Detecting The Flash Plugin Without JS

Originally, to detect the Flash Plugin, it took complex JavaScript which took ages to code. This didn't always work because not all browsers are JavaScript enabled. This tutorial explores a way to detect if someone viewing a webpage has the plugin, using Flash itself.

Check it out the sniffer in action here.

How it works

For this to work, the index.html file (default file) must include two main things:

1. An HTML Meta Tag
2. A small Flash file

The meta tag refreshes the HTML file after a certain number of seconds, and goes to the non_flash file. Here is the coding:

<%lt%>META HTTP-EQUIV="Refresh" CONTENT="seconds_until_refresh; URL=non_flash_url"<%gt%>

This is placed in the head of the document.

Note: Make sure you do not change any of the coding (ie quotation marks etc) except for the number of seconds (replace seconds_until_refresh), 5-10 is a good amount, and the next URL (replace non_flash_url). If you change anything else, it may not work