Flash Tutorial Tutorials, Flash Tutorial Resources » Good

Flash-based Sites: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

admin — Sun, 11 Jul 2010 09:36:45 +0000

Flash-based sites have been a craze since the past few years, and as Macromedia compiles more and more great features into Flash, we can only predict there will be more and more flash sites around the Internet. However, Flash based sites have been disputed to be bloated and unnecessary. Where exactly do we draw the line? Here’s a simple breakdown.

The good:

Interactivity

Flash’s Actionscript opens up a vast field of possibilities. Programmers and designers have used Flash to create interactve features ranging from very lively feedback forms to attractive Flash-based games. This whole new level of interactivity will always leave visitors coming back for more.

A standardized site

With Flash, you do not have to worry about cross-browser compatibility. No more woes over how a certain css code displays differently in Internet Explorer, Firefox and Opera. When you position your site elements in Flash, they will always appear as they are as long as the user has Flash Player installed.

Better expression through animation

In Flash, one can make use of its animating features to convey a message in a much more efficient and effective way. Flash is a lightweight option for animation because it is vector based (and hence smaller file sizes) as opposed to real “movie files” that are raster based and hence much larger in size.

The bad and the ugly:

The Flash player

People have to download the Flash player in advance before they can view Flash movies, so by using Flash your visitor range will decrease considerably because not everyone will be willing to download the Flash player just to view your site. You’ll also have to put in additional work in redirecting the user to the Flash download page if he or she doesn’t have the player installed.

Site optimization

If your content was presented in Flash, most search engines wouldn’t be able to index your content. Hence, you will not be able to rank well in search engines and there will be less traffic heading to your site.

Loading time

Users have to wait longer than usual to load Flash content compared to regular text and images, and some visitors might just lose their patience and click the Back button. The longer your Flash takes to load, the more you risk losing visitors.

The best way to go is to use Flash only when you absolutely need the interactivity and motion that comes with it. Otherwise, use a mixture of Flash and HTML or use pure text if your site is purely to present simple textual and graphical information.

Learn about types of dances, types of lawyers and other information at the Knowledge Galaxy site.

Pros and Cons of Flash-based Sites At there will be more and more sites of inflammation...
The Pros and Cons of Using a Flash Based Website Flash-based sites have been a craze since the past...
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly in Flash Web Design Flash website design has been very popular with web designers...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly in Flash Web Design

admin — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 06:17:13 +0000

Flash website design has been very popular with web designers in recent years, and as the Adobe® Flash format becomes more and more popular, we can safely assume that more and more Flash websites will pepper the internet in the years to come. However, many people argue that Flash based websites are slow loading, bloated and to many, frankly unnecessary. What then is the real truth about Flash based web design? Let’s consider these points…

The Good:

Flash means a more interactive experience…

Flash’s ability to involve the web user opens up an array of exciting possibilities for web developers. For many years now web programmers and website designers have used Flash to create interactive features… these featured have ranged from engaging feedback forms to enthralling Flash based interactive movies and games. This next level of interactivity has caused web visitors to come back to Flash based sites for more, time and time again.

No cross browser compatibility worries…

With Flash, cross browser compatibility issues are a distant CSS coding memory. No more sleepless nights over how certain browsers will interpret your HTML code, as regular non flash based websites usually display differently across Internet Explorer, Firefox and Opera etc. After positioning your site elements in Flash, they should always stay exactly where you positioned them and look the same in every browser so long as the user has installed the latest version of Flash Player.

Communicate with better expression via flash animation…

With Flash, you can make use of animation features to get your message across in a more attractive and more efficient way. Because Flash is vector based (with smaller file sizes) it is considered to be a more lightweight option for animation versus real movie files which are raster based and are much larger in file size.

The Bad and the ugly:

Adobe® Flash Player Plug-in is required to view Flash content…

In order to view Flash content on the web users have to download the Flash player in advance (before they can view Flash movies). Therefore immediately upon creating Flash based web content you potentially limit your visitor range. Not everyone is actively willing to download the Flash player just to view your Flash website or Flash based content. You may also have to put in a link to the Get Flash’ plug-in page if the user does not have the Flash player installed to give users the option to go to the download page.

Search engine optimisation (SEO) concerns…

If you present your website’s text in Flash, some search engines may not be able to read it and may be unable to index your content. Apparently Google and others can now read some Flash based text content but do you really want to make it harder for them to do so? As far as seo is concerned Flash based web design could be a big no no. If you want to rank well in search engines Flash may not be the best way to go as ultimately there could be less traffic coming to your website.

Slow load times…

Web users have to wait longer for Flash content to load compared to regular text and images, this could potentially cause some visitors to lose their patience and lead to them hitting their browser’s back button. Sad to say, the longer your Flash website takes to load, the more you could be risking losing precious visitors.

To conclude…

Use Flash only when absolutely necessary… for example, when you need more interactivity and more active animation. A more balanced approach would be to use a blend of Flash and HTML or simply HTML if your site is only required to present simple graphical and textual information.

Scot Crone works for Totally Ace an internet marketing company who provide Web Design Liverpool. Totally also provide professional digital printing and Web Design Birmingham.

Flash-based Sites: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly Flash-based sites have been a craze since the past few...
The Pros and Cons of Using a Flash Based Website Flash-based sites have been a craze since the past...
Flash Site Optimization Pros and Cons Flash-based sites have been a craze since the past...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Flash Games — Are They Really Good?

admin — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 07:13:08 +0000

Computer games have became very popular in today’s technology world. Especially children and adults are playing these games in a tremendous way. According to a recent survey conducted by an independent research firm in United States of America, it is been observed that more than sixty percent of adults are spending almost 10 hours a week in playing games. And according to the same research, the time consumption is going to increase by another 60% every year in the coming four years. Even the emerging markets like INDIA and China are also catching quite fast in this arena. So, the gaming market is really booming.
Flash, a product from Macromedia can be used in a very terrific way to program games. Flash games are also very popular all around the world. Flash games are mainly popular in the casual games arena. Flash can be used in a very extensive fashion to design graphic rich and interactive Flash games. However, to make games, which are very serious, flash was not a good option. But, the time has changed quite a lot.
Flash 7, the new version, also called MX 2004 at retail, is a modern interactive platform. Macromedia is betting on its power to design massive flash games. It has a very powerful design and animation authoring tool, an object oriented type safe dynamic scripting engine, bitmap rendering with anti aliasing and sub pixel precision, and advanced video and audio playback features. These features are proving really exceptional and helpful for developers to design graphic rich flash games.
One of the main advantages of the flash games is that the Flash is everywhere. For the web version of a game, 96% of the audience won’t need to download anything except the game. More importantly, many people won’t be able to install arbitrary ActiveX controls, or use a Java plug-in, whereas Flash is preinstalled with Windows on corporate machines.
Flash games are normally very easy to learn also when compared to their counter parts. Especially, for children, these flash games look quite interesting ads they need less or even no time to learn. They can play any flash game instantly.
However, the major problem with Flash games is their performance. Action Script can be very slow. Byte code execution is ok, probably on par with other scripting languages, but there is a significant problem with entry points. Setting up the execution context to call into the virtual machine and tearing it down again after a function exits is extremely expensive. Less expensive, but still significant, is a script-to-script function call.

Hence, if you can fine-tune the performance, then Flash is definitely a great option to develop games.
Kashish Arora is the author of this article on Flash

Games. Find more information of the subject at http://www.biohazardgaming.com

Kashish Arora is the author of this article on Flash

Games. Find more information of the subject at http://www.biohazardgaming.com

About Flash Games Flash games are made from a software known as...
Introduction to Flash Games One of the most respected and popularly used tools for...
The Benefits of Playing Games Online Do you like playing online games ? Many people like...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.