Posted at 06-03-2008 @ 01:07 by ..::DeUCeD::..
Latest News: Shout Stream Version 2.3 now supports WordPress 2.6 and also have LIVE update for your stream stats using AJAX! As that plugin is getting richer and new features are being added, i strongly advise you to read all the info in this page to configure it properly.
Shout Stream version 2.3
Updated @ 10/07/2008
Download Shout Stream
(from the Wordpress Repository)
do not use autoupdate, manual configuration is needed
- Description
Shout Stream plugin is a widget that embeds a mini Player at your sidebar to connect to a stream (shoutcast is tested) along with LIVE stats. You can select Media player which is readable from all major browsers or Minicaster flash player. It has also a link for a popup window so your readers could surf at your blog without stopping hearing the stream.
- Usage
After installed activate Shout Stream plugin and then configure the widget. It has already some default values to play and see how it looks like in your website but you must change them if you want your visitors to listen to your shoutcast stream. But first take a look at the following widget screenshot:
As you see you must SET the following values:
- Num 1: A widget title (default is My Shoutcast)
- Num 2 & 3: The IP address and the PORT of the stream (default is IP & PORT for Radio Casbah shoutcast stream)
- Num 4 & 5: Width and Height of the sidebar mini Media Player (default values are 170 x 70 pixels)
- Num 6: Set 0 or 1 to disable/enable Autostart for the sidebar player (default is 0)
- Num 7: Set 0 to disable or 1 to enable stats with fsockopen or 2 with cURL (default is 1 but try 2 if you have problems with your host or 0 to disable stats)
- Num 8: Set 0 to disable LIVE stats update (default option) or else set the seconds between each update. I have set mine at 20 OR 30 sec which is an acceptable update time. Shoutcast has a delay between 10-20 sec for someone who hears a stream and a song usually last about 3-6 minutes so setting something smaller than 10 sec is useless and it’ll make your blog trying to communicate all the time with the server stream.
- Num 9: Set 0 or 1 to disable/enable Sidebar player (default is 1 but if you disable it, set something small as height so it won’t be left an empty space between popup link and the stats, something like height: 10 pixels will do the trick)
- Num 10: Set 0 or 1 to disable/enable Minicaster flash player (default is 1 but if you choose to disable it and having Sidebar player enabled then all browsers will try to open the stream at Media player)
If you enable LIVE stats update you must also have to configure manual the file vars.txt which is in main plugins folder using a simple notepad. Take a look at the next image:
As you see it’s ONLY one line that needs to be edit. Just change the IP~PORT with your stream but keep tilde [ ~ ] between them EXACTLY as you see it, NO LINE BREAK and NO SPACES anywhere. This file also includes the messages shown. If you have changed them in the main plugin file do the same here but also keep the tilde between them.
That was the main configuration for the plugin but if you also enable the Minicaster you MUST manually edit it’s configuration file which is in the plugin’s folder. Just search for a file named minicaster.xml and edit it using a simple notepad. The next image will help you a lot:
As you see in the image there are three lines that NEEDS to be edited. Line 4 is the “mount point” and there you are gonna put your stream address. For a classic shoutcast stream put exactly the IP address and the PORT and LEAVE the last SEMICOLON right after the SLASH exactly AS YOU SEE IT. This is important for shoutcast streams but not needed for icecast. If your stream is other than shoutcast, please read the full Minicaster documentation which is included in the plugin or visit Minicaster’s official website. Line 5 is the link to your stream page or your blog, whatever. Line 6 is a title for the link. For other choices like reload and xfade please read Minicaster’s documentation (included in the plugin’s folder).
I have also taken some screenshots from popup players in different browsers and sidebar players in the default Kubrick theme of WordPress. Open the following links to see them:
| MediaPlayer POPUP (MSIE) ↓↑ | Minicaster POPUP (FireFox) ↓↑ |
| Minicaster POPUP (Safari) ↓↑ | Minicaster POPUP (Opera) ↓↑ |
| Sidebar Media Player ↓↑ |
Sidebar Minicaster ↓↑ |
- Important Notes
1. For the sidebar media player you have to pay attention to width and height to match your space and template. Default values (170X70) looks OK but a bit more wide would look even better. Minicaster has a standard width and height (180×70).
2. POPUP Player acts the same as sidebar player. If Minicaster is enabled then every browsers will see it EXCEPT MSIE. If Minicaster is disabled then every browser will try to get the stream through Media Player.
3. The stats comes from shoutcast streams page. There are two options to choose when enabled, 1 (fsockopen) or 2 (cURL) depending on your host but if you experience problems disable them. If you wanna translate the messages they are all gathered in a section of shout-stream.php file. Now there’s a little trick that is important to know, if a Song is anything else than latin characters in it’s title, that characters won’t be displayed, they will be stripped. It is also important to have in mind that Shout Stream tries to communicate with the stream’s site and that means it can make your blog slower. If the stream is DOWN then a message will be displayed BUT if the stream doesn’t exist you ‘ll get an error message. I had to put a time in sec in which i thought that it won’t “hung” the blog so i set it to 5 sec.
4. The stats also supports LIVE update using AJAX but must be configured manually. Check above in configuration link. If you need further assistance configuring it make a comment or use my forums. If you cannot make it work disable LIVE update setting 0 as a value.
- Installation ↓↑
- Upgrading ↓↑
- FAQ ↓↑
- Changelog:
- version 2.3: Support LIVE stats using AJAX and WP2.6 compatibility.
- version 2.2: Support cURL for stat.
- version 2.1: Fixed POPUP dimensions & style.
- version 2.0: Minicaster flash player added end some JS errors fixed.
- version 1.5: Fixed an error for IE7 mplayer.
- version 1.4: Ready for WP2.5 and fixed width popup.
- version 1.3: Winamp link added and minor fixes.
- version 1.2: JS in HEAD so POPUP could be opened everywhere.
- version 1.1: Popup media player was added and changed stats.
- version 1.0: First release.
- Credits
Thanx a lot to the guys at Draftlight Networks who let me pack Minicaster along with Shout Stream plugin for the Wordpress users!
AJAX live stats was made using a script i found in DYNAMIC DRIVE website. I used the code from Dynamic Ajax Content script which was altered to work with Shout Stream plugin. Thanx a lot to the guys that developed it!
Last Note: Shout Stream was tested only with shoutcast stream but it may work with other streams too (icecast). If you get a blank page after activation try disabling the stats. If you try this plugin please give me some feedback to improve it. And a favor to ask, if you use Shout Stream plugin with success just make a comment with your WordPress URL so i could make a list down here and check it.
Click below if you wanna see a random list of *SOME* Wordpress blogs that use Shout Stream plugin for their shoutcast streaming. Each one uses it with a different way.
So… Happy Streaming!
10-03-2008 @ 17:57
Thanks for your work - I’ll be playing with this plugin on my test blog (just add a test. to beginning of the url above) a little later this week.
If you don’t mind me making a suggestion, adding a ’subscribe to comments’ e-mail plugin might be a good idea for this site…
10-03-2008 @ 21:09
Thanx Chris for trying the plugin. I really need the feedback. And a subscription to comments would be a nice idea.
13-03-2008 @ 23:25
Umm… you say you tested it with all browsers and even took a screenshot, but it doesn’t work when I browse your site here with my Opera.
There is nothing but a blank with “plug-in content” where the player should be. And when I click on that, it asks me to download a plug-in, I confirm, but then am taken to Microsoft to download a *Firefox* plug-in. Opera doesn’t use Firefox plug-ins.
I like your idea of a pop-up window a lot! The description of your plug-in seemed to be exactly what I was looking for for months now. But isn’t there a way to make it work in Opera too *AND* to not have visitors to my site forced to download a plug-in?
13-03-2008 @ 23:33
Which OS u got?
As i say u *MUST* have WINXP SP2 or VISTA.
14-03-2008 @ 11:51
Sorry, I forgot to mention it - I DO have XP SP2. And the latest Opera version (9.26).
I also checked it with Safari (version 3.0.4) and have the same problem. Did you hard code the link to the Firefox plug-in on the Microsoft site? Or is there only one plug-in and it will only work for Firefox but not for Opera or Safari?
14-03-2008 @ 11:54
Since you do have XP SP2 could you browse this page with IE6 or IE7 and please DO tell me what you see?
14-03-2008 @ 12:46
I ‘m not a browser expert but i will try to show you some things.
As i said you must have XP SP2 and Win Media Player. Now I have installed firefox and this plugin works with FF.
When i installed Opera i had already a FF installation so i don’t know how things go. All i know is that Opera reads FF plugin and works!
Here ’s a link to a screenshot where you could see how Opera handles x-ms-wmp applications AFTER FF plugin is installed by default (haven’t changed anything after Opera’s installation).
I don’t know if you can install this plugin without a FF installation (it may search FF plugin folder) but if u can things gonna work so give it a try and let me know!
15-03-2008 @ 12:54
There ’s one more article about Opera and Windows Media Player here which says:
Now let me tell you what i did:
- I setup a *new* WinXP SP2 box. I browse my site with IE6 and see the media player.
- Then installed Opera. Nothing i could see despite what in the above link says. Opera couldn’t handle x-ms-wmp application in anyway.
- Then i download the Firefox plugin and installed it without a FireFox installation. I opened Opera and still couldn’t see the media player. And i couldn’t manually point to the plugin.
- At last I installed FF and Opera could use FF plugin and see the media player. So Opera can perfectly work when only installed after Firefox and its plugin.
Unfortunately i cannot find any solution for Opera Browsers but only if there’s a way to tell it manually to handle x-ms-wmp applications pointing to the media player plugin’s installation, something that a normal user won’t ever do.
Now i can make a new release of Shout Stream and check user’s browser but when i detect Opera i could only hide media player “box” but thats not a solution cause i wouldnt know if there s already a firefox installation (and then media player could work) and i also don’t know if there s already some plugin which i don’t know and will allow Opera to see the media player. I cannot do more search but if you know a way that Opera can handle x-ms-wmp application just show it to me and i will adopt it.
09-04-2008 @ 18:37
Kalimera,
First, let me apologize for the long delay in getting back to you. I
appreciate all the testing you’ve done!
About your last comment - I actually *have* all those files in my Opera
plugin folder. And, usually Windows Media applications work fine -
inside Opera and in general.
Even though I abhore the program (mostly because it is so excruciatingly slow - forget about security issues…) I surfed this page with IE (6). It works. (FF works, too.)
I wonder if you got any feedback from other Opera users? I’d be interested to know - maybe I could submit the issue to the Opera folks. I had a problem with a clock plugin and they found that the original programmers were sloppy with the embedding code. (Opera strictly complies with WC3s standards - so if something doesn’t work, it isn’t Opera’s fault.)
Just to mention it - the problem also still exists in Safari.
09-04-2008 @ 19:02
I been a bit busy these days trying to find a solution.
Unfortunately Opera isn’t well known to most people i know and i have no feedback but only from tests i run on my own. I also don’t have a Mac so i can only test Safari from a Win box. But anyway Mac users should use iTunes for listening to a stream. It’s funny but i think that Safari for win has the same “attitude” as Opera. If is installed AFTER FireFox and it’s plugin all goes well!
Now,there are two codes for media player when embeded in a web page. One for MPlayer 6.4 and one for MPlayer 7+ and i have decided to use the latest. With that one OPERA won’t handle x-ms-wmp applications as i have tested it (till v9.26) and therefore a user won’t see MPlayer.
After installing FF and it’s plugin and THEN installing OPERA all works fine because when Opera is installed later, it reads ALL browsers plugin folders and recognizes FF plugin path, check ABOUT –> path –> Plugin Path and you ‘ll confirm it.
I cannot do much but it would help if you could ask at Opera forums why Opera can read MPlayer through FF plugin but CANNOT handle it without it. As you said, we cannot expect an Opera user to download firefox, then it’s plugin and reinstall opera again just to listen to a stream! But that’s something that only the opera developers can answer.
What i’m searching this time is a free flash player for shoutcast. Unfortunately i haven’t find much but i have something in my mind. There’s an alternative to use Wimpy which is flash and can play shoutcast but it’s not a GPL product and need to test it.
PS: I don’t know if you ‘ll find a player for your stream but at the end you ‘ll learn some greeks! Kalimera!
09-04-2008 @ 22:12
And some more info. You can see in my sidebar a flash player. It’s the minicaster and i think that you could see it from all browsers in any OS as long as they have flash installed. It’s free but not open source. I have request the permission to include it in the plugin as an option. If they accept then we ‘ll have a pretty solution. It ’s a lot better having more options. Let’s wait a few days… And please tell me if it works with ALL your browsers.
10-04-2008 @ 09:58
Thank you very much for your efforts! I can use the flash player in your sidebar in Opera - but the reason why I was so excited about the Shout Stream plugin was the option to have it pop-up! That was what I’m missing. Otherwise, I’m using the 1Bit player plugin - it works, it hides the URL and is small and not complicated. BUT, as you know, since it’s not a pop-up, it stops playing once the user clicks on an entry or page.
If you manage to include the flash player as an option for the pop-up, then I’d love to use your plugin! I’ll be around to test it then.
Btw, I know a few Greek words from vacation.
10-04-2008 @ 10:50
Everything has its pros and cons. Flash players DO NOT work on IE7 (for a shoutcast stream) where a Media Player works. So i’m looking for couple of alternatives. I can check the users agent and decide what i ‘ll show to him.
As for the POPUP i can understand how important it is and that’s why i insist at Win Media Player. But i can make a popup for a flash player too. I ‘ll let you know how it goes in a few days…
10-04-2008 @ 18:01
And please my friend Confused gimme feedback checking this page with lots of browsers. I have managed to make the popup and the sidebar player “smart”, that means when they see MSIE media player appears but for all other browsers minicaster flash player appears and plays the stream. Now it’s a flash player and that has some limitations but it’ll do the job for all those users they do not want to open winamp.
16-04-2008 @ 12:56
Hey …. nice plugin!
It would be great if the users are able to switch the radio-stations or choose from a shoutcast list…dont know if this is doable but would be a very nice feature i think!
Greetings!
16-04-2008 @ 13:01
Yeah, i think it could be done. I ‘ll try it for the next release
Thx
02-05-2008 @ 23:01
[...] [Download] [Plugin Page] [...]
05-05-2008 @ 11:58
Hi got it loaded on our site! Just trying to work out how to load servers!!!
05-05-2008 @ 12:03
Glad to hear it!
If you find any difficulties setting it up, let me know and i’ll help!
05-05-2008 @ 12:43
DeUced!
thanks for the great plugin,
It works on our site, the only issue I assume is in the configuration. Currently I am using the defaults.
It gives one error STREAM CONNECT FAILED error N: 110 but still connects and shouts the music!
The instructions on how to set up server are quite clear, but the question is, is there a list of such servers where one can just select the station and plug? Must it be in the numerical form?
How does one get to know the port?
I suppose these are obvious and probably silly questions, but probably questions that can be in an FAQ somewhere!!! cheers
05-05-2008 @ 14:18
The plugi is great, but im getting an error when trying to get the stats to work. however it can be my webpage host that not supporting som sort of communication, im not sure.
Warning: fsockopen() [function.fsockopen]: unable to connect to (ip number)
httpd.www/wp-content/plugins/shout-stream/shout-stream.php on line 205
any ideas? seems like a some port or socket is blocked by the isp?
05-05-2008 @ 15:00
Capone and 14Drink, if you can hear the stream but u get an error when trying to display the stats, that means that EITHER your host OR your stream’s host do not allow PHP to read the shoutcast page and get what it displays. In that case disable the stats (through WP widget) or ask your host.
14Drink, every shoutcast stream has an IP and a PORT, i.e. http://87.117.193.142:9728/ is RADIO CASBAH stream. It can also read DOMAIN if an IP is mapped to ONE but that’s up to you.
For this release i have chosen to only have one stream which you can enter through WP widget but *maybe* in the next release i ll make it to have multiple stations and the visitor will have to choose one. But i ‘ll have to try it and also test if this is supported by the free version of minicaster.
05-05-2008 @ 17:26
DeUCeD- Thanks for the update, Iam now on the same issue with Capone, fsockopen() … and exposing the server route.
I have temporarily now removed it and will try install later again when there is less traffic. It must be doing something in the server side since when I switch it off, the server is remarkably faster!
05-05-2008 @ 17:50
Yeah i think the same DeUCeD, well the plugin works fine i just only need to disable the stats feature, however it would be nice to have some stats. But again i think its my host fault…
05-05-2008 @ 18:46
If you wanna if it’s your STREAM host, post here your shoutcast page (it’s where it displays stats) and i ll take a look at it.
06-05-2008 @ 01:27
Hi,
I am using your plugin on http://www.d4v.org with great success. I’d like to be able to put a second player widget right below the other one programmed to a different station but that may be asking for too much.
Thanks for adding a radio to my blog!
06-05-2008 @ 01:44
Addendum to comment above:
Or be able to switch stations as mentioned in an earlier comment.
06-05-2008 @ 13:55
Hey John, i’m a bit busy these days with a new template but i promise i ll make a new release this month with an option to put more than one streams. Sorry that i cannot get it ready faster.
12-05-2008 @ 00:08
Heh !!
First of all, thanks for your work !
I have tried to make the minicaster work on my blog (the media player part works well) problem is, it keeps on streaming the casbah radio even though i changed the configuration in the minicaster.xml. Do you know what could be going wrong ?
Thanks !
12-05-2008 @ 07:52
Hey neyz, if Minicaster plays the RadioCasbah stream then you didn’t set up correct its XML file. In minicaster.xml find the line which starts with <mount> and ends with </mount> and REPLACE with your IP and PORT leaving the semicolon at the end, it should looks like that:
It should do the trick!
18-05-2008 @ 00:38
Thank you so much.
It works!!!
23-05-2008 @ 18:10
hi there
im a bit of a newbie here
just wanted to ask how to know the IP and port of a shoutcast server?
23-05-2008 @ 18:19
Well woot, if you do not know an IP:port of a shoutcast stream then… how do you listen to it?
When you open i.e. WinAmp, you must put an IP:PORT to listen, usually something like http://87.117.193.142:9728/listen.pls, so if this was what winamp takes then the IP is 87.117.193.142 and the PORT is 9728.
If you have any difficulties, write down here what you enter to WinAmp and i’ll get the stream’s IP:PORT for you.
24-05-2008 @ 06:55
oh in my case the playlist is being downloaded ang played by real player, don’t have winamp yet i guess i’ll download winamp ang try it on
24-05-2008 @ 19:49
Even in realplayer there is a “source” where it mounts and gets what’s been played. If you wanna know it, right click on the page and view the source code. If you cant find it let me know the page and i ll find it for you.
27-05-2008 @ 18:08
Great Plug in.
My web host has a problem with fsockopen() too.
I don’t know how to change it to use Curl.
Curl is supposed to be safer from hacking or so my web host says.
We’re streaming live now, just do not have the shout cast stream information being displayed.
27-05-2008 @ 18:14
I ‘ll try for a solution using Curl. Just need to find some spare time!
I’m glad u use Shout Stream!
28-05-2008 @ 15:56
V2.2 supports cURL for getting stats, feel free to try it…
29-05-2008 @ 21:42
Thank YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU SO MUCH ~!
We’ve found there is a Port problem that we have to get tech support to work on.
Thank you again for all your hard work and effort.
29-05-2008 @ 23:32
I’m glad i helped!
If u need further assistance let me know.
Cheers!
30-05-2008 @ 18:33
..::DeUCeD::..
Just for those who want to see the shout stream in action,
I’ve put in on another site and its wonderful
http://www.YourPowerVoice.com
Thanks
Ευχαριστίες
Mark
30-05-2008 @ 18:50
I ll include it in a list i make of some websites that use shout stream.
Well, i see that not only you set up shout stream but you are also learning Greek!
01-06-2008 @ 16:52
Thank you veryy nice plugins =)
11-06-2008 @ 11:16
Dear Deuced, I have a problem and I will try to explain my problem as I can do.Also you can note the following error codes.I will be very glad if you attend and solve. I am waiting for your advice .Thank you for your helps..
With cURL, I received ‘’STREAM CONNECT FAILED’’error,
Also with Fsockopen, I received ‘’ “Warning: fsockopen() [function.fsockopen]: unable to connect to eylulgunesi.blogdns.com:8000 (Connection refused) in /home/*****/public_html/wp-content/plugins/shout-stream/shout-stream.php on line 205
* STREAM CONNECT FAILED
error N: 111
Check : configuration”
My website name is http://www.eylulgunesi.com / wordpress version is 2.5.1
The Host that I bought is from ‘’hostgator.com’’
It works very well in Localhost, but it doesnt work with the hostgator server.
b.Rgrds, eyLuLltoprak
11-06-2008 @ 13:59
My friend eyLuLltoprak, look what i did:
I setup YOUR stream in my widget so now you could see your stats from your net radio in my SIDEBAR. I ll leave it for 24h to check it.
For this i ve used fsockopen which is choice 1 at widget STATS and it works for me. I have included cURL in case your host doesn’t allow fsockopen function which is choice 2 in STATS.
Both of the messages you have means that your blog cannot connect with your stream. If we suppose that your stream is always UP and i can connect (as you see) then your WP host (hostgator) doesnt allow one of these two choices so either you contact with them asking to allow you to connect or disable STATS giving a 0 to the widget for them. Unfortunately i cannot help you more as it is something that has to do with your host policy.
As for the Shout Stream widget configuration i ve put eylulgunesi.blogdns.com for IP of the shoutcast server and 8000 for the PORT and is working.
If you need further assistance let me know.
Regards
12-06-2008 @ 12:54
hi,
I contacted with the Hostgator and they added the port 8000 for output and also added curl access.For now,there is no problem.They said, if the problem would continue,they wanted me to contact with blogdns to see if they may have a block on hostgator IP or not…..But now ı dont need it,it is working without any problem.Thank you for your supports.
Also I have another question:) There isnt utf-8 character support,how can we manage it?
thank you…
12-06-2008 @ 13:18
If you mean UTF-8 characters in the song title then this is something that doesn’t have to do with the plugin itself but with the default shoutcast page. So if you play a stream with a title other than latin then your stream page shows unreadable characters anyway.
Now the plugin must show something that comes from the stream page which would be readable and that’s why it strips anything except latin characters. If a new version of shoutcast would accept utf-8 then i ll will adjust the plugin ASAP.
One other thing for you is that your stream is not always UP and running. Have in mind that you ll still have a *no connection* message when the plugin could not communicate with your stream till it finds the stream.
12-06-2008 @ 19:09
I guessed that it is like that.I hope utf-8 support will come soon:)
Also you said it tries until it finds the stream,so that means it will slowdown the server,isn’t it?Is there a way to solve this?For example,it can control in every hour and we can give a start as manuel when we need.
And,when it shows tittle of the playing song,it shouldn’t need to renew the page like the following chat plugin: http://pierre.sudarovich.free.fr/
(For example it can renew itself in every three minute..these are my suggestions
B.Rgrds..
12-06-2008 @ 21:45
Yeah, that will be a new feuture, an auto update of the STATS every X minutes. This and some new improvements (maybe a better flash player or multiple stations) will be available in the next release.
But you know, it’s a hot summer and it’s difficult to stay home (especially in our countries!). There’s also a new WP release coming which i dont know if it bring changes to plugins. So it ll take a while but i hope i ll have it ready next month, without promising anything…
Thx for your suggestions!
16-06-2008 @ 10:51
I am sure that will be great with the new plugins.The flash player with the colours specialize will be very good(how much things I want : ) )..Also,the other plugins are really very good.Good job! And if you enter to