PUTTING YOUR 3DML SPOT ON THE WEB
3DML is of course a new language, and 3DML files have a MIME type that is new and foreign to most Web servers and Web browsers out there. In plain old english, this means that putting your spot on the Web may take one more step than putting an HTML page on the web.Because 3DML is a new MIME type, web servers must be introduced to 3DML, and instructed to recognize 3DML files. This is very similar to how you change the registry in Windows to recognize new file extentions. (MIME types are a way in which Web servers tell Web browsers what kind of information is in a particular file. You don't need to understand MIME types to publish 3DML spots, but if you are interested, you can find more MIME information at the MIME Information Page.)
There are 3 ways to solve this problem of introducing Web servers to a new language.
- The EMBED tag in HTML (the easiest way!)
The first is to embed your 3DML spots in HTML pages. (see below). This solution will work for any Web server out there.
- The .htaccess file for Apapche servers
This second method works only on Apache Web servers. (Over half of the Web servers out there run Apache.) If you know your Web server is Apache, you can simply upload a single simple file called the .htaccess file that will take care of the whole MIME type issue. Click here to learn more about the .htaccess file for Apapche servers.
- Hosting 3DML spots at Flatland or on free web hosting services
Many folks building on the web today put their websites up for free on free web hosting services. Currently, some free hosting services do host 3DML spots, while some do not. Click here to learn whether your free webhosting service hosts 3DML, and how to host your spot at Flatland.
EMBEDDING 3DML IN AN HTML PAGE
With this solution, you put an HTML page up on your site that includes a simple EMBED tag - this tag works for both MS IE 4.0, 5.0beta and Netscape 3.0, 4.5. The EMBED tag includes the 3DML MIME type and a link to your .3dml files.Just copy the code below, and save it as an HTML file. Edit the TITLE to be your spot title and SRC to point to your 3DML file. If your 3DML file is called "flatrocks.3dml", then you will want to call this HTML page "flatrocks.html". If someone goes to this HTML file and does not have Rover, they will be given the option to go to the PLUGINSPAGE (our download page) to get their own copy.
This should work on all Web servers out there, with the exception of some of the free homepage services. Tripod, for instance, will only allow you to upload files that have specific file extensions, and .3dml is not one of them (yet). We are working on solutions for these situations. If this solution does not work on your server for some reason, please let us know.
<HTML>
<HEAD>
<TITLE>Flatland Rocks!</TITLE>
</HEAD>
<BODY BGCOLOR="#000000" LEFTMARGIN=0 TOPMARGIN=0 SCROLL="no"><EMBED TYPE="model/vnd.flatland.3dml"</BODY>
SRC="flatrocks.3dml"
PLUGINSPAGE="http://www.flatland.com/download_direct.html"
HEIGHT="100%"
WIDTH="100%">
</HTML>