Flash Player 7, Flash Player 8, what does it all mean? Well, as you know SiteMaker uses the Adobe Flash Platform which let's us give you access to unparalleled ease of use in editing (e.g. drag and drop tools plus point and click editing), rich graphical interfaces and media (e.g. MP3 players, Video players, animation, etc.) and integrated features (e.g. forms, galleries, etc.).

This means that your visitors need to have the Flash Player installed so that they can view and interact with your site. The Flash Player is now the most widely installed piece of software in history, meaning it is available on more computers than any other piece of software (even more than Microsoft Windows). This is one reason why it has become the video/interactive standard adopted by Google Video, Youtube, Amazon and Ebay. According to Adobe (the people behind Flash) in an independent study, 98.3% of users have Flash Player 6 or above pre-installed.

Flash Players also have different versions. SiteMaker 4.0 was launched in Nov 2004 and required Flash Player 7 to use it. Since then, Adobe have released 2 newer versions, Flash Player 8 in September 2005, and Flash Player 9 in June 2006. Chances are you're already using one of these (right click on any Flash object to find out which version you're using). Each Flash Player has a different level of penetration which grows over time. By Dec 06 Flash Player 7 was available on 97.3% of computers, Flash Player 8 on 94.2% and Flash Player 9 on 55.8%. You can get the details from Adobe here.

With each new version of the Flash player, we are able to enhance SiteMaker using the new features made available in the player. For example video only became possible in Flash Player 7. Flash Player 8 will allow a number of new things to be possible. These include:

  • Uploading/downloading of files through Flash - this will allow us to create a better file manager
  • More customisable widgets - 'skinable' widgets so the interface can match your site, e.g. advanced form, comment widget and new forums, blogs, etc.
  • Better video compatibility - some videos require Flash player 8
  • More advanced image editing/effects - will allow you to apply filters or other advanced effects to your images

A comment widget, which will allow messages/posts to be made on your site, will be the first new feature released which requires Flash Player 8. This will be in beta in April and you can expect the full version in May. This means we won't be changing the site requirements (and Flash Player detection) to Flash Player 8 until at least May, possibly later, depending on other developments.

In future, we will upgrade the requirements for Flash Player as and when penetration reaches a high enough level, and when new features are sufficiently attractive to offer real benefits to you, our customers. So for now Flash Player 8 has reached that 95% threshold and offers some good new options.

What will it mean for your visitors?
For 95% of them, it won't make any difference at all. For the minority who don't have Flash Player 8 or higher, they will be asked to upgrade their player when they visit the site and see the alternative text and image only version. The upgrade process is simple and well supported by Adobe.

So there you have it. We'll confirm when the change will be made, but you have a couple of months to go, and some great new features to look forward to.