by Michael Richards

Created on: August 27, 2009

Flash can be a great tool in designing a web page. There are definitely some great advantages to sprucing up a web page using flash. One thing to remember when designing a web site is what the site is promoting. If the site is promoting art, the site should be art in and of itself. This is where a site made entirely of flash will reign supreme for getting the point across. However, if you have a site that is news articles, the use of flash should be limited to simply adding a little pizzazz to the site. There are some great flash-based sites out there, then there are those flash sites that you just want to leave before the page is fully loaded. One thing to remember is that the average person will wait 20 seconds for a site to load before they move along and check out the next site in line promoting the same product.

Excessively large flash files can take some time to load. Flash can also be processor intensive for those that have old dinosaurs for computers. Another thing to keep in mind is that not everybody has Flash Player installed on their computer. There are also those running on dial up connection, which can go extremely slow with loading flash files.

For most web sites, light flash usage is the best way to go. Design a nice header using flash with limited animation. Even a flash animated logo can be nice. Maybe even a flash-based menu, although for most menu systems you can have the same effect using CSS and maybe some JavaScript. Flash can also be nice for displaying photo galleries. Neat little flash gadgets can be fun, but also can distract from the point the page is trying to get across.

If you are designing a website and you insist that it be made entirely with flash, there are a few things you should keep in mind. Keep it as simple as possible while getting across what you are trying to accomplish. If you choose to use an introduction animation on your site, keep it minimal; generally around 30 seconds is good enough to accomplish what you wish with this. Keep flashy distractions away from your main content so the viewer doesn't pay more attention to the flash than the actual content. It is a good idea to have a duplicate of the site that doesn't require Flash Player to view the main content.

Flash can be used to spruce up a page. If used right, it can enhance the user's experience while on your site. Keeping things simple and fast-loading will keep the visitors on your site.

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