How can I make a SWF autoplay in the profile box of a facebook application?

Question

I want my SWF to autoplay in a Facebook profile box. I am currently using an FBML based app but I am open to using any type that would make this easy. Using the param waitforclick=false does not work in the profile box so this is not an option.

At first I thought this would not be possible without using an AJAX request (that is what the docs say) but after trying to do this via AJAX with no luck, I did a bit more research. I found that in the ReverbNation facebook application "My Band", they are able to autoplay a SWF. I haven't quite figured out how they do it yet but I did take a look at the generated profile box code before clicking the SWF and after clicking the SWF.

Before clicking:

<div id="2405167945_fbswf_4b0b4cce045f91534648943" height="15" width="15" overflow="hidden" class="__fbswf">
 <embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash"    src="http://cache.reverbnation.com/widgets/content/player/facebookOneShot.swf?emailPlaylist=song_2509346&amp;amp;autoPlay=true" 
  style="" id="swf_4b0b4cce049094f82894993" name="swf_4b0b4cce049094f82894993" bgcolor="000000" quality="high" 
  allowscriptaccess="never" fbjs="_id_4b0b4cce046032577161862" wmode="transparent"  flashvars="=&amp;fb_local_connection=_id4b0b4cce046320307815032&amp;fb_fbjs_connection=_id_4b0b4cce046032577161862&amp;fb_sig_profile=527222885&amp;fb_sig_locale=en_US&amp;fb_sig_in_new_facebook=1&amp;fb_sig_time=1259031758.018&amp;fb_sig_added=1&amp;fb_sig_profile_update_time=1239997072&amp;fb_sig_expires=1259038800&amp;fb_sig_user=527222885&amp;fb_sig_session_key=2.FMzt5_mR_LhrqF4nrQLhcg__.3600.1259038800-527222885&amp;fb_sig_ss=gAOI6rA0R_2tlubA5ahK_g__&amp;fb_sig_cookie_sig=2431e415604aec8066fce75f39769356&amp;fb_sig_ext_perms=auto_publish_recent_activity&amp;fb_sig_api_key=c3759de5d7120d6acc4dae494d1928be&amp;fb_sig_app_id=2405167945&amp;fb_sig=4cd04d06aae5296914b98fbae724b2cf&amp;string_table=http://static.ak.fbcdn.net/js_strings.php/t87432/en_US&amp;amp;swf_id=swf_4b0b4cce049094f82894993" 
  width="15" height="15">
</div>

After clicking:

<div id="2405167945_fbswf_4b0b4d42660ba6dbafc86" height="15" width="15" overflow="hidden" class="__fbswf">
 <a height="15" width="15" waitforclick="true" 
 swfsrc="http://cache.reverbnation.com/widgets/content/player/facebookOneShot.swf?emailPlaylist=song_2509346&amp;amp;autoPlay=true" 
 imgclass="rn_button_play_even" 
 imgsrc="http://cache.reverbnation.com/images/facebook/spacer.gif" 
 onclick="swf_4b0b4d426c7a777aed2e2 = new 
 SWFObject("http://cache.reverbnation.com/widgets/content/player/facebookOneShot.swf?emailPlaylist=song_2509346\x26autoPlay=true", 
 "swf_4b0b4d426c7a777aed2e2", 
 "15", "15", ["9.0.159.0","10.0.22.87"], "000000");
swf_4b0b4d426c7a777aed2e2.addParam("allowScriptAccess", "never");
swf_4b0b4d426c7a777aed2e2.addParam("fbjs", "_id_4b0b4d42660c73d7dd160");
swf_4b0b4d426c7a777aed2e2.addParam("wmode", "transparent");
swf_4b0b4d426c7a777aed2e2.addVariable("", "");
swf_4b0b4d426c7a777aed2e2.addVariable("fb_local_connection", "_id4b0b4d42699b33975134d");
swf_4b0b4d426c7a777aed2e2.addVariable("fb_fbjs_connection", "_id_4b0b4d42660c73d7dd160");
swf_4b0b4d426c7a777aed2e2.addVariable("fb_sig_profile", "527222885");
swf_4b0b4d426c7a777aed2e2.addVariable("fb_sig_locale", "en_US");
swf_4b0b4d426c7a777aed2e2.addVariable("fb_sig_in_new_facebook", "1");
swf_4b0b4d426c7a777aed2e2.addVariable("fb_sig_time", "1259031874.4381");
swf_4b0b4d426c7a777aed2e2.addVariable("fb_sig_added", "1");
swf_4b0b4d426c7a777aed2e2.addVariable("fb_sig_profile_update_time", "1239997072");
swf_4b0b4d426c7a777aed2e2.addVariable("fb_sig_expires", "1259038800");
swf_4b0b4d426c7a777aed2e2.addVariable("fb_sig_user", "527222885");
swf_4b0b4d426c7a777aed2e2.addVariable("fb_sig_session_key", "2.FMzt5_mR_LhrqF4nrQLhcg__.3600.1259038800-527222885");
swf_4b0b4d426c7a777aed2e2.addVariable("fb_sig_ss", "gAOI6rA0R_2tlubA5ahK_g__");
swf_4b0b4d426c7a777aed2e2.addVariable("fb_sig_cookie_sig", "2431e415604aec8066fce75f39769356");
swf_4b0b4d426c7a777aed2e2.addVariable("fb_sig_ext_perms", "auto_publish_recent_activity");
swf_4b0b4d426c7a777aed2e2.addVariable("fb_sig_api_key", "c3759de5d7120d6acc4dae494d1928be");
swf_4b0b4d426c7a777aed2e2.addVariable("fb_sig_app_id", "2405167945");
swf_4b0b4d426c7a777aed2e2.addVariable("fb_sig", "cd50d9ce65cfdac0100fd445fb041e9d");
swf_4b0b4d426c7a777aed2e2.addVariable("string_table", "http://static.ak.fbcdn.net/js_strings.php/t87432/en_US");
swf_4b0b4d426c7a777aed2e2.addVariable("swf_id", "swf_4b0b4d426c7a777aed2e2");
swf_4b0b4d426c7a777aed2e2.fallback_html = "\x3cdiv class=\x22flash_fallback\x22\x3e\x3cdiv class=\x22flash_fallback_border\x22\x3e\x3cdiv class=\x22flash_fallback_header\x22\x3eFlash Player upgrade required\x3c/div\x3e\x3cdiv class=\x22flash_fallback_explanation\x22 id=\x22flash_fallback_4b0b4d426c8fc1a1c5deb\x22\x3eYou must download and install the latest version of the Adobe Flash Player to view this content.\x3c/div\x3e\x3cdiv class=\x22flash_fallback_button\x22\x3e\x3cinput type=\x22button\x22 class=\x22inputbutton\x22 onclick=\x22this.disabled=true;getFlashPlayer();\x22 id=\x22\x22 name=\x22\x22 value=\x22Download Flash\x22 /\x3e\x3c/div\x3e\x3c/div\x3e\x3c/div\x3e";
swf_4b0b4d426c7a777aed2e2.write("2405167945_fbswf_4b0b4d42660ba6dbafc86");; (new Image()).src = '/ajax/ct.php?app_id=2405167945&amp;action_type=5&amp;post_form_id=957a92c32bf2dda6d7c4e508685c3718&amp;position=2&amp;' + Math.random(); return false;" href="#" flash="true"><img src="http://platform.ak.fbcdn.net/www/app_full_proxy.php?app=2405167945&amp;amp;v=1&amp;amp;size=p&amp;amp;cksum=57619dca4b62f0b11a83d8c46cf2decd&amp;amp;src=http%3A%2F%2Fcache.reverbnation.com%2Fimages%2Ffacebook%2Fspacer.gif" class="rn_button_play_even" width="15" height="15"></a></div>

Does anyone know how to make this autoplay feature happen? I am really having trouble finding documentation anywhere on the internet. I am also really not sure why the generated code changes to SWFObject code after clicking.

Thanks!

Answer 1

Looks like its being passed as a flash param with their implementation:

src="http://cache.reverbnation.com/widgets/content/player/facebookOneShot.swf?emailPlaylist=song_2509346&autoPlay=true"

How this is being implemented on their end i have no idea though.

Answer 2

I am not going to waste my time figuring this out since it looks like profile boxes are going away soon: http://wiki.developers.facebook.com/index.php/Roadmap%5FProfile

Answer 3

Don't make it auto-play. That's the obnoxious behavior that gives Flash apps a bad reputation. I think Facebook specifically disallows auto-play, or takes steps to block it. I could be wrong.

"Hey, you and everyone else within earshot are gonna LOVE this song!"