Audio
A Media object displays audio within your site and allows you to hear it.
(This is how it looks in Safari; different browsers will provide a different look.)
To add a Media object to an existing page
- Use the "Object" item form the toolbar and choose "Media Placeholder" OR Choose "Media Placeholder" from the Insert Menu.
- Drag an audio file into the web view (dropping onto any Media Placeholder or other area of the page).
Audio File Types
The best format for audio is to provide a .wav or .mp3 file. iOS does have some restrictions on the specific encoding in an .mp3 file, so it is important to test the audio on an iPhone/iPad. Other formats like .m4a, .aiff, .au, .mov (QuickTime audio-only), etc. may be playable, and show up in Sandvox - but many browsers are not going to be able to play them. The inspector will show a warning when these partially-supported file formats have been chosen.
Protected audio and video files, such as a track bought at the iTunes store, are not going to work either; they are licensed only for the purchaser.
Inspector Options
Source
Audio can either be from your computer, or from an existing location on the internet.
To set the Audio:
- Click the "Choose…" button.
- Select an audio file from your computer.
or:
- Set "Source" to "From URL."
- Enter the URL of an existing audio on the internet. e.g.
http://www.example.com/myaudio.mp3
By using an external URL for the audio, you save the time and bandwidth you would have spent downloading it yourself.
Loop
If checked, the audio will play continuously, starting again once it has finished.
Show Controller
Determines whether or not the audio controls (pause, play, etc.) will be visible to visitors.
We encourage you to make the controller visible. If your audio is not set to automatically play, then a hidden controller means that there is no way to start the audio. With auto-play turned on, then there is no way to turn 'off' the audio.
Automatically Play
If you check this, the audio will start playing once the page has loaded. This only takes effect once the page is published and viewed online.
It is not recommended for this to be checked when multiple audio or video objects are on a page, since they will all be trying to load at the same time.
iOS devices do not honor this setting. Thus, the only way to play an audio is to have the controller visible and let the website visitor start playing the audio.
Advanced
Copy file into document
Media Objects have a "Copy file into document" checkbox in the inspector. This is initially checked, but if you un-check before the file is saved, you can indicate that the file should not be copied into the Sandvox document package, and just be referenced at its original location on disk. If the checkbox remains checked, then once the file is saved, the file is copied into the document, and the checkbox is disabled since you cannot "un-copy" the file from the document any more.
This option exists because these media files can often be quite large, and it may be wasteful of hard disk space to have them stored in two places on one's computer. However, referencing them rather than copying them into the document means that the document is less portable. (See Collaborative Site Editing for more information).
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