Building Preloaders and Progress Bars in Macromedia Flash

One of the unique features of web content built with Macromedia Flash is the ability to control when and how the content loads. When loading a heavy HTML page, the user is usually stuck looking at a blank window until the content starts appearing. Flash allows for the creation of animated preloaders, which give the user precise information about the progress of the loading process. A simple rectangular progress bar or percentage indicator will do the job, but why stop there? A preloader should be given just as much love and consideration as the rest of the site content, especially on a site that is trying to evoke a mood, or create an immersive experience. If a preloader is engaging enough, the user won't mind waiting for content, and the time it takes to load will seem shorter. The preloader is the first element someone will see when visiting your site. You can make a good first impression by welcoming your visitors with a snappy preloader.

Hirsch, Joshua. Adobe (2005). Design>Web Design>Interactive>Flash

Creating Events Using the EventDispatcher Class

Handle Flash events more efficiently in your code by using the event listener object model.

Toley, Kenneth J. III. Adobe (2004). Design>Web Design>Interactive>Flash

Flash + Information Visualization = Great User Experiences

By combining tools like Flash and information visualization, designers can dramatically improve how users work with large, multidimensional data sets.

Klee, Matthew. User Interface Engineering (2002). Design>Web Design>Interactive>Flash

Flash 5: The Color Object

Give your visitors the option to control the color in your Flash movies by using the Color Object. An object is a piece of data (color, sound, movie, etc.) that contains a set of methods (the things that objects do).

Berg, Debbie. WebDeb (2002). Design>Web Design>Interactive>Flash

Flash and Web-Based Applications

In usability tests of 46 Flash applications, we identified several basic issues related to Web-based functionality's ephemeral nature. Some findings restate old truths about GUIs; others reflect the Net's new status as nexus of the user experience.

Nielsen, Jakob. Alertbox (2002). Design>Web Design>Interactive>Flash

Flash Satay: Embedding Flash While Supporting Standards

I’ve worked with Flash for several years and have always been slightly dissatisfied with the markup needed to embed a movie in web pages. When I recently published a site in XHTML, my dissatisfaction with the markup grew as I realized that it simply wasn’t valid in this context and was bloating my pages to unacceptable levels. A leaner, standards-compliant method of embedding Flash movies was called for.

Mclellan, Drew. List Apart, A (2002). Design>Web Design>Interactive>Flash

Flash Strikes Back: Creating Powerful Web Applications

Flash is a powerful tool that offers developers huge capabilities. Until recently, developers mostly utilized Flash's strengths to create complex animations or fast-loading movies. However, the most recent versions of Flash offer developers power that's far beyond the tool's original scope. With the advent of Flash MX, we've seen that developers have the power to create web applications with more sophisticated client- and server-side interactivity. When integrated with sophisticated server-side software like ColdFusion Server and JRun, Flash delivers the power and flexibility to become a serious contender in the web application space.

Perfetti, Christine. User Interface Engineering (2002). Design>Web Design>Interactive>Flash

Flash: Create a Disjointed Rollover

While image rollovers are the standard for navigation, they do have some limitations. Would you like to create a rollover that doesn't have to be the same size as the original image, nor does it need to be stacked on top of the original image? That's what disjointed rollovers are all about, and Flash makes it easy to create rollovers that load quickly and look great!

Berg, Debbie. WebDeb (2002). Design>Web Design>Interactive>Flash

Making Flash Usable for Users With Disabilities

Flash designs are easier for users with disabilities to use when designers combine visual and textual presentations, minimize incessant movement, decrease spacing between related objects, and simplify features.

Nielsen, Jakob. Alertbox (2002). Design>Web Design>Interactive>Flash

Usability Heuristics for Rich Internet Applications

Over the coming months and years, RIAs will move from cutting edge to mainstream. That transformation will accelerate with the Flash and user experience communities working together to understand and develop best practices and shared knowledge.

McMullin, Jess and Grant Skinner. Boxes and Arrows (2003). Design>Web Design>Interactive>Flash

Using Flash for the First Time, Part 1: Building a Banner

This is part one of a three-part article on how to build a simple animated banner in Flash and add it to a web page using Macromedia Dreamweaver. You'll learn how to create a file and modify its settings, import and add graphics to the Stage from the library, and create layers in part one. In parts two and three you'll add an animation and create a button that opens a browser window. Then you'll specify publish settings, and add the banner to a web page.

deHaan, Jen. Adobe (2005). Design>Web Design>Interactive>Flash

Using Flash for the First Time, Part 2: Adding Symbols, Animation, and ActionScript

How to create symbols, animation, and even write some simple ActionScript to make a banner function.

deHaan, Jen. Adobe (2005). Design>Web Design>Interactive>Flash

Using Flash for the First Time, Part 3: Publishing and Adding the Flash File to a Web Page

This is part three of a three-part article on how to build a simple animated banner in Macromedia Flash and add it to a web page using Macromedia Dreamweaver. In this final part, you learn about file size, banner standards, how to set publish settings, how to add the banner to a Dreamweaver web page, and how to add Macromedia Flash Player detection.

deHaan, Jen. Adobe (2005). Design>Web Design>Interactive>Flash