Server Support for Shockwave Files

[Guest]

OK, I have finally completed my Adobe Captivate project and am now attempting to upload it to a server so I can view and fine tune the finished product.  But I'm running into a major issue.  My web hosting company is saying they don't support Shockwave files.  I upload the required files but just get a blank page.  SWF is the only format that allows interactivity right?  Anybody have ideas on how I can jump over this last hurdle and make my project go live?  Thanks!

[Lilybiri]

Why don't you publish to HTML5? Where did you hear that only SWF allows interactivity? That is totally wrong.

What is not allowing interactivity is publishing to a video format.

[Guest]

OK thanks, I will try this out.  What are the real benefits of publishing as an swf file instead of HTML5 then?

[Lilybiri]

Both have advantages and disadvantages. SWF is standardized, will look the same in any browser, will have all features of Captivate but...is not supported on mobile devices.

HTML5 is not yet standardized in this sense that not each browser supports it in the same way. Not all features of Captivate are supported for HTML5 output, look at Project, HTML5 tracker. But it should be possible (within the browser limitations) to play on any device.

[Guest]

OK, I have published to the HTML5 format and now am trying to upload to my server but am noticing there are a ton of folders with a ton of different files.  Do all of these have to be uploaded or just specific ones?  If it's all of them, FTP only allows me to select one file at a time.  Doing it through Wordpress is an improvement since it allows me to select all the files within each folder at a time.  But the "DR" folder has tons of subfolders and files.  This will take forever not to mention if I have to upload corrected versions in the future.

Is there an easier way to do this?  Thanks

[Captiv8r]

Likely your best bet (if you can do it) is to use something like FileZilla to transfer via FTP. Using FileZilla, you are able to choose a folder and transfer it. All the content will then transfer.

FileZilla is a freeware app you can download and install.

FileZilla - The free FTP solution

Cheers... Rick

[Guest]

Thanks so much for the advice!  I will try this out.

[Erik Lord · Accepted solution]

I agree with trying the overall HTML approach as a solution first.

However, technically 'SWF' files are not the same as 'Shockwave' files in all cases.

There are two Adobe players - the Flash Player and the Shockwave Player.

Flash Player, of course, plays content published from Flash.

Shockwave Player plays content published from Director.

They do both, however, have their roots in Macromedia's 'Shockwave' technology and SWF indeed stands for 'Shockwave Flash'...

I bring this up just in case your hosting provider, for some reason or other, isn't aware of the difference and has a policy against supporting content produced with *Director* but not a policy against host *Flash* content.

Probably unlikely, but I would be curious to know why they wouldn't allow their server to deliver SWF content to their customer's users; seems a bit...draconian.

So just in case the HTML publishing doesn't work out for you, maybe you can clarify the 'no Shockwave support' response from your host (or find a less restrictive host )

[Guest]

Thanks everybody for all your advice!  So I did go the HTML5 route and uploaded the appropriate folder containing the files to my server.  Now my big question is which file should be the landing page for this project?  I'm not sure what file I should be linking to from my site to open the project.  Thanks for any info. you may have

[Lilybiri]

For HTML5 it is the index.htm file that should be launched.

[Guest]

Thanks, that's what I thought. For some reason it's not working so I have to consult with my hosting service.  I wish it were easier to work with Adobe Captivate.  I find that it's a powerful program but in many ways could be more user friendly.  Thanks goodness for all your help on this forum.  Without you all I'd be stuck!

[GreenTeamTek]

I tried downloading FileZilla once and it had a TON of malware attached to it. I use FireFTP instead now.