Last Friday I discussed the changing expectations on the multimedia web and how people are increasingly expecting to be able to take control over online content.
With the explosion of online audio and, specifically, the MP3 files that populate music blogs and podcasts, there is really no excuse for not making those files playable directly from your web site or blog so that your visitors don’t have to download the file to play it.
Fortunately, the popular social bookmarking service del.icio.us provides free for anyone who wants to use it, a nice little strip of JavaScript code they call Play Tagger that will enable a lightweight and elegant Flash MP3 player on your site any time you link directly to an MP3 file.
We include the script by default in the blogs we set up for clients and there’s no reason you shouldn’t use it as well if you ever link to an MP3 file. It is well worth the minimal time it requires to paste it into your site in order to vastly improve the usability of your site.
The links below demonstrate the del.icio.us Flash MP3 Player. Click on the blue arrow icon to play the file and you’ll see it start working; you can pause and stop the player as well as tag the file into your del.icio.us account.
If you hover your cursor over one of the hyperlinks below, you’ll see in the status bar at the bottom of your browser that they are direct links to MP3 files, so your visitors could actuall right-click on the link and download the file directly to your computer.
- Engadget Podcast 082 – 07.16.2006 – My favorite technology/gadgets podcast.
- Daily SearchCast Podcast – July 18, 2006 – Search podcast from Search Engine Watch.
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