scribd / Flash_heed
Programming Languages
FlashHeed: Fix Flash Ads That Go Above Your Content
Tired of flash ads (or other flash content) that ignore z-index and go over your DOM content on the page? Use FlashHeed to fix them.
The issue is that flash elements that don't specify a wmode, or set wmode to window will not preserve stacking order on your webpage. In fact, they will go above any content, no matter what kind of z-index voodoo you try.
This problem is easy to solve if you deliver and own the flash content: just stick <param name="wmode" value="transparent"> in your object tag and set wmode="transparent" in your embed tags and you're good to go. But, what if you cannot alter the flash server-side? This is a common problem with flash ads, like Google AdSense.
For these situation, FlashHeed will dynamically add these paramters, taking into account various browser quirks.
Compatibility
FlashHeed has been tested in Firefox 3, Safari 5, Chrome 7, IE6, IE7, and IE8. In other words, it should work in most major browsers.
Usage
FlashHeed has no dependencies. Just include the script in your webpage (preferably in the <head>):
<script type="text/javascript" src="flash_heed.js"></script>
A FlashHeed object will now be available.
It currently has one method: heed. Call it without any arguments like so:
FlashHeed.heed();
And it will fix up all the flash elements on a page. Or, you can pass in a scope, and it will only fix ads that are children of that DOM node:
FlashHeed.heed(document.getElementById('container'));
Of course, you should probably call this method onDomLoad.
That's it! Never again will your drop down menus and lightboxes be terrorized by flash ads!