't panic... there is an upgrade
path for everyone. I recommend reading this article to better
understand what's coming and what position PixelMill
will be taking with the new products.
We're also extending our Customer Satisfaction
Survey to this issue. We have received a good
response, but would like to hear from more of you.
It is important that we receive your input. The
results of this survey will help drive the
development of more detailed surveys, as well as
drive our plans for site and product
updates. Don't forget that your participation
includes a $5 credit to your PixelMill account.
by Jason Reckers, President
& CEO - PixelMill Inc.
 FEATURE |
Flash Embed and Detection
A few months ago we had an article about the
FlashObject code by Geoff Starnes. At the time, it
was simply a helpful tool for Flash detection and
search engine optimization and as a preemptive
strike to a planned IE 7 update to ActiveX controls.
Within the past few weeks this solution has taken on
a much more immediate role as a workaround to
Microsoft's accelerated delivery of the ActiveX
update in Internet Explorer 6. As a result of their
lawsuit with Eolas, Microsoft has recently started
delivering this hotfix as part of a security update
through Windows Automatic Update.
This article,
along with our written and video tutorials, should
help you understand how to address this issue and
also take advantage of the other features that
Geoff's solution offers.
Within the last week, the code has been updated
and
renamed to SWFObject ("swiff-object"). Now
it's easier than ever to learn how to use Geoff's
code in your own web site by following my brand-new
video tutorial.
Why use the SWFObject embed code?
- It allows you to provide alternative,
searchable content for both users who don't have
Flash and for search engines.
- It automatically detects if the viewer has
the Flash Player - if not, then they see your
alternative content.
- It bypasses Internet Explorer security
issues; someone with a high security setting
will see your alternative content if IE tries to
block the Flash.
- It bypasses the Internet Explorer Eolas
patent hotfix, which causes normal Flash code to
require an extra click for interaction.
- It helps your code to have validated HTML,
while normal Flash embedding code will cause
your HTML code to fail validation.
The SWFObject embed code is simple enough to use to
embed basic movies (like Flash intros), but complex
enough to handle multiple movies on a page or when
variables are passed to the Flash movie via the HTML
code. View this 12 minute video tutorial to see the
step-by-step process of integrating the SWFObject code
into your own web site. The video can go hand-in-hand
with the written article on the PixelMill site -- it may
make it easier to copy and paste the code that you need.
Go to our
SWFObject Tutorial today to get started.
by Corrie Haffly, Senior
Multimedia Developer - PixelMill Inc.
 SURVEY | Customer Satisfaction
Extended over from this month's first newsletter,
the following is a link to the first in a series of surveys that PixelMill will be conducting in 2006.
We kept this survey short (2-3 minutes) to just get a general feel for your satisfaction with PixelMill and our products. Future surveys will go into more detail, so we can better understand what products, support, and services will best suit your needs.
At the end of the survey, provide us your
PixelMill username or email address and we will
apply a $5 credit to your PixelMill account for a
future purchase. Thank you to everyone who has
already taken the survey.
April 2006 Customer Satisfaction Survey
We appreciate your participation!
 ARTICLE |
The Future of FrontPage
Many of you have probably heard that Microsoft has
decided to drop FrontPage. This announcement has
resulted in a number speculation articles and blogs
that seem to have created more confusion in the
market. I agree that the dialogue and viewpoints are
important, but often they don't tell the whole
story, just as my short article will only provide a
brief viewpoint from the PixelMill perspective. As
always, I encourage you to do the appropriate level
of research and make the analysis you feel is best
for your situation.
I have been asked a number of times, "What's
PixelMill going to do now that FrontPage is going
away?" and "What will happen to FrontPage sites?" My
answer is "Don't worry." Microsoft has not left
FrontPage users high and dry. In fact, they have
done everyone a big favor and produced two new
products that take advantage of the editing ease of
FrontPage and combined it with the more important
standards being developed by the web building
community. SharePoint Designer 2007 and Expression
Web Designer are both solid replacements to
FrontPage. SharePoint Designer has been positioned
as the enterprise solution to be used with
Microsoft's SharePoint solution, and Expression Web
Designer has been positioned as the new "designer's"
tool.
In mid-March, I attended Microsoft's
Mix06 event to
learn more about these upcoming tools as well as
many of the other updates coming from Microsoft
later this year and early next year. I could write a
novel about the many different elements of this
conference, but I'll let you experience some of this
yourself by viewing the
Mix06 keynotes available at
the Mix06 site.
The one important point I took away from the event,
in relation to the changes with FrontPage, is that
both new products are a natural progression for
FrontPage users. Beyond the ease-of-use expected
from FrontPage, both products will help users move
away from the proprietary elements common with
FrontPage, and both will do an excellent job of
helping you build your site using using Cascading
Style Sheets with an integrated CSS editing
environment, take advantage of Web Standards (i.e.,
HTML 4.01 and XHTML 1.0), and help you be compliant
with Accessibility issues. Even better, the
introduction of the two products now gives you more choices. In later issues, we'll go into more
detail about both of these new tools and the
benefits they introduce.
What will PixelMill Do?
PixelMill will support and build for both SharePoint
Designer 2007 and Expression Web Designer. We feel
that both products will have their own set of
customers and that PixelMill can offer both groups
valuable solutions tailored to their choice of
editor. In the coming months we will be providing
more articles about these products and how many of
the newer templates we offer will likely work even
better in these new editors.
What about existing FrontPage sites/users?
"Don't
worry!" I say. ;-) We have been working with the
new SharePoint Designer 2007 beta for a couple
of months. We can say with 100% confidence that this
product will work with existing FrontPage sites, and
it also
still maintains many of the familiar FrontPage
tools. We have even tested a number of our oldest
products with SharePoint Designer, ones that use
Themes and FrontPage navigation bars, and they all
worked as expected. There were a few small nuances,
but that is to be expected from any upgrade. We
still have six to twelve months before final
release, but we're confident that any changes to the
product will not affect the ability to work with
existing sites. The
information I received from the Mix06 event was
inconclusive about how it would work with existing
FrontPage sites, but my guess is that many of
the older FrontPage features that support Themes, etc.
will likely not be in the product. But, don't quote
me on that. Either way, Expression Web Designer
appears to be a solid solution and definitely geared
to the graphic designer and Visual Basic developers.
As soon as possible we will follow-up with
additional information in regards to existing
FrontPage sites in Expression web Designer.
We're very excited about both of these new products.
We like the direction that Microsoft is taking with
both offerings, and we're confident that you'll be
happy with PixelMill's decision to support both in
our upcoming products and educational materials.
by Jason Reckers, President
& CEO - PixelMill Inc.
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