Hello. Thanks for this great free software. I love it and had no problem making it work, following perfect instructions. And I ain't a techie.
However, I don't kwow how to make embedding my design in a web page on my blog.
here is the code I copied and pasted:
<iframe width="800" height="600" src="https://www.bikecad.ca/embed.php?model=1514312563919" frameborder="0" scrolling="no"></iframe><br />More info at: <a href="https://www.bikecad.ca/1514312563919" target="_blank">bikecad.ca</a><br />
Thank you.
That code looks good. I'm not sure what kind of editor you are using to compose your blog posts. Some will not allow HTML tags. Some will allow some HTML, but not all tags. The iframe tag might not be allowed in your case. Are you able to embed Youtube videos using the iframe tag?
As much as I'd like to get the applet running on your blog, there's another issue that might make this not worth the effort. The option to embed the BikeCAD applet on another site was developed at a time when it was much simpler to run applets in web browsers. Now, although you've managed to follow my instructions to get the applet running, anyone else who visits your blog is going to have to go through those same steps (adding bikecad.ca to their Java Exception Site List etc). You might think a small disclaimer explaining that some setup is required might be enough. However, speaking from experience, you may get a surprising number of angry emails, from those not able to run it, accusing you of all sorts of horrible things. At this point, I'm mostly keeping the free version of BikeCAD available for all of its diehard users. I sometimes feel like the trouble some people have using it is negatively impacting BikeCAD Pro.
I think you're right. Not worth it. I thought it was a nice way to give back to your site to promote it since I used your software to produce the drawing.
But in reality, taking a screen shot is way easier.
I thank you for keeping the free version available but of course understand that being free you must have some compensation for it. Could be leads for those who need the pro version, visitors to your website where you dislay ads etc.
If you believe that getting exposure to your site is worth something, maybe an SVG export combined with an applet which would not require Java but allowing to zoom, select layers (like dimensions), change color schemes etc. to make it different from a simple still image (which PNG/JPEG can do well) could represent a decent middleground. SVG being vector based, in can display nicely, be animated with JS code or CSS and probably not too hard to code from a CAD program which already has export functions.
My 2 cts worth.
Thanks for your advice anyhow.
Thanks for your understanding and for your interest in giving BikeCAD a little more exposure on your blog. I am currently working on an alternative to the free version that will not require any sort of plugin. Once that's done, you should be able to do all those things you suggest. Still a ways to go with that huge project.