JW WMV Player Built with Silverlight 1.1

Installation

This section details a step-by-step process of how to install the JW WMV Player onto your page.

Step 1: Transfer the two .JS files and the .XAML file from the download ZIP to your website and include these lines in the header of your site:

<script type="text/javascript" src="silverlight.js"></script>
<script type="text/javascript" src="player.js"></script>

Step 2: Setup an element you want the player to appear in and insert the JavaScript that will place the player below it:

<div id="myplayer">the player will be placed here</div>

<script type="text/javascript">
	var elm = document.getElementById("myplayer");
	var src = 'wmvplayer.xaml';
	var cfg = {
		file:'/videos/myvideo.wmv',
		width:'320',
		height:'180'
	};
	var ply = new jeroenwijering.Player(elm,src,cfg);
</script>

Notice the cfg object in the code is where to put your configuration variables. When installing the player, be sure to refer to all files with the correct directory prefix (and don’t forget to upload all videos / songs / images you want to show to your site).

Documentation

Documentation of the player can be found at the JW Player Wiki. It also includes the roadmap, source code and bug tickets. Note that as of yet there's no XML playlist support in the Silverlight version.

If you’ve created a CMS module that embeds the player in existing CMS systems (or you’ve found one online), please submit it here.

If you want to learn more about Microsoft Silverlight, I recommend you download the Silverlight SDK. This SDK contains an extremely useful helpfile with a quickstart, some howtos and a complete reference. It's in a Windows help format, but MAC people can use Chamonix to view it.

Support

LongTail receives a lot of requests for creating customized versions of our player. In most cases, a clever flashvars setting can provide the solution you’re looking for, so please check the list of variables. Also, remember we’re always expanding the player’s functionality, so check out the new features that will be plugged into the next update.

The Expression Studio software is not really needed; a decent code editor will suffice. Because the XAML code is plain XML, the design can be edited instantly.

All logic of the player's logic is in the 600-lines wmvplayer.js file. The accompanying wmvplayer.xaml file contains all graphical elements (XAML is like SVG, or the graphics part of SWF). The third file, silverlight.js, is a small helper script that places the Silverlight object on your page, which shows a download link if you haven't installed it yet. It is comparable to the SWFObject JavaScript for Flash.

Note that, despite the lack of built-in playlist support, you can easily set up a playlist with this player. Take a look at the excellent playlist examples from LongTail community member Lars Andersen, and download his Periboea library.

When you install the Silverlight lugin on Windows without uninstalling the previous version, IE Silverlight support will break. This is likely a temporary issue that Microsoft will fix, but if you need to upgrade Silverlight make sure to uninstall it before installing the new version.

For tips, tricks, additional information and bug reports, please visit our support forum.