How can I set up preview tracks, so that shoppers can play a preview of an MP3 before they purchase?
The Digital Download facility in SellerDeck products makes it quite easy to set up preview tracks for MP3s that you are selling. You have to create the preview clips yourself (using your usual sound editing software, or a free MP3 editor like Audacity), but everything else can be done within SellerDeck. There are two options for doing this:
Option 1
It will be easiest if you give the preview files names that all start the same, so that they sort in one block.
After creating your preview files, copy them to the SellerDeck site folder on your PC (usually C:\Program Files\Actinic v9\Sites\Site1 **),
To have SellerDeck upload them for you, from the SellerDeck menu
To add a link to a preview track to any MP3 product,
Now Refresh the web site. The preview link will appear with the product description. Clicking it will play the preview track in the default media player.
Option 2
Playing a preview track in the users own media player is good but it does give the user the ability to save the track. The following example show you how to avoid this. This example relies on you using WMA files as your preview files and they should be saved in the site folder (or a sub-folder within it).
Your track will now appear in a pop up.
** NOTE: All versions after v11.03 will have a file path of 'C:\Program Files\SellerDeck xxxx'.
With grateful thanks to Neil Palfreyman for this solution.
The Digital Download facility in SellerDeck products makes it quite easy to set up preview tracks for MP3s that you are selling. You have to create the preview clips yourself (using your usual sound editing software, or a free MP3 editor like Audacity), but everything else can be done within SellerDeck. There are two options for doing this:
Option 1
It will be easiest if you give the preview files names that all start the same, so that they sort in one block.
After creating your preview files, copy them to the SellerDeck site folder on your PC (usually C:\Program Files\Actinic v9\Sites\Site1 **),
To have SellerDeck upload them for you, from the SellerDeck menu
- select 'Design'
- then 'Additional Files'
- click 'Add'
- then, find and select all the preview files, and click Open
- click 'OK'
To add a link to a preview track to any MP3 product,
- first click on the product in the SellerDeck Content Tree
- in the 'Product Details' pane, type [LINK] in the Full Description where you want the link to the preview track to appear
- select the 'Links' tab and click the 'Advanced Link' box
- in the 'Link Text' field type ' Preview track'
- in the 'URL' field, enter the filename of the relevant preview track.
Now Refresh the web site. The preview link will appear with the product description. Clicking it will play the preview track in the default media player.
Option 2
Playing a preview track in the users own media player is good but it does give the user the ability to save the track. The following example show you how to avoid this. This example relies on you using WMA files as your preview files and they should be saved in the site folder (or a sub-folder within it).
- first you need to create three variables by going to the 'Design' menu and selecting 'Library'
- on the 'Variables' tab, right-click on the 'Product' group heading and select 'New Variable'
- the first variable should have the following properties:
- Name: PreviewTrack
- Prompt: Preview Track
- Place of Setting: Product
- Type: Filename
- Allow Empty Value: ticked
- Upload: ticked
- Allow <Use Parent> as an option: unticked
- create a second variable with the following properties:
- Name: PreviewTrackName
- Prompt: Preview Track Name
- Place of Setting: Product
- Type: Text
- Allow Empty Value: ticked
- Allow <Use Parent> as an option: unticked
- create a third variable with the following properties:
- Name: PreviewTrackTime
- Prompt: Preview Track Time
- Place of Setting: Product
- Type: Text
- Allow Empty Value: ticked
- Allow <Use Parent> as an option: unticked
- close the library
- the following code then needs to be added to your product layout(s):
Code:<actinic:block if="%3cactinic%3avariable%20name%3d%22PreviewTrack%22%20%2f%3e%20%20%21%3d%20%22%22"> <A HREF="javascript:ShowPopUp('./play.php?id=<actinic:variable name="PreviewTrack" />&fn=<actinic:variable name="PreviewTrackName" />&tm=<actinic:variable name="PreviewTrackTime" />', 340, 200)"> <span style='color: #ff0000;'>Click here to preview</span></a> </actinic:block> - copy the following code into 'Wordpad' or 'Notepad' and save it as 'play.php' (best in the site folder)
Code:<html> <head> <title>Track Preview</title> </head> <body> <?PHP $sitename="http://www.mydomain.com";/*Edit to your own domain name*/ $fname=$_GET['fn']; /*fn=File name on screen*/ $fname=StripSlashes($fname); $tme=$_GET['tm'];/*tm=Track Time*/ $track=$_GET['id'];/*Actual file name*/ $track=substr_replace($track,'wma',strlen($track)-3 ,3);/* If on a unix server make sure the extension case is lowercase*/ echo "<b><font face=\"Arial\" color=\"#FF0000\">"; echo "You are listening to"; echo "</font></b>"; echo "<table border=\"0\" width=\"97%\" id=\"table1\">"; echo "<tr>"; echo "<td width=\"30%\"><font size=\"2\" face=\"Arial\">Track Name</font></td>"; echo "<td width=\"70%\"><font size=\"2\" face=\"Arial\">$fname</font></td>"; echo "</tr>"; echo "<tr>"; echo "<td width=\"30%\"><font size=\"2\" face=\"Arial\">Track Time</font></td>"; echo "<td width=\"70%\"><font size=\"2\" face=\"Arial\">$tme</font></td>"; echo "</tr>"; echo "</table>"; echo '<BR>'; echo "<OBJECT ID=\"Player\" CLASSID=\"CLSID:6BF52A52-394A-11d3-B153-00C04F79FAA6\" WIDTH=320 HEIGHT=60> <PARAM NAME=\"AutoStart\" VALUE=\"True\" > <PARAM NAME=\"stretchToFit\" VALUE=\"True\"> <PARAM NAME=\"uiMode\" VALUE=\"full\"> <PARAM NAME=\"URL\" value=\"$track\"> /*Edit 'Path_to_your_demos' with your own path*/ <EMBED TYPE=\"application/x-mplayer2\" SRC=\"$track\" /*Edit 'Path_to_your_demos' with your own path*/ NAME=\"Player\" WIDTH=\"320\" HEIGHT=\"60\" AUTOSTART=\"0\"> </EMBED> </OBJECT>"; ?> </body> </html>
- the above code assumes that the tracks are in the 'acatalog' folder (which is where SellerDeck will automatically upload them to) so you only need to change the 'Path_to_your_demos' if it is different to this
- to have SellerDeck upload the 'play.php' file, go to the 'Design' menu and select 'Additional Files'
- click 'Add' button and browse to the file
- click 'OK'
- now go to each product that will have a preview track and enter the 'Filename', 'Track Name' and 'Track Time' into the relevant fields (will be in the 'Properties' tab if you left the default when creating the variables)
- refresh the site
Your track will now appear in a pop up.
** NOTE: All versions after v11.03 will have a file path of 'C:\Program Files\SellerDeck xxxx'.
With grateful thanks to Neil Palfreyman for this solution.