Pros and cons of Flash-based sites
Flash-based sites have been crazy since the last few years and, as Macromedia gathers more and more cool Flash features, we can only predict that there will be more and more flash sites on the Internet. However, Flash-based sites have been questioned for being inflated and unnecessary. Where exactly do we draw the line? Here is a simple breakdown.
The good:
Interactivity
The Actionscript of Flash opens a vast field of possibilities. Programmers and designers have used Flash to create interactive features that range from very animated comment forms to attractive Flash-based games. This new level of interactivity will always make visitors come back for more.
A standardized site
With Flash, you do not have to worry about cross-browser compatibility. No more problems about how a particular CSS code is displayed differently in Internet Explorer, Firefox and Opera. When you place the elements of your site in Flash, they will always appear as they are while the user has Flash Player installed.
Better expression through animation.
In Flash, one can make use of its animation functions to convey a message in a much more efficient and effective way. Flash is a lightweight option for animation because it is based on vectors (and, therefore, on smaller file sizes), unlike the actual raster-based "movie files" and, therefore, much bigger.
The bad and the ugly
The flash player
People must download Flash Player in advance before they can watch Flash movies, so when using Flash, the range of visitors will decrease considerably because not everyone will be willing to download Flash Player just to see your site. You must also perform additional work to redirect the user to the Flash download page if you do not have the player installed.
Site optimization
If your content is presented in Flash, most search engines can not index your content. Therefore, you will not be able to position yourself well in the search engines and there will be less traffic to your site.
Loading time
Users have to wait longer than normal to load Flash content compared to normal text and images, and some visitors may lose patience and click on the Back button. The longer it takes to load your Flash, the more risk you run of losing visitors.
The best way to do this is to use Flash only when you need the interactivity and movement that go with it. Otherwise, use a mixture of Flash and HTML or use pure text if your site is purely to present simple text and graphic information.
Reducing Load Time Through Image Optimization
Even though more and more Internet users switch to broadband every year, a large portion of the web's population is still running on good old dialup connections. It is therefore unwise to count them out of the equation when you're designing your website, and a very major consideration we have to make for dialup users is the loading time of your website.
Generally, all the text on your website will be loaded in a very short time even on a dialup connection. The culprit of slow-loading sites is mainly large images on your website, and it is very important to strike a delicate balance between using just enough images to attract your users and not to bog down the overall loading time of your site.
You should also go to a greater length and optimize every image on your site to make sure it loads in the least time possible. What I really mean is to use image editing software to remove unnecessary information on your images, and thereby effectively reducing the file size of your image without affecting its appearance.
If you own Photoshop, it will be obvious to you that when you save an image as a JPEG file, a dialog box appears and lets you choose the "quality" of the JPEG image -- normally a setting of 8 to 10 is good enough as it will preserve the quality of your image while saving it at a small file size. If you do not have Photoshop, there are many free image compressors online that you can download and use to reduce your image's file size.
On the other hand, you can opt to save your images in PNG format to get the best quality at the least file size. You can also save your images in GIF format -- the image editing software clips away all the color information not used in your image, hence giving you the smallest file size possible. However, saving in GIF format will often compromise the appearance of your image, so make your choice wisely!
Flash-based sites have been crazy since the last few years and, as Macromedia gathers more and more cool Flash features, we can only predict that there will be more and more flash sites on the Internet. However, Flash-based sites have been questioned for being inflated and unnecessary. Where exactly do we draw the line? Here is a simple breakdown.
The good:
Interactivity
The Actionscript of Flash opens a vast field of possibilities. Programmers and designers have used Flash to create interactive features that range from very animated comment forms to attractive Flash-based games. This new level of interactivity will always make visitors come back for more.
A standardized site
With Flash, you do not have to worry about cross-browser compatibility. No more problems about how a particular CSS code is displayed differently in Internet Explorer, Firefox and Opera. When you place the elements of your site in Flash, they will always appear as they are while the user has Flash Player installed.
Better expression through animation.
In Flash, one can make use of its animation functions to convey a message in a much more efficient and effective way. Flash is a lightweight option for animation because it is based on vectors (and, therefore, on smaller file sizes), unlike the actual raster-based "movie files" and, therefore, much bigger.
The bad and the ugly
The flash player
People must download Flash Player in advance before they can watch Flash movies, so when using Flash, the range of visitors will decrease considerably because not everyone will be willing to download Flash Player just to see your site. You must also perform additional work to redirect the user to the Flash download page if you do not have the player installed.
Site optimization
If your content is presented in Flash, most search engines can not index your content. Therefore, you will not be able to position yourself well in the search engines and there will be less traffic to your site.
Loading time
Users have to wait longer than normal to load Flash content compared to normal text and images, and some visitors may lose patience and click on the Back button. The longer it takes to load your Flash, the more risk you run of losing visitors.
The best way to do this is to use Flash only when you need the interactivity and movement that go with it. Otherwise, use a mixture of Flash and HTML or use pure text if your site is purely to present simple text and graphic information.
Reducing Load Time Through Image Optimization
Even though more and more Internet users switch to broadband every year, a large portion of the web's population is still running on good old dialup connections. It is therefore unwise to count them out of the equation when you're designing your website, and a very major consideration we have to make for dialup users is the loading time of your website.
Generally, all the text on your website will be loaded in a very short time even on a dialup connection. The culprit of slow-loading sites is mainly large images on your website, and it is very important to strike a delicate balance between using just enough images to attract your users and not to bog down the overall loading time of your site.
You should also go to a greater length and optimize every image on your site to make sure it loads in the least time possible. What I really mean is to use image editing software to remove unnecessary information on your images, and thereby effectively reducing the file size of your image without affecting its appearance.
If you own Photoshop, it will be obvious to you that when you save an image as a JPEG file, a dialog box appears and lets you choose the "quality" of the JPEG image -- normally a setting of 8 to 10 is good enough as it will preserve the quality of your image while saving it at a small file size. If you do not have Photoshop, there are many free image compressors online that you can download and use to reduce your image's file size.
On the other hand, you can opt to save your images in PNG format to get the best quality at the least file size. You can also save your images in GIF format -- the image editing software clips away all the color information not used in your image, hence giving you the smallest file size possible. However, saving in GIF format will often compromise the appearance of your image, so make your choice wisely!
Pros and Cons of Flash-based Sites
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