Creating Announcements
After
you have prepared a new publishing point for the Windows Media Services
server, you will need a method to make the content available to users.
The Windows Media Services console enables you to create announcements,
which are a method of creating links and playlists for the content you
want to make available. The last step of the Add Publishing Point Wizard
enables you to create the relevant types of announcements
automatically. The options include:
Create An Announcement File (.asx) Or Web Page (.htm)
Create A Wrapper Playlist (.wsx)
Create A Wrapper Playlist (.wsx) And Announcement File (.asx) Or Web Page (.htm)
Depending on which
option you select, you will be presented with one or more wizard
options. You can also view and modify the announcement settings for an
existing publishing point by selecting it in the Windows Media Services
console and clicking the Announce tab. (See Figure 18.)
You
can use announcements information in your own Web pages (for example,
by creating a tag that links directly to a publishing point), or you can
provide links to the playlist files or wrappers themselves.
Using the Create Wrapper Wizard
The Create Wrapper Wizard enables you to create a wrapper playlist that includes media files and advertisements. (See Figure 19.)
Click the Add Media button to add new files or other types of content. (See Figure 20.)
The data can come from other publishing points and can include a mix of
on-demand and live encoder-based content. After you have selected the
appropriate option, you’ll be prompted for the location in which the
.wsx file should be stored. Generally, you should place the file within
the publishing point’s root folder so it will be accessible to users.
You can also copy or move the file to another location such as the root
folder of a Web site.
