Interactivity - Flash Buttons

Adobe’s Flash is a powerful multimedia application that uses vector graphics to create highly compressed multimedia for the Web. Flash files can be placed into a Web page. They can consist of animated text, animated characters, sound interactive buttons, and much more. At this stage in the game, your imagination is the only limit. The extension for a Flash file is .swf, which stands for Shockwave/Flash. Because Adobe owns Dreamweaver and Flash, they integrate very well with each other. This helps make the creation of interactive Websites much easier.

Since Dreamweaver 4, users have had the ability to create Flash buttons and Flash text. Today, we’ll look at the benefits of using Flash buttons. When a traditional rollover effect is created, the author must construct individual images of each state (up, over, down, etc.). This can get rather tedious. In comparison, when creating a Flash button, pre-made buttons are shown with the option to download additional styles. This speeds up the process significantly. All the author needs to do is select a style, type the button text, select the font, where the button object is to be saved, the link URL, and background color. Voila! Instant Flash animated button. This usually takes less than a minute.

If you do add a Flash button to your Web page, keep in mind that user must have a Flash plug-in in order to view it. Most browsers include the Flash plug-in and it is safe to assume, in most cases, that people have the Flash plug-in. However, if they have an older plug-in they may be prompted to update and this can be annoying. Think of your audience (as always) before using Flash buttons.

Today’s Objectives:

• Create a Flash button
• Insert and format Flash files
• Create simple Flash objects in Dreamweaver

Classwork: Construct a navigation bar with rollover effects and embed a sound file (Lesson 5 - Assignment 2).

Prep Questions:

• Name the extension for a library item.
• T/F You should preload the images for a rollover.
• Define interactive.

Here are some links to help you with creating Flash buttons in Dreamweaver:

• Web Templates Zone
• Prime Graphix
• Adobe Flash Player Stats

Note: Lesson 5 quiz is tomorrow, Wednesday the 28th.

More Templates…

Extending their current knowledge of templates, students completed creating HTML templates and began constructing pages off of these templates. A short demonstration was provided, illustrating the ease of creating additional pages from a template as well as the beauty of Dreamweaver’s automatic update feature. A quick overview of templates can be found here. Additionally, here is Adobe’s (maker of Dreamweaver) developer area with more information about templates than most people could ever use. In case that’s not enough, here is a final offering. Enjoy…

Today’s Objectives:

• Exhibit the knowledge of how to effectively use templates
• Construct a simple Web site plan (mission statement, target audience, topics & features, organizational diagram)

Classwork: Students worked on Lesson 4 - Critical Thinking.

Prep Questions:

• Explain where the following sites are generally found:
  • local
  • remote
• What is the approximate length and purpose of a mission statement?
• This application connects to a server that houses a Web site and facilitates the addition, removal, movement, etc. of files.
• This dialog box specifies settings including (background color or image, pagetitle, etc.)

Note: Lesson 4 quiz on Thursday the 22nd.