Why doesn't my X2 gallery work any more? :sob:
Posted: 25 Jul 2017, 03:29
Now in 2017, we frequently get asked by users of the old X2 gallery "Why doesn't my X2 work any more?" or "Why does my X2 gallery look different suddenly?". X2 users will often see one of the following:
Your options
- The X2 website looks different and/or ugly.
- The X2 website simply does not load.
- The X2 website displays an error.
- The Flash/SWF plugin is obsolete, and being phased out since a few years ago. The reason many users are encountering issues recently, is because even the most popular browser (Google Chrome) is now blocking Flash by default (since version 55). To solve the issue, visitors would have to UN-BLOCK the flash player (see previous link). However, this does not solve the issue for most of your users, who simply have the Flash player disabled by default. The result of the unavailable Flash plugin, will force X2 to display the rather ugly "HTML version", which was created just as a "fallback".
- If you are specifically getting ERROR notices, it is likely you or your host has updated to PHP7. Old X2 supports ALL earlier versions of PHP (for example PHP 5.*). Even if you fix this issue by downgrading PHP on your server, it does not solve the issue of Flash being phased out.
- For those of you who have embedded the X2 SWF file directly into a website, it simply won't load unless the browser has the Flash plugin installed.
Your options
- I am not going to use this post as a sales-tool, but the new X3 website application we have worked on for several years is our perception of the modern successor to X2. X3 is built in HTML5 (non-Flash), optimized for all screens (including mobile devices), with focus on speed, SEO and usability. If you are interested, you can read more on our website, or check the demo and user showcase. *X2 users get a 50% discount when upgrading to X3.
- Get a new website from another template/application.
- Do nothing, and just accept that the Flash plugin is being phased out, resulting in a rather unattractive website.