Using A DHTML Menu With Flash Objects

Flash objects cover a DHTML menu. To see an example, mouse over the menu item below and the submenu should appear behind the Flash object (the spinning globe):

 

Sothink DHMTLMenu provides a solution, but it is limited to Internet Explorer. In the following example we checked Flash movie or other ActiveX Object in the Windowed element section of Global Settings - Advanced.

 

Although Internet Explorer is still the most popular browser, other browsers are gaining in popularity. If you want your site to be cross-browser compatible, we suggest that you use one of the following methods for displaying a DHTML menu over a Flash object. These methods should work with Internet Explorer, Firefox, Mozilla, Opera, and Netscape. Here are the steps to follow:

  1. Make sure that you are using the latest version of DHTMLMenu (Version 5.2, Build 50610).

  2. In the Windowed element section of Global Settings - Advanced, make sure that Flash movie or other ActiveX Object is UNCHECKED.

  3. On the page that contains the menu and the Flash movie, use either wmode="transparent" or wmode="opaque" in the code that loads the Flash movie (see examples below).

  4. When you upload files to the server, make sure that you upload the most recent version of stm31.js.

Here is the transparent code we used, along with an example:

<object classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,29,0" width="100" height="100">
<param name="wmode" value="transparent" />
<param name="movie" value="images/globe.swf" />
<param name="quality" value="high" />
<embed src="images/globe.swf" quality="high" wmode="transparent" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="100" height="100"></embed>
</object>

 

And here is the opaque code we used, along with an example:

<object classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,29,0" width="100" height="100">
<param name="wmode" value="opaque" />
<param name="movie" value="images/globe.swf" />
<param name="quality" value="high" />
<embed src="images/globe.swf" quality="high" wmode="opaque" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="100" height="100"></embed>