Chapter 3: Publishing to the Internet

Along with its powerful recording features, RealProducer Plus includes wizards that allow you to publish your streaming content to the Internet. Using these wizards, you can:

• create a RealMedia-enhanced Web page

• upload that Web page to a server

• send RealMedia files to others through e-mail

Creating Web Pages

A primary publishing feature of RealProducer Plus is the Web Page Wizard. With this wizard, you can instantly create a Web page enhanced with RealMedia. The wizard creates all of the HTML necessary to provide a page that contains your streaming media file.

Guided through a series of prompts, you choose how to stream your RealMedia file: either with a RealPlayer in a separate window, or with a RealPlayer embedded within the page. The wizard then allows you to preview the finished page with your Web browser and a RealPlayer.

Follow these steps to create either type of RealMedia Web page, pop-up or embedded.

To create a Web page that opens a separate RealPlayer:

1. Select Create Web Page from the Tools menu.

   The Web Page Wizard opens to the Introduction page.

2. Click Next to begin the Wizard.

   The Media File page opens.

3. Select a RealMedia file.

   The name of the last RealMedia file created by RealProducer Plus appears by default. Click the Browse button to locate another file.

4. Click Next.

   The Playback Method page appears.

5. Choose Pop-up Player and click Next.

   The Web Page Caption page opens.

6. Enter text that will appear in the Web page that, when selected by a user, will open the RealPlayer and play your file.

7. Click Next.

   The Web Page Filename page opens.

8. Enter the name and directory of the Web page you want to create.

   	Note
   	Avoid saving files into your computer's temporary directory (such as C:\TEMP), since this directory is reserved and may be deleted.

9. Click Next.

   The Web Page Results page opens. This page informs you that a Web page and a RealMedia metafile have been created.

10. If you wish to preview your Web page with an Internet browser, click Preview on the Results page.

    You must have RealPlayer installed to view your page properly.

11. Click Finish to close the wizard.

To create a Web page with an embedded RealPlayer:

1. Select Create Web Page from the Tools menu.

   The Web Page Wizard opens to the Introduction page.

2. Click Next to begin the Wizard.

   The Media File page opens.

3. Select a RealMedia file.

   The name of the last RealMedia file created by RealProducer Plus appears by default. Click the Browse button to locate another file.

4. Click Next.

   The Playback Method page appears.

5. Choose Embedded Player and click Next.

   The Player Control Layout page appears. In this page, you can decide what components of the RealPlayer to include within the Web page.

6. Select a control layout from the available options.

   A preview of the selected layout appears.

7. Select Auto Start if you want the RealMedia file to play automatically when your Web page is opened.

8. Click Next.

   The Web Page Caption page appears.

9. Enter a caption name that will appear as a title for the RealMedia file.

10. Select whether you want the caption to appear above or below the Player controls.

11. Click Next.

    The Web Page Filename page appears.

12. Enter the name and directory of the Web page you want to create

    	Note
    	Avoid saving files into your computer's temporary directory (such as C:\TEMP), since this directory is reserved and may be deleted.

13. Click Next.

    The Web Page Results page opens. This page informs you that a Web page and a RealMedia metafile have been created.

14. If you wish to preview your Web page with an Internet browser, click Preview on the Results page.

    You must have RealPlayer installed to view your page properly.

15. Click Finish to close the wizard.

Keep in mind that the Web pages you create with the Web Page Wizard will initially point to files located on your local hard drive. If you upload your pages to a Web server, these local file references will be automatically updated. Therefore, you should avoid making manual changes to any file references in HTML files created by the wizard.

Alterations to these files or any file references contained in the associated .ram/.rpm metafile may cause errors when publishing Web pages to a remote server.

About Metafiles

A metafile points a Web page link to one or more RealMedia clips located on a remote server. The function of a metafile is to point to the location where your media file actually resides and is required for your file to stream, rather than simply download and play. Typically, a metafile is located on a server and contains the URL where a RealMedia clip can be found.

Metafiles created by the RealProducer Plus Web Page Wizard reside on your local hard drive and point to files on your local file system. When you publish your files to a server, these metafiles are automatically updated to include information about the server where your media files will be sent.

Publishing Your Files to a Server

Another wizard included with RealProducer Plus is the Publish to Server Wizard. This wizard allows you to publish your RealMedia-enhanced Web page to a remote server. The server can be either a RealNetworks RealServer or a standard HTTP Web server.

The wizard leads you through a series of prompts to help you specify the type of server and the directory where you will upload your page. You can also specify the name of the Web server and the URL directory where your Web page will be located. The wizard then allows you to preview the finished page.

When you upload your Web pages to a remote server, RealProducer Plus automatically updates your Web page and .ram/.rpm metafile to point to the appropriate server addresses, directories and files.

To avoid confusion during the publishing process, you should contact your Internet Service Provider (ISP) for the following information before you begin.

HTTP Server Information

If you are using a standard HTTP Web server to stream RealMedia, you should obtain the following information from your system administrator or ISP. For simple HTTP streaming, your Web page and media file will be copied to the same location.

File Server: Name or IP address of the file server where your Web page will be uploaded. For example: ftp.server.com.

Directory: Name of the directory on the file server where your Web page will be uploaded. For example, if the personal directory assigned to you by your system administrator is htmlpages, enter htmlpages as the directory name. This may be left blank.

Web Server: Name or IP address of the Web server users will use to locate your Web page. For example, if the full URL users will use is http://www.server.com/htmlpages/file.htm, enter www.server.com as the Web server name.

URL Directory: The directory on the Web server that users will use to locate your Web page. For example, if the full URL is http://www.server.com/htmlpages/file.htm, enter htmlpages as the URL Directory.

RealServer Information

If you are using a RealServer to stream your files, you will also need to obtain the following information from your system administrator or ISP. Please note that for streaming from a RealServer your Web page will be copied to a standard HTTP Web server, while your RealMedia file may be copied to a separate RealServer.

File Server: Name or IP address of the file server where your Web page will be uploaded. For example: ftp.server.com.

Directory: Name of the directory on the file server where your Web page will be uploaded. For example, if the personal directory assigned to you by your system administrator is htmlpages, enter htmlpages as the directory name. This may be left blank.

RealServer: Name or IP address of the RealServer where you will upload your RealMedia file. For example: ftp.server.com.

Media Directory: Name of the media directory on the RealServer where your RealMedia file will be uploaded. For example, if the media directory assigned to you by your system administrator is myvideo, you would enter myvideo as the directory name.

RealServer Location: Name or IP address of the RealServer that users will use to locate your media file. This can include the port. For example, if the full URL users will use to locate your media file on the Internet is rtsp://real.server.com:6060/myvideo/file.rm you would enter real.server.com:6060 as the RealServer name and port.

URL Directory: The directory on the RealServer that users will use to locate your media file. For example if the full URL that users will use to locate your media file is rtsp://real.server.com:6060/myvideo/file.rm you would enter myvideo as the URL Directory.

Publishing to a Standard Web Server

The following instructions are for publishing your RealMedia clip to a standard HTTP Web server. While these servers may be more common, they don't allow you to fully use all RealMedia features.

Before you begin the procedure, make sure you have all of the information described in "HTTP Server Information".

To publish a file to stream directly from a standard HTTP Web server:

1. Click the Publish Web Page button.

   The Publishing Wizard opens.

2. Click Next to begin.

3. Enter the name of the file you wish to publish and click Next.

   The Publishing Profile page opens.

4. Choose an Internet Service Provider from the list or select Generic - No Defaults if your Service Provider is not listed, and click Next.

   The Streaming Method page opens.

5. Click Stream media clip from a standard Web server and click Next.

   The FTP Server Information page opens.

6. Type in the name or IP address of the FTP server where you are uploading your files and the directory on the FTP server where your page will be sent. Then type in your user name and password, and click Next.

   The Web Page URL page opens.

7. Type in the name or IP address of the Web server and URL Directory that users will use to locate your page on the Internet.

8. Click Next.

   The Upload Progress page appears.

9. Click Next to begin uploading your files.

   Your files automatically upload to your Web server. If any errors occur while uploading your files, you will receive and error message describing the problem and potential solutions.

10. Click View Now! to view your published Web page.

11. Click Finish when you are done viewing your published Web page.

Publishing to a RealServer

The following instructions are for publishing your RealMedia clip to a RealNetworks RealServer. Using a RealServer allows you to publish Web pages that have RealMedia without losing functionality (such as SureStream).

Before you begin the procedure, make sure you have all of the information described in "RealServer Information".

To publish a file to stream directly from a RealNetworks RealServer:

1. Click the Publish Web Page button.

   The Publishing Wizard opens.

2. Click Next to begin.

3. Enter the name of the file you wish to publish and click Next.

   The Publishing Profile page opens.

4. Choose an Internet Service Provider from the list or select Generic - No Defaults if your Service Provider is not listed, and click Next.

   The Streaming Method page opens.

5. Click Stream media clip from a RealServer and click Next.

   The FTP Server Information page opens.

6. Type in the name or IP address of the FTP server where you are uploading your files and the directory on the FTP server where your page will be sent. Then type in your user name and password, and click Next.

   The Web Page URL page opens.

7. Type in the name or IP address of the Web server and URL Directory that users will use to locate your page on the Internet, and click Next.

   The RealServer Information page opens.

8. Enter the name or IP address of the RealServer where your media file will be sent. Enter the directory where your media file will be sent, plus your user name and password, and click Next.

   The Media Clip URL page opens.

9. Type in the name or IP address of the RealServer where your media clip will be referenced from.

10. Select either Use Default Ports or Use Custom Ports. If you are unsure, then use the defaults.

11. Type in the directory of the RealServer where your clip will be referenced from.

    The full URL of the clip that you are publishing appears below.

12. Check to see that the URL is correct, and click Next.

    The Upload Files page opens.

13. Click Next to begin uploading your files.

    Your files automatically upload to your Web server. If any errors occur while uploading your files, you will receive and error message describing the problem and potential solutions.

14. Click View Now! to view your published Web page.

15. Click Finish when you are done viewing your published Web page.

Sending Your Files Via E-mail

This section describes how you can send your recorded RealMedia files to other people using your default e-mail application. Your recipients must have the RealPlayer installed on their machine in order to play the file.

To send your RealMedia file via e-mail:

1. Click the E-Mail Clip button.

   The Select RealMedia File dialog box opens.

2. Browse for the file you want to send, select it, and click on Open.

   A new e-mail message opens with the RealMedia file attached.

3. Specify a recipient, type in a subject, and add any other text, as you would for a regular e-mail.

4. Send the e-mail.

Copyright © 1998 RealNetworks
For information on RealNetworks' technical support, click here.
This file last updated on 11/20/98 at 14:44:41.