Building Flash Websites

About the Author

Doug Sahlin is a photographer, videographer, and Web designer living in Lakeland, Florida. He has written 16 books on computer graphics and office applications and co-authored 3 books on Photoshop and 1 book on digital video. Recent titles include Digital Photography QuickSteps and How To Do Everything with Adobe Acrobat 7.0. Many of his books have been bestsellers at Amazon.com. Doug’s books have been translated into five languages. He uses Flash 8.0 Professional to create Web sites and multimedia presentations for his clients.

Introduction

So you want to be a Flash Web designer, but you can’t design Flash Web sites in a flash? It all takes time. And it also requires a modicum of knowledge, which is where this book comes in. If you’ve read other Flash how-to books, you know that they cover the sundry topics like how to create really cool animations with Flash. However, this book takes you to the next level and shows you how to create a Flash Web site from soup to nuts.

You should know your way around the Flash workspace. But don’t worry; I do give you a brief refresher course on some of the basic Flash stuff, like creating animations, working with text, and so on. When you create animations, and for that matter format text, choose colors, and so on, you use the Properties Inspector to set the parameters for the object with which you are working. Therefore, you should have a working knowledge of the Properties Inspector. I also show you how to work with ActionScript. However, in order to follow along, you should have a basic knowledge of the Actions panel.

Another thing you should know is how to manipulate HTML documents. Although your main work in this book uses Flash, you still have to do some editing to the HTML document in which your Flash Web site is embedded. If you have working knowledge of an HTML editor, such as Dreamweaver, you’re one step ahead of the game. Another benefit of Dreamweaver is the fact that you can use the software to upload files to the Web provider that hosts the Web site.

Conventions Used in This Book

I’m not a conventional kind of guy. But of course, without some kind of conventions, such as punctuation and grammar, people wouldn’t be able to understand each other. This book is no different. Without conventions, you’d have no idea of what to do or when to do it. Therefore, we use the following conventions in this book. When you’re asked to input information — you know, type something — the required input is boldfaced. When you see examples of ActionScript code, URLs, and e-mail addresses, these are in a monofont typeface, like so: myEmail@myserver.com. New terms are italicized.

What You Don’t Have to Read

This is one of those nonlinear type of books, which means that you don’t have to read it in order. Although the book can be read as a whole, feel free to jump to the section that contains the information you need. You’ll get a good idea of what’s in each section by reading the tips and notes. And of course, a picture is always worth a thousand words: You can look at the figures to get an idea of what’s presented in each section; if the picture doesn’t relate to the information you’re looking for, feel free to skip that section. Also, you can feel free to skip any sections wearing a Technical Stuff'icon.

How This Book Is Organized

Building Flash Web Sites For Dummies is split into five parts. You don’t have to read the book sequentially, and you don’t even have to read all the sections in any particular chapter. You can use the Table of Contents and the Index to find the information you need and quickly get your answer. In this section, I briefly describe what you’ll find in each part.
Part I: Building the Perfect Beast

In this part, I present information on how to plan your Flash Web site prior to building it. I show you several things you should consider prior to building the site, as well as techniques for working with clients. I show you how to create a mock-up for your client and how to begin gathering assets for your Web site before launching Flash.

Part II: Fleshing Out Your Design

After you’re done with the preliminaries, you can start creating some actual content, which is what this part is all about. First, I show you how to make an interface. I know what you’re thinking: Why just an interface? Well, in order to have a lean and mean Web site, you create a fast-loading interface into which you load other content. In this part, I also show you how to create text for the Web site and how to create some spiffy navigation bars and buttons, as well as how to animate your site.

Part III: Adding Bells and Whistles

So what’s a Flash Web site without bells and whistles? Boring! In this part, I show you how to kick it up a notch. I introduce you to the wonders of ActionScript and what it can do for you, your site, or your client’s site. I also show you how to create some spiffy things with ActionScript, like a clock that shows Web site visitors what time it is. Other interesting tidbits include how to create a Flash photo gallery, add video to your Web site, create an e-commerce site, and more.

Part IV: Sharing Your Site with the World

If you build it, they will come. But first you have to optimize the site for the viewing public and then publish it, the main topic of discussion in — you guessed it — this part of the book. First, I show you how to make your site lean and mean by getting rid of things that are not needed. I also give you other tips and techniques you can use to create a Skinny Minny Web site. Then I show you how to exterminate pesky little bugs in your ActionScript. And finally, I show you how to publish your site.

Part V: The Part of Tens

In the Part of Tens, you’ll find three chapters. Each chapter contains ten tidbits — you know, useful nuggets of information — about creating Flash Web sites. I share with you some tips for creating trouble-free Flash Web sites, tips for dealing with clients, and tips for promoting your site. And I’ve done so much work on this introduction that I’m going to take this moment to take ten.

The appendix

Although Flash is super-popular, it’s not the easiest application in the world to master. So I’ve added this handy appendix, which lists several Flash Internet resources. I waxed my board and actually surfed to each site to verify that it’s still there as of this writing. But you know how the Net is . . . here today, gone tomorrow.

The color insert

Because this book is printed in black and white, I’ve included a color insert so that you can see at least some examples of what you can create with the techniques in the book in full, glorious color. In this section, you find screen-shots of Flash Web sites under construction. You also find examples of images being optimized for use in Flash Web sites, as well as text being added to a Flash Web site. Because it’s all in grand and glorious color, this section gives you, the reader, a visual feast and examples of what you can do when creating your own Flash Web site.
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