Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Scribd Switches To HTML5

Posted by timothy on from the let-a-thousand-documents-bloom dept.

drfreak writes "This story from OSNews describes Scribd, a site for uploading and reading documents, switching from Flash to HTML5. The major reason for the decision was that HTML5 supports all the major points of the site's previous functionality, so they saw no point in using Flash any more. The big improvement in the rollout is that documents are now first-class citizens of HTML and no longer need to sit in a Flash 'window.'"

6 of 177 comments (clear)

  1. Scribd in HTML5 by noackjr · · Score: 5, Informative

    Their own introduction:
    http://www.scribd.com/documents/30964170/Scribd-in-HTML5

  2. Not Really HTML5... by Torrance · · Score: 5, Informative

    So far as I can tell this is mostly just html4.1 plus some web-fonts thrown in (which is properly css3), and a bunch of mostly browser-specific css. Not really html5. They mention canvas in their introduction, but I haven't come across an example.

    Certainly looks better than the flash, but take a look at the source code and it'll make your eyes bleed. So much for semantic code - there are spans and divs up the wazoo.

  3. Re:So where's the HTML5? by punit_r · · Score: 3, Informative

    Do one of the following:

    1. Click on the "See this document in HTML mode" link to the right
    OR
    2. Replace "doc" in the address bar with "documents"

  4. Re:uhh? weird by virgilp · · Score: 4, Informative

    Check http://www.scribd.com/documents/30964170/Scribd-in-HTML5, it has a blue box to the right, with the title "Reading just got better", where you can switch to HTML5 mode
    (I'd really say "HTML mode" since it works in IE too.... the whole HTML5 vs Flash argument for Scribd is just flamebait/publicity stunt).

  5. You have to enable it. by SanityInAnarchy · · Score: 4, Informative

    Go to scribd.com, notice the Google Ad, click "try it now". Or, on most of their featured pages, you should be able to click "view with HTML" on the right side.

    So, it's something they're trying out. It's not actually the default yet.

    --
    Don't thank God, thank a doctor!
  6. That's why they're doing HTML5. by SanityInAnarchy · · Score: 4, Informative

    You can select and copy text. I'm sure you can find a way to spider the pure HTML pages. Even if you can't, Scribd has always allowed you to download the original PDF.

    --
    Don't thank God, thank a doctor!