All about Flash Templates for Websites

Flash templates for websites can help in creating animation and visual effects in various elements of a webpage.

Ready-made flash templates can be used for major portions of a website including the home page. The templates can be used to create website elements such as splash introduction screens, menu bars, menu buttons and online slide shows.

If you are planning to create a website with rich media content such as animated graphics, videos and games, then Flash web templates can make your task much easier.

Lets take a tour of the fascinating world of Flash templates for websites. Find out about the inside workings of Flash-based website templates and the different website objects that they can create. Some usability aspects of Flash website objects are described. You can also know about sites such as buytemplates.net where you can download Flash templates.

An Introduction to Adobe Flash

Adobe Flash is software which can create animations and interfaces with stunning visual effects and interactivity. It has multimedia capabilities such as the ability to embed sound along with animations, creation of video files and the ability to stream multimedia content over the Internet.

Heres a summary of some important Flash elements:

• Flash or Shockwave Objects - The objects created by Adobe Flash software are known as Flash movies or Shockwave objects. The Flash object filename has an extension of .swf. It cannot be edited.
• Flash Player - You need a Flash Player to play .swf files. Browsers would need a Flash plug-in to display Flash content.
• Editable Files - The editable Flash file has a .fla extension. The FLA file contains the source code for Flash movies or objects.

What are Flash Templates?

Flash templates are editable Flash files containing ready-made content which can be customised. These templates are in the form of FLA files. The templates can be used to create website objects which can be played in browsers by a Flash plug-in

Suppose you want to create a Flash-based introductory screen for your website with animations and text effects, but at the same time, lack the experienced personnel needed to create Flash objects. In such cases, Flash web templates can come to your rescue.

What can Flash Templates for Websites Create?

Here are some website elements that can be created by using Flash templates for websites.

• Splash or Website Introductory Page While surfing the Internet, we have often come across introductory screens which appear before the main home page of a website. These are known as splash screens. A splash page can contain a multimedia presentation, announce special events or deals or can be just a creative animation about the website features. Flash templates can be used for create innovative splash screens. A viewer can choose to skip the Flash introduction by typically clicking a skip intro link.
• Home Page Main Graphic Many rich media websites devote a central section of their home page to a Flash-based multimedia graphic which showcases the company products. The Flash object graphic can be interactive, allowing viewers to explore a range of products or website features.
• Website Menu Bar Flash templates for websites can be useful in creating visually appealing Flash menu bars with submenus and drop down menus. A typical HTML menu bar along with drop down menus needs to be created by using JavaScript and CSS files. In case of Flash menu bars, all the functionality can be contained in a single .swf file.
• Animated Online Advertisements Online ads and animated banners can be created by Flash. Clicking the ad would lead to the website of the advertiser.

Flash templates can be used for complete web design including content layouts, navigational elements and online banners.

How do Flash Website Templates Work?

Lets get an idea about the inner workings of Flash website templates. As mentioned before, Flash-based templates are editable FLA files which can be customised using the Adobe Flash software. Some components of Flash website templates files are:

• Layers Much like Photoshop PSD files, Flash FLA files contain parts of the multimedia in various layers. For example, the background, text and individual graphics may all be in separate layers. This allows you to control display of individual elements separately and according to a timeline.
• ActionScript This is a scripting language used in Flash for programming purposes. You can use ActionScript to handle events such as mouse-overs.
• Scenes and Frames Just like a movie, Flash templates files have scenes. Each scene is composed of many frames. You can choose how many frames to display per second.

This is a very basic of description of the working of Flash-based template components. These components work together to create a Flash movie or application in the form of SWF files.

In order to customise the Flash template, the FLA file has to be edited by the Flash software. Templates can be edited easily as all the development work is already done. You just have to replace the graphics and text with your own and create unique SWF files.

Some Usability Aspects of Flash-based Websites

Some usability experts such as Jakob Nielsen see the use of Flash for splash screens as preventing website visitors from instantly reaching the home page. Make sure that the Flash-based template that you use to create a splash screen for your website has the skip intro option, so that visitors can go to your home page instantly.

Flash content may also not be search-engine friendly. Flash websites may also have accessibility problems when used with screen readers, a tool used by the visually-impaired to read websites.

Adobe has recommended web design accessibility best practices guidelines for Flash templates such as including text descriptions for graphics and labels for menu objects such as buttons and menu bars.

Download Flash Templates from Buytemplates.net

Buytemplates.net is a comprehensive resource offering visitors a wide choice of Flash templates for websites. You can browse through the templates, preview them and then download Flash templates for your websites. After download, you can customise the templates yourself or use the customisation services offered by buytemplates.net.

You can download a free sample template to see how to work with the Flash file for your website.

With buytemplates.net, you can get Flash templates for websites that are professionally-designed and visually impressive.