Stream links which 'open' and not 'save'

[Busby]

I'm rebuilding my site and discovered that the 'listen' links no longer work like they used to.

If I created a 'pls' link it used to open in Winamp, asx in Media Player and so on, all they do now is save a file.

Any suggestions as to how I fix this (if possible) would be most welcome.

[Jay]

You will need to re-associate those files extensions to your favorite local applications. These capabilities don't come by default. These associations are also a device specific choice. So be aware that just because it works on your device does not automatically mean that is the way it will function for everyone else.

[Busby]

Ah, right Jay - I had thought that might be the case, but hoped there would be some way of forcing the link to open in any device instead of downloading.

I have tried using direct mp3 links instead of playlist files, which at least opens in a browser, but I presently have multiple servers listed in my playlists in the event a server is down or full.

Any other ways of dealing with this or is that how things are?

[Jay]

If you are running all MP3 streams then you can use the <audio> tag in browsers to detect if the browser supports mp3 codecs. If it does your station can play in that element. Also check out WebAudio to see all of the options. While this will play your station through the browser if you want to show Now playing information you will need to do a little javascript magic to get that working.

For distributing your listeners among relays you can also deploy some javascript to select a random relay for your audio component.

[Busby]

Thanks Jay..

I'm not a coder so it means not a lot to me I'm afraid. If there was a sample file I could modify I might be able to manage, but without that I'm at a loss..

[dj001]

You'll find the current situation explained in the first FAQ here: http://soukous.org/faq.htm. At present, I'd recommend using rcast's embedded players everywhere. I still have a full set of listen-links, but browsers have become very protectionist due to uncontrolled hacking. The best bet is to associate your listen-link files with the best respective media player, and test using Firefox. The embedded players just give visitors to your website instant access, without all the tech hassle. I've given up on station ID PHP prerolls, because I didn't have time to reconfigure them.