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Web Page Sounds Real Player Troubleshooting Steps HTML Code Event Sounds Summary

CPH :  Guides :  Troubleshooting :  Sounds

Sounds Troubleshooter

Web Page Sounds The playing of sounds on a web page is controlled by these things: 1. The computer system sound hardware and sound software.      (This incudes the sound card and drivers, speakers, wires, volume      controls and Windows Opertating System Files/Programs) 2. The sound file itself. 3. The multimedia plug-in program for sounds and videos. 4. The web browser and browser settings. 5. The HTML code used in the web page for sounds.      (This includes Background sounds, Events and other multimedia      such as Flash and Videos with sound.) Whether a sound plays (or does not play) on a web page is NOT controlled by these things: 1.  Cool Page! 2. Cool Page does not alter any of those things above which do determine whether a sound plays. 3. Cool Page merely inserts the sound directive in the web page.  The things above solely determine whether it will play or not and those things vary on each visitors' computer.  There is nothing Cool Page or any web page editing application can do to change that. Real Player After examining Support Tickets re sound problems, it was found that over 90% of those users with a sound issue had Real Player set as their default multimedia program.  Every such sound problem was solved when the user uninstalled Real Player from their computer system and then installed Windows Media Player as the default multimedia program. Upon installation, Real Player associates itself with ALL audio formats and changes your personal settings for sound files.  Sometimes, even after Real Player is uninstalled, sounds will still not play.  It may be necessary to reinstall Windows Media Player so it can become associated with audio files again.  Download Media Player at Windows Update website. The issue with web page sounds and Real Player is common to  pages made by ANY program that makes web pages, not just Cool Page. If you do not have Real Player installed on your computer, and sounds do not play on your web page, use the Troubleshooting Steps below. Note: We make no judgment on the philosophical issue of battles between Real Player and Microsoft.  It is simply a fact that while Microsoft has a monopoly on the operating system, then their players work and others often do not. Troubleshooting Steps - Do these steps in sequence to isolate the cause of web page sound problems. Step 1. Verify speaker wires are connected.  Fix wires or go to Step 2. Step 2. Verify Volume Controls are not muted or set too low.  Double click speaker icon in lower right of computer screen to open controls and adjust them.  If sound does not play, go to Step 3. Step 3. Verify that sound hardware and software are working by opening ANY sound file in your multimedia program such as Windows Media Player.  If sound file plays, go to Step 4.  If sound does not play, check Volume Controls and retest, otherwise fix sound hardware or software. Step 3. Open THE sound file that does not play on the web page in your multimedia program to verify that the sound file is not damaged.  If sound plays, go to Step 5.  If sound does not play, check Volume Controls and retest, otherwise fix sound hardware or software. Step 5. Verify that the web browser is set to play sounds.  If using Netscape, click the Help Menu in the browser and search it's index for "sounds" and "plugins". If using Internet Explorer, double click the Internet Options icon in Control Panel.  Click the Advanced Tab of Internet Options and verify "Play sounds" is checked:

If web page sound does not play, then the browser itself is damaged, the operating system is damaged or Steps 1 - 4 are incomplete.  Have a computer technician repair computer or repeat Steps 1 - 4 above.  When all checks out OK, and sound does not play,  go to Step 6.  Step 6. Verify that the sound file was uploaded to the Host's server during Publish.  Use the free online CPH FTP Tool to login to your Host's server and examine all files that have been uploaded.  If sound file was not uploaded, republish page.  If sound file is on server, and web page sound does not play, repeat Steps 1 - 5 until sound problem is resolved. HTML Code The HTML code, made by Cool Page, for Background Sounds and Events WORKS with all properly configured web browsers, provided that all other computer hardware and software are working OK.  HTML code for sound, that is put on the page using an HTML Object, will work IF the code being used is standard code, supported by the browser being used to display the web page.  example: Audio Controls Tool Cool Page Customer Support does not assist in debugging HTML code that was not made by the Cool Page program. Event Sounds If an Event with sound does not play, then the Event is not correctly configured or one or more of Steps 1 - 6 above is the cause.  See Troubleshooting Steps above or see the Events Guides. Summary Resolving sound problems is one of the most common issues that users of any webpage making program face.  This is due to the fact that each user's computer has a different sound card, different speakers, different sound effects programs and different media playing software.  Every computer is slightly different in some respects. However, the basics are the same in each system.  The above are the basic things to look for when troubleshooting web page sound issues.