Broadcasting
Sending a custom common message to a large audience simultaneously.
What is Zeppelin Broadcasting ?
An animated balloon (the Zeppelin) appears to float across the browser window, slows down slightly, displays a message and then flies away. Multiple people that are currently viewing the webpage see the zeppelin and get the message more or less simultaneously.
Who broadcasts messages and who reads them ?
An admin page called “the control room” allows an admin user to set the message text and switch the broadcasting ON/OFF. When the admin switches the broadcasting to ON, all the client browser windows see the zeppelin flying across their screen and the message that it displays.
How easy is it to get started with Zeppelin Broadcasting ?
Embed the zeppelin in your PHP code like so:
<?php
include "ZeppelinManager.php";
$zm = new ZeppelinManager;
$zm->zeppelin();
?>
Fire up this page in a browser and you will see the zeppelin flying message with the default parameters.
In a separate browser window open the zeppelin-control-room.php (see Live Preview) and customise the broadcasting !
Which Zeppelin properties can the admin control from the control room ?
- Swtich ON/OFF broadcasting states.
- Message text content.
- Period/delay between repeated zeppelin flying events.
- Font size
- Transparency of the zeppelin and the message callout.
How “instant” are the broadcasted zeppelin instant messages ?
The default refresh rate is 20s and so it will take at least 20s for the newly updated zeppelin messages/properties to take effect from the control room.
All this is implemented in an easy to use PHP class that encapsulates the HTML5 /Javascript based logic used to render this animation and manage the broadcasting process.
Happy Broadcasting ! 