Why doesn't embedding code generated by Animate CC work?

[LilGames]

It used to be I could PUBLISH a project SWF and HTML file using "Flash Only" or "Flash Only with Fullscreen" templates and that's all I need to get the content to play in a browser. Now instead I get a small "get flash player badge" in the upper left corner.

Before anyone assumes the obvious causes:

- Yes this is standard Flash content (FLA)

- Yes, I have the latest Flash player already installed

- Yes, I have granted the browser permission to play Flash content

- Yes I tried the generated HTML both locally and on a server

AND if I use embedding code generated from OLDER versions of Animate/Flash Professional, the content plays! Only the html generated by ANimate CC 2017 doesn't work!!

Please help!

[LilGames]

I'd like to add that it works in Chrome just fine, but not Firefox. I am assuming that Firefox still uses "embed" tag instead of object tag. Is this right? Then why isn't Animate generating that part of the code?

[Colin Holgate]

I'm not sure if it's Adobe's fault or Google and Apple's, but instead of showing you a "click to allow Flash" button you're shown a "get Flash Player" button. Try clicking on the button, if I'm right you will be asked for permission to allow Flash. You won't be taken off to the Flash Player download page.

I've mentioned it to Adobe before, but no harm in you entering it as a bug too:

Feature Request/Bug Report Form

I would log it as an Animate bug, you would think there's a way they could work around the browser issues and have the right button showing.

[LilGames]

I'll check for updates before logging a bug or anything. I should have tried that first. OOPS. Will follow up asap.

PS: Unrelated but Adobe's forum email notices came to me in Chinese rather than english. What the heck...?

[LilGames]

I just updated to Animate CC 2018. It's still a problem and definitely Adobe's problem. It's Animate that's not generating working HTML code TO RUN THEIR OWN PLUGIN in Firefox. There's no Embed tag!

To address the hypotheses in your post @Colin, Clicking the "get flash player badge" only results in taking the visitor to Adobe's Flash installation web page. It does NOT make the "click to activate" scenario happen. It's just completely broken for Firefox. Presumably because they did not include the "embed" tag?

Here's an example of the Flash plugin using "older" code generated pre-Animate CC, that includes the EMBED tag: http://www.lilgames.com/cubes.shtml

That gives the dark grey square with a "Click to activate Flash" type of message, as would be expected in Firefox. But if I use the "new" html generated by Animate CC, that's missing the EMBED tag, I instesad get the installation badge.

I'll log it as a bug...

[LilGames]

Did some more investigating. It turns out the code works, but only when uploaded to my web host and accessed online. It won't work when trying to view locally.

I also found that under some conditions, such as within the DIV tag supplied by Animate CC, it WON'T work online via my CMS, and instead shows the installation badge. But if I delete the div : <div id="flashContent">

...then it work.

So problem solved. I just have to remember that I just can't test locally in Firefox.

Sorry for the alarm!

[Colin Holgate]

It's good game. Strangely, it worked in Chrome without asking permission. Safari and Firefox worked ok, giving the normal permission button.

[LilGames · Accepted solution]

So, after some more investigating, the code just doesn't consistently work when used in a Wordpress post, even despite my comment above claiming to have found the source of the issue. I think there's just something happening to the IE detection or who knows... Today the Flash Player badge is back... I'm going to stick to the old code.

[LilGames]

I'd like to further update the story here... I've discovered that part of the problem here is if the URL to your SWF is bad, the damn install badge shows up INSTEAD of it showing a blank plugin window like it normally would. (You know, the one where if you right-click, it says "movie not loaded" at the top.)