Please note this article was first published in 14 Jan 2010. Its content may now be out of date. We recommend taking a look at more recent website building blog posts or check out our comprehensive support pages. If you are looking for information on our 14 day free website builder trial we have a large number of webpages that guide you throug the process.
As a website builder, you will want to grab your visitor’s attention and stop surfers from clicking on to the next site as quickly as possible. If within the first few seconds of visitors looking at your website, you can catch and hold their attention, you will have far more success in encouraging them further into your website pages. There are a few ways to do this but one proven way is by adding movement to your primary pages with Flash.
Adobe Flash, formerly known as "Macromedia Flash" is streaming animation for web pages. The information, “data” or movie’s can be viewed as soon as enough data has been received and the remaining data continues to download while you watch. (You’ll see a rotating circle and the word “buffering”). Flash movies start playing straight away, which is far better than file attachments, where you have to wait for the file to download completely before you can watch it. Flash therefore offers an effective way to include powerful animations for website visitors.
A webpage can feature a small section of Flash or sometimes the whole web page is made of Flash.
You can add simple Flash files and images to your pages or you could commission our professional Flash Designer to design a new Flash header for your website. Simply login to your control panel, go to Step 2 (Style) > Website Design > Custom Design and complete the simple form there. One of the options on the form asks whether you would like Flash or not - Select Yes. The designer can create your new website look based on a logo or any existing literature, colour schemes or brand identity and it’s a great way to make your site look more professional. It’s also incredibly great value at just £30 for a header redesign or just £40 to give the background, header, navigation bar and footer a complete facelift.
Adding Flash Files onto your webpages can attract attention to certain sections of information. An animated Logo or slogan, a selection of descriptive images morphing into one another, a full movie with sound…. They all work to encourage visitors to spend extra time on your site, giving you more time to get your message across to them.
You can actually upload flash files and movies straight onto your page. You may have been given a .swf flash file from a supplier, organisation, friend or collegue. You might have downloaded a flash file from the Internet – there are so many fun and free flash files available for download these days. Once you have your file and have decided which page you’d like to put it on – you need to open your Movie File Wizard.
First you have to upload your Flash file, through the Movie File Wizard. In the main control panel window, in the column of buttons down the left side, click the Manage Pictures and Files (Upload Files) button. Then click the link for “Video”. If you haven’t already added extra movie space to your website, click the Add more space, It costs just 25p + VAT per MByte per month and video storage is available in blocks of 10MBytes.
Once you have your storage space in place, click to browse for your flash file (.swf) and click upload.
Next go to the page on which you’d like your flash file to appear. Its always best to tab down to a clear line / paragraph. If you want your flash file to sit next to any existing content, insert a single column, single row table, which you can then align right or left to sit neatly within your content.
Click to place your cursor where you want your flash image to sit (inside the table cell if you are using a table) and click the Insert / Edit Flash button on your page editor icon bar. A drop down menu of the flash files you have uploaded will appear in the next window with a preview of the file showing.
If you know the exact size of the flash file, enter this in the relevant boxes now. If the size is left blank, the system will automatically set a minimum size. You can enter widths and heights to amend the size but avoid entering sizes, which are bigger than the files true size. Once you click Add to Website, you will see a Flash file box on the edit view of your page. You can left, right or centre align this box to get the position just right, then clik “Save Page” to see the live flash file on your page. If you need to go back to your flash file to amend the size, simply click back to edit view on your page and right click the Flash File box > Insert Flash file to open the insert window again.
The only downsides to Flash are that some companies or organizations may block Flash Files being received through the Internet due to Virus or security fears. Also, not everyone has the required Flash Player plugin, although it’s becoming more commonplace these days and is increasing all the time as it is very simple, quick and FREE to download.
Please remember, this article was first published 14/01/2010. The content may be out of date and you cannot post comments any more. Please check out our new blog.
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