Explanation of HTML Embed Tag
First of all, you may have seen many codes on the internet which you can actually use to insert a flash clock on your website, however, the above html embed tag is the most simple code you will ever see, and it works for all known browsers. You can test the above code in the "real-time html editor" we actually provide on this tutorial, on the bottom of this page.
embed tag (<embed ... </embed>)
This is the html embed tag itself, it is used to insert objects inside a web page, wherever you want and how many times you want, an object can be a flash movie (flash clock, website, animation, and other applications that use flash technology), or a java applet which uses java technology.
src= This is the source (src), it is the direct link to where the flash clock is located on the server, and can be your website server or another remote server. The direct link must contain the top level domain and the name of the flash clock file (the flash clock must be in swf format, or it will not be loaded by the flash player).
If the flash clock is inside a folder, you must also insert the name of the folder in which the flash clock file is located, the folder name must be placed on the link just after the top level domain name. You must insert the exact location.
width= , height=
width and height are parameters to configure, in pixels, the size of the flash clock in width and height. Normally for a analog clock, the most used size for both width and height is 150 or even 200 (same value for both), but you should try different values, there is not a default value, you must change it to match your website needs.
wmode=
wmode is a parameter extremely important and very useful, do not forget to insert this parameter, if you use joomla or wordpress (or any other platform or script), make sure this parameter is included in the html embed tag code because the point is to blend the background color/colors of the flash clock with the background color/colors of the web page where the flash clock is to be inserted and displayed.
transparent is the most used value because it is easier in most times, however there are other values for the wmode parameter, and obviously there will be times when you will need to use one of the other available values for the wmode parameter if you want the flash clock to be visible, to display the default background color/colors, to have an opaque tone for instance.
So, you should know there are only 3 values for the wmode parameter:
wmode=window wmode=opaque wmode=transparent
window value is used when you want to insert a flash clock on a web page with the default background color (every flash clock must be created with a default background color), sometimes it is the only option because some flash clocks can only be seen in a web page with white or dark background colors, it deppends of the design of the flash clock.
opaque also uses the default color of the flash clock, the result is exactly as the window value, there is no significant difference between window value and opaque value, nobody will notice the difference, so you can and should forget about the opaque value for the wmode parameter, that's merely an advice.
transparent value is the most used, the only purpose is to make the flash clock default background color/colors blend with the background color/colors of the web page where the flash clock is to be placed, the point is to match all colors, that means that the default background color/colors of the flash clock is disregarded by the adobe flash player, making it transparent inside the web page.
type=application/x-shockwave-flash This is a very simple parameter that must be included inside every html embed tag, the purpose is to communicate with the browser, namely to tell the browser that it must load the adobe flash player (if it is already installed on the browser), otherwise the flash clock will not be seen.
</embed> Every html tag must be closed, remember that html is also a programming language, and in each programming language the tags or operators must be closed, if not, the browser could in fact stop processing the entire code of the web page, or at least, the html embed tag used to display the flash clock.
This is the "real-time html editor" mentioned at the beginning of this tutorial, you will see that any html code you enter in the Code Area (the upper area) will automatically appear in the Preview Area (the lower area), obviously already converted.
Copy the following html embed tag and paste it in the Code Area (Upper Area):
<embed src=http://www.tonjacobs.nl/clocks/clock008.swf width=150 height=150 type=application/x-shockwave-flash>