Tier 2 – Using the MP3 Player
In order to use the MP3 Player on the Tier 2 sites, you must access the settings found on the left hand side of the site’s dashboard. This menu is shown below. Click on MP3 jPlayer link and it will bring up a menu.
Technical Settings
This is the only menu that you will use to control the MP3 jPlayer settings. The first option is to decide on what the initial volume of the music will be. Consider your audience. Consider what type of music it is. Thinking about this ahead of time will allow you to better adjust the starting volume for your listeners. You may also change the way that the music starts: You can click autoplay to have it start as soon as the page loads, repeat to have the track repeat after the first time playing, start with playlists showing (which allows the viewer to see all of the songs you have uploaded), and display an MP3 link which allows the user to download the track. Be very aware of whether or not you have the rights to play the song on the site and to have others download the song.
Below these click-able options, you will find another choice of how large you would like the player to be. This is something you may want to experiment with in order to know what is the most effective size for your site. You should leave the option to show players in index and archive clicked (the bottom option). This allows others to go back and listen to your track.
Color Schemes
The next set of options are to change the color settings on the player. There is a pull-down menu shown that gives you options on switching to pre-designed players. Choose the player that you would like to use from this pull down menu. If you would like to create your own color scheme, please click on “Show Colour Settings.”
Changing to Custom Colors
If you choose “Show Colour Settings”, you will get menu seen below. Experiment with it first to see all of your options. Also, go to the Theme Options page (IF you have access to it) to see the hexadecimal colors currently assigned to your site. This will give you a head start on getting things just right. The fastest and easiest way to color your player is to use the pre-designed options, but this is just something else that you can use to customize your player to the max.
Library/Setting Folders
The next section is for the library. This refers to your main media library. This will show you the MP3s that you have loaded, and will give you the option to upload more.
The section right below library is the Folder or URL menu. You can use this menu in order to create folders to store your music, and gives you the information on how to create playlists.
More Options
In the next section, you will discover more options. This is where you decide to number the tracks, animate sliders, and encode the URLs and file names. You can also set the maximum height for the playlist and set alphabetical orders for the songs. Please keep the box next to “Allow mp3′s from other domains on the players’ playlists” checked. You can also choose to hide the .mp3 extension.
Setting Margins
In the Margins section, you will choose how much empty space you would like to be around the actual player.
Pop-Out Player
If you choose to use a pop out player, you can check this section. A “pop-out” is when the player comes out in a separate window, not embedded into the site. You can also use this area to play around with the pop-out player’s size. You can change the button that launches the pop-out player to say whatever you’d like through this menu as well.
Template/Activating Settings
The template section is not something you will need to touch. Please do not change the settings in this area, as this may break the codes in the program. Leave the box checked next to “Remember Settings if Plugin is Deactivated.”
Once you are finished updating all of these settings, click the “Update Settings” blue button.
Calling a Player in a Page or Post
After all the settings in the Mp3 jPlayer area are set how you would like them, you can “call” or show the mp3 player in different ways. You may want to use this in a post or in a page. You can find the list of codes in the MP3 jPlayer menu by clicking the “Show Help” link directly below the title, as highlighted below.
By clicking “Show Help” you will now see a large list of codes that you will use to insert the MP3 Player into your posts or page.
For example, to add a single file player, you will need to type the code: [[mp3j track="myfile.mp3"]].
To make a playlist (multiple file) player, type the code: [[mp3-jplayer tracks="myfileA.mp3, myfileB.mp3, myfileC.mp3"]]
Make sure that all of the files you have referenced have already been uploaded to the media library. Please note that the media library that you use for all of your images is also where you need to put your music files to be referenced. The MP3 Player does not create a separate library.
