Resources for Web Workers

Plug-ins

Whenever audio or video content plays in your Web browser, your Web browser is using a plug-in or player to play these files -- the browser by itself cannot play audio and video. Video from CBS News uses the Windows Media Player. National Public Radio allows you to choose RealPlayer or WMP to hear its programming. Some media organizations, such as The Washington Post, have migrated to Flash for video.

When you don't have the required plug-in, or your plug-in is too old, you will need to download and install the player before you can view or hear the content.

If you are producing audiovisual content for the Web, you need to stay up-to-date about which players and plug-ins your intended audience is using -- as well as which Web browsers people are using.

Major Video Players

  • QuickTime
    Free. Available for Windows and Mac OS. Plays MOV (QuickTime), AVI, MPEG and MPEG4 video. Plays AIFF, AU, MIDI, MP3, WAV music files. $30 for the Pro upgrade, well worth it.
  • RealPlayer
    The Basic version is free. Available for Windows, Mac OS, and Linux/Unix. Plays MP3, MPEG audio and video, MP1 and MP2, Flash files, SMIL files, WAV audio, AU and AIFF audio, AVI video, MIDI files, Liquid Audio. Also plays all "Real" formats: RealAudio, RealMedia and RealVideo (.ra, .ram, .rm, .rpm).
  • Windows Media Player (WMP)
    Free. Available for Windows and Mac OS. Plays MP3, AU, AIFF, MIDI and WAV (Windows audio) music files; AVI (Windows video) and MOV (QuickTime) video; and all Windows media, e.g., WMV.

I'm not concerned here with the various DVD players, download sites, and encryption schemes (mostly using DivX). My interest is in the kind of online video used to deliver news, movie trailers, etc.

Troubleshooting

If you run into trouble when you try to install a plug-in for your Web browser, or if you have downloaded and installed a stand-alone player but you still can't get the browser plug-in to work, look for a FAQ or Help file on the Web site of the player/plug-in vendor.

Most players overwrite the preferences you have set for other players. If you are installing all three players, I would recommend installing WMP first, then Real, then QuickTime -- because WMP will overwrite everything if you install it last of all.

Interactive Media

Download both, or either one, free.

  • Flash (download)
    Fast, slick, smooth animations; downloads of Flash content are usually fast. Today many developers build video players and MP3 players in Flash and use those instead of the branded players described above. Flash is the most widely installed player/plug-in on the Web.
  • Shockwave (download)
    Complex, often highly interactive; longer download times for most Shockwave content. Sample "shocked" games and other content at Shockwave.com.

MP3 Players

  • iTunes: Mac and Windows
    Just in case you don't know ... you do not need an iPod, or any MP3 hardware player at all, to enjoy iTunes. Just use your computer speakers or headphones. Download a few FREE podcasts and listen to news and interviews while you're working.
  • MusicMatch: Windows
    I used to prefer this one, but now I use iTunes for everything -- and I am a Windows user.
  • WinAmp: Windows

> See also Audio (on this site)

PDFs and the Adobe Reader

The plug-in allows you to view PDF documents inside your Web browser. Adobe Reader is also a stand-alone program that can be opened without your Web browser. You can get Adobe Reader here -- it is free. Note that the full Adobe Acrobat program is different (and not free).

RSS Readers

Many free and commercial RSS readers are available that can be installed as a plug-in to your Web browser or to your OS. As an alternative, you can use a Web-based reader such as Google Reader, or BlogLines, which are not plug-ins and require no download.

What is an RSS feed and how would a news organization make one? This is explained in an article titled Making an RSS Feed. Other helpful articles include Webmonkey's Sharing Your Site with RSS and Feedburner's What Is RSS?

Additional Players and Plug-ins

There are many more plug-ins. Those listed above are the ones most Webheads really need to have to check out everything they like on the Net.

For lists of current plug-ins, see:

If You Need Help

Look for a FAQ or Help page on the Web site of the provider of the player or plug-in that's giving you trouble.

New Web browsers (from Microsoft or Mozilla/Firefox) have versions of some of these plug-ins installed. Trouble is, sometimes the plug-in has been improved after the browser version release. So you may have QuickTime, but when you try to watch a video, the site tells you you DON'T have QuickTime. I admit, this is very annoying!

When that happens, you will need to download and install the new version of QuickTime (or the Flash Player, RealPlayer, WMP, etc.). Sad but true.

What's the Difference?

A plug-in allows a player to be embedded in a Web page. You can have the stand-alone player installed perfectly, but when you go to a Web page that has an embedded version of that player within the page, you see only a blank space where it's supposed to be, and maybe a message telling you that you need to install the plug-in. In other words, you might have the player but not the plug-in (for the browser you are using). Usually the two come together in one download file and install together, without requiring any special effort from you -- but not always!

The player usually pops up in its own floating window (which is smaller than the usual browser window). The appearance of most players can be changed by applying a new skin to the player.