The Standalone version is nearly the same as the extension that's installed in the Flash authoring application, but with a few notable differences. These include:

• All parameters (color, behavior, etc) are edited manually, by hand, through an external XML file.
• No component live preview, so you won't be able to see helpful feedback like area dimensions.
• Limited customization options. Because the SWF is compiled already, you have fewer options for modifying / enhancing your SWF than those who can publish their own SWFs using Flash.
• Flash-only enhancements like embedded typefaces, sound effects, and watermarks are not compatible.

All that said, the main functionality is the same. You can change the size, color, behavior and layout of the Standalone version just the same as the extension.

Basic functionality

The core element of the Standalone version is slideshowpro.swf in the "Source" folder. You can embed this SWF in any web document that allows you to embed the Flash Player. The SWF requires Flash Player 9 or higher, and contains the ActionScript 3 version of SlideShowPro inside.

When the SWF is embedded and viewed in a web browser, it automatically calls param.xml (found in the "Samples" folder) using the URL assigned through the paramXMLPath variable in the player embed code. This XML file contains all of SlideShowPro's editable parameters. You can change any of these to a value that's acceptable, reload your browser, and the new settings will be used by slideshowpro.swf.

Each parameter is named the same as their ActionScript equivalents. Complete information about what each parameter does, and what values are acceptable, is available in the SlideShowPro for Flash API section.

Sizing the SWF

SlideShowPro automatically scales itself to the size of slideshowpro.swf, so if you want a slideshow that's 600px wide by 400px high, simply embed the SWF at those dimensions and SlideShowPro will resize itself to fill those dimensions.

Data

Like the Flash extension, the Standalone version of SlideShowPro can load a static XML file (coded by you), dynamic XML markup returned through a web scripting language (PHP, ASP, etc), Media RSS feeds, OPML documents containing one or more XML feeds, or content from our content management and publishing system SlideShowPro Director.

Using a static XML file

Inside the "Sample" folder is a demonstration XML file that shows the general markup SlideShowPro needs. It consists of a parent <gallery> element, which can contain one or more <album> elements of content. Each album element is the parent of one or more img elements for your slideshow content. There are a number of options when coding a static XML file, which is covered in more detail in the "Creating an XML document" wiki document.

Using a Media RSS feed

SlideShowPro can load any valid Media RSS 2.0 feed from a third party site as long as that web site allows Flash applications (like ours) to retrieve data from them. Most photo sharing sites publish Media RSS feeds and allow access.

To assign a Media RSS file, copy the URL of the feed and edit xmlFilePath in param.xml accordingly. Then set xmlFileType directly underneath to "Media RSS". Reload the HTML document embedding slideshowpro.swf and your RSS feed should load.

Using SlideShowPro Director

SlideShowPro Director is our server-side, content management and publishing application for supplying slideshow data. When used with the standalone version, simply copy the XML File Path displayed on the "Summary" page for any album / gallery created inside Director, paste it as the value of xmlFilePath, and set xmlFileType to "Director". SlideShowPro Director will create all requisite content for your slideshow using the parameters you've assigned.

Using an OPML file

OPML files group together more than one XML file so that each feed is joined together into a single gallery. Simply edit xmlFilePath with the path to your OPML file, and change xmlFileType to "OPML". For more information on how to create an OPML file, see the Loading multiple XML documents document.

Content

If you are coding your own XML file, chances are you're creating your own slideshow content as well. SlideShowPro accepts GIFs, PNGs or JPGs for images. For video, you can load FLV or h264 encoded MP4 files.

There are three main pieces of external content SlideShowPro loads: slideshow content, thumbnails, and an album preview. Slideshow content is the main images/videos seen in the Content Area. Thumbnails show up in the navigation (if the "Thumbnails" Navigation Link Appearance setting is used) as slideshow content links, and as link previews when navigation links are rolled over. Album previews appear in the gallery, and have multiple layout/display options available. More information on manually creating your own slideshow content can be obtained in the Content Loading and Creation section of the SlideShowPro for Flash User Guide.

Where to from here?

Because embedding SWFs is a topic unto itself, see the Embedding document for help embedding slideshowpro.swf. If you're interested in some of the more advanced customization options, see Extra customization options.