Flash compatibility
- Thread starter Perseus
- Start date
Natobasso
Tech-Bot 5000
It's been said that in the present day there are more people with Macromedia Flash installed for their web browsers than Microsoft operating systems! That's a huge number. I got that straight from a guy I work with on a contract basis who works for a company acquired by Macromedia.
It's pretty safe to say most people have flash in their browsers. If not, you can offer a link to macromedia's website so that they can get with the 21st century and get the plug in. If you want to be extra safe, load your movie as version 4 or 5 and not 6 or 7 (MX) because not everyone gets the latest plug ins for their browsers unless they ahve to.
Lastly, simply put a button on your flash that says "skip" so the user can choose whether or not to play your movie.
As for conforming to 800 x 600, just remember that most people don't have 23" cinema displays. Most still have 15" monitors which is what I think gives you that 800x600 resolution. If you size your website so everyone can read and view it clearly, you have a better chance of getting visitors at all.
So what's your website URL? I am curious to see your site.
It's pretty safe to say most people have flash in their browsers. If not, you can offer a link to macromedia's website so that they can get with the 21st century and get the plug in. If you want to be extra safe, load your movie as version 4 or 5 and not 6 or 7 (MX) because not everyone gets the latest plug ins for their browsers unless they ahve to.
Lastly, simply put a button on your flash that says "skip" so the user can choose whether or not to play your movie.
As for conforming to 800 x 600, just remember that most people don't have 23" cinema displays. Most still have 15" monitors which is what I think gives you that 800x600 resolution. If you size your website so everyone can read and view it clearly, you have a better chance of getting visitors at all.
So what's your website URL? I am curious to see your site.
But...more people have the ability to view HTML than flash. Not everyone utilizes a computer to access pages, nor can everyone use flash (people w/disabilities).
Flash isn't a great solution for anything other than supporting work. For full site design and implementation it should be avoided.
Flash isn't a great solution for anything other than supporting work. For full site design and implementation it should be avoided.
The 'Flash scare' as I call it is a laughable thing at this point. I'm not laughing at you bro, just saying.
Unless your target viewer are viewers or businesses that have very old computers, Flash is fine.
Best thing to do is to make your Flash site but then make an HTLM verison of it. If you build your file in Photoshop, you can crop and import parts into Flash and then use the same photoshop file (or maybe some of the parts your saved out) to build your HTML version.
Go online and do a search for plug-in sniffer. A great site is www.flashkit.com. I did a search there and here is the link
http://www.flashkit.com/search.php?...ion&cat=movies&term=plug-in+sniffer&x=28&y=11
This sniffer is a script that plays on your page when people try to load your site. Your index.html or home.html (whichever one you use) will basically be nothing more than a page that runs this sniffer script. You will have an HTLM home page and your Flash page. If the script sees that the viewer has the Flash plug-in, it will redirect to the Flash page. If they don't then the script redirects to your HTML version. All this happens very fast, so they don't have to wait but maybe a second more in load time and that is it. Some people put up buttons that let viewers chose, but that assumes all viewers will know what Flash is in the first place. I think the plug-in sniffer is the best route.
Overall, don't worry too much about Flash. It is built into every browser and part of the standard install for Windows and OSX too.
NOTE - when exporting your flash movies, I'd save down to Flash 5 or maybe even lower if you can. If someone has the Flash 4 plug-in and your site uses a higher version, then they might have issues. The latest version format however offers the ability to compress your movie, and it drops the file size a lot. Maybe a sniffer script could look for specific versions and load one of 2 version of your site - Flash4 uncompressed and Flash6 compressed, who knows.
Unless your target viewer are viewers or businesses that have very old computers, Flash is fine.
Best thing to do is to make your Flash site but then make an HTLM verison of it. If you build your file in Photoshop, you can crop and import parts into Flash and then use the same photoshop file (or maybe some of the parts your saved out) to build your HTML version.
Go online and do a search for plug-in sniffer. A great site is www.flashkit.com. I did a search there and here is the link
http://www.flashkit.com/search.php?...ion&cat=movies&term=plug-in+sniffer&x=28&y=11
This sniffer is a script that plays on your page when people try to load your site. Your index.html or home.html (whichever one you use) will basically be nothing more than a page that runs this sniffer script. You will have an HTLM home page and your Flash page. If the script sees that the viewer has the Flash plug-in, it will redirect to the Flash page. If they don't then the script redirects to your HTML version. All this happens very fast, so they don't have to wait but maybe a second more in load time and that is it. Some people put up buttons that let viewers chose, but that assumes all viewers will know what Flash is in the first place. I think the plug-in sniffer is the best route.
Overall, don't worry too much about Flash. It is built into every browser and part of the standard install for Windows and OSX too.
NOTE - when exporting your flash movies, I'd save down to Flash 5 or maybe even lower if you can. If someone has the Flash 4 plug-in and your site uses a higher version, then they might have issues. The latest version format however offers the ability to compress your movie, and it drops the file size a lot. Maybe a sniffer script could look for specific versions and load one of 2 version of your site - Flash4 uncompressed and Flash6 compressed, who knows.
Harvestr, it's not as much an issue of wether or not a visitor can see the flash site as it is one of accessibility and ease of use of the site. Flash is notoriously inaccessible and not at all friendly to those who have disabilities.
The idea behind the web is to have access to information in an easy format which is obtainable on a wide variety of devices. Flash doesn't fit well into that idea.
Secondly, the actual content of the site should be what draws the attention from the viewer...not the fancy mouseovers or animations.
Flash IS NOT built into every browser...it's a plugin that's available freely from Marcomedia. It's generally included with most modern browsers however.
The idea behind the web is to have access to information in an easy format which is obtainable on a wide variety of devices. Flash doesn't fit well into that idea.
Secondly, the actual content of the site should be what draws the attention from the viewer...not the fancy mouseovers or animations.
Flash IS NOT built into every browser...it's a plugin that's available freely from Marcomedia. It's generally included with most modern browsers however.
Natobasso
Tech-Bot 5000
mdnky,
You have a valid point, but it is very one-sided. I will concede the point that the disabled (namely blind) can't read flash content.
As for flash not being "easily accessible" I have to completely disagree. It serves a purpose. No it's not raw text or searchable by an engine, but it does present content in a very dynamic way. I like not just having to stare at static text on the web all the time.
Flash can BE content if done right. There is a camp out there on the web that thinks that all flash is bad and I think this is throwing the baby out with the bathwater. As with anything, use moderation.
As I said in an earlier post, Flash is available on more computers than WINDOWS is. That's a lot of computers, wouldn't you say? Sure, it may not actually come with browsers as the other poster suggested.
Flash can be updated dynamically by content/database management, and there are a lot of useful things you can do with it. The best thing I can think of are online manuals in flash that show you step by step the point, rather than just using text.
People poo-pooed the airplane, electricity and fire when they first came out. But that didn't make them "bad" in and of themselves. People just had to figure out how to use them without crashing, getting electrocuted or burned first.
You have a valid point, but it is very one-sided. I will concede the point that the disabled (namely blind) can't read flash content.
As for flash not being "easily accessible" I have to completely disagree. It serves a purpose. No it's not raw text or searchable by an engine, but it does present content in a very dynamic way. I like not just having to stare at static text on the web all the time.
Flash can BE content if done right. There is a camp out there on the web that thinks that all flash is bad and I think this is throwing the baby out with the bathwater. As with anything, use moderation.
As I said in an earlier post, Flash is available on more computers than WINDOWS is. That's a lot of computers, wouldn't you say? Sure, it may not actually come with browsers as the other poster suggested.
Flash can be updated dynamically by content/database management, and there are a lot of useful things you can do with it. The best thing I can think of are online manuals in flash that show you step by step the point, rather than just using text.
People poo-pooed the airplane, electricity and fire when they first came out. But that didn't make them "bad" in and of themselves. People just had to figure out how to use them without crashing, getting electrocuted or burned first.