To flash or not to flash!!! Web help please

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DaddySaysSooooo

New member
Hey all!!!
I am looking to have a couple sites built. One is for my studio and one for my coverband. I know flash is the new rage but how many can see it? For bands and or studio's what's the opinion of those involved of what kind of sites "work" for others.
Goals: The bands goal is to have fun and just play out at bars on weekends. Not looking to make it anymore hahahaha.
The site for the studio is to draw in some local students for guitar lessons and we record local bands demo's.
I have gotten pretty good prices (i think) for the sites
The flash site the guy wants 125. for 5 pages. But what do most people use that have studios and or bands? Another guy will build a 5 page site for 25 (he wants it for his portfolio).
Will I be able to edit flash? I cant do much at all as far as web page making. If I cant edit flash I shouldn't even have it I guess.
They aren't going to be the best sites ever. Just want people to be able to download and see schedules of the band and for the studio to hear clips and take some type of pictorial tour.
I am open to any suggestions and comments and hope I have provided enough info to get some feedback from you guys.
Thanks
 
Personally, I'd avoid flash- i think its anoying. Stick with simple html with cool graphics
 
kremitmusic said:
Personally, I'd avoid flash- i think its anoying. Stick with simple html with cool graphics
Click to expand...

I second. It just slows things down for people on dial-up - and there are still a LOT of people on dial-up.
 
I forth...most people don't like it. Its usually slower on dial up. If a site is too slow, most people will just leave. On the other hand, you could have a enter page w/ a flash option or non-flash, but i'm sure that would be more money
 
I'm on a dial-up connection with no chance of ever having DSL. If I go to a site and it has flash I immediately leave that site. Just takes too long to load. An option would be to give the visitor a choice between flash and non-flash. Of course that will make the site a little more expensive to build. My 2 cents worth.

DD
 
Pretty overwhelming against flash. I like the flash but the site isn't for me so the dial up issue certainly has to be taken into consideration. Let me ask this, and I am not trying to start a web site help thread, but the main reason I wanted flash was to help market the studio. I want to make it so there is a tour with the pictures I will take instead of just flipping from one to the next. I would like it to be a little unique. Can that be done in Java? Or is Java another thing that would slow down dial up users.
Thanks for the weighing in with your opinions so far.
 
I suppose you could do it with Java (well, a Java applet, more precisely). Do you know how to write that type of Java applet, or do you know someone who could write it for you? Always remember, the bigger the file, the longer the download. Java applets can malfunction, too, if there's a problem with the user's browser such as:

1. Bad virtual machine
2. User has specific settings on their browser
3. User has an older browser that may not support "newer" Java applet techniques.

Also, please don't confuse Java with JavaScript. They are two different things. You may be able to find a nice little JavaScript/DHTML slideshow script/code if you poke around enough with Google. Also, go to www.dynamicdrive.com and you may find something there similar to what you want.

NOTE:
Roughly 11% of all internet users DISABLE JavaScript when browsing. Please keep that in mind. Also, please keep in mind that FireFox is taking up more and more market share (generally amongst techies, but the general public is also catching on) so make sure whatever you do works in both Internet Explorer AND FireFox (you can get FireFox at www.mozilla.org).

That's a developer's point of view.

As far as Flash goes, not everyone has it installed by default, and not everyone is willing to get it. Think about your lowest common denominator and code to that. If you want to target mainly 56K people, you want lightweight, fast code. Otherwise, you can go ahead and add the glitzy stuff, and larger files for the DSL/Cable people. That's what I'm doing on my website. There will be no JavaScript, no fancy animations, no Flash, none of that. My lowest common denominator is dial-up 56K users. If it's fast on a 56K, I know it will be fast on DSL/Cable. The photos are the only things that will be large, and they, of course, will be thumbnailed first to drastically cut down the file size. It's difficult for me to test on a 56K because I have DSL.

As another note, there are download time calculators on the web. A Google search should turn up at least one. There's a formula involved, but basically they take the total size being downloaded (images, code, etc.) and then they tell you how long it would take over various connection speeds.
 
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DaddySaysSooooo said:
Pretty overwhelming against flash. I like the flash but the site isn't for me so the dial up issue certainly has to be taken into consideration. Let me ask this, and I am not trying to start a web site help thread, but the main reason I wanted flash was to help market the studio. I want to make it so there is a tour with the pictures I will take instead of just flipping from one to the next. I would like it to be a little unique. Can that be done in Java? Or is Java another thing that would slow down dial up users.
Thanks for the weighing in with your opinions so far.
Click to expand...

I think a good compromise would be to keep the information part of the site html (and only html), and clearly mark a link :

"Studio Tour (requires flash)"

or something like that. Anyone can quickly get your address, etc., and those with the extra bandwidth can decide to take the scenic route...
 
Flash is fantastic if you're good at it, and don't do lots of cheezy crap...but the only people that seem to know how to use it properly are the guys who've been designing websites in them for years. If you have only a faint idea of how to use flash, avoid it at all costs! Odds are it will look like crap and drive people away.
 
some people got real clever with flash a few years ago. personally i started using it with flash 3 and by flash 4 i realized it was going to ruin the internet. luckily i don't see it used very much anymore, but for a few years there every fucking site was turning to flash.
actually, i use mozilla firefox and i had flashblocker installed (it puts a play button in place of a flash movie so i can choose whether or not i want to view it). chances are if a site is full flash i just go somewhere else.
 
LfO said:
I think a good compromise would be to keep the information part of the site html (and only html), and clearly mark a link :

"Studio Tour (requires flash)"

or something like that. Anyone can quickly get your address, etc., and those with the extra bandwidth can decide to take the scenic route...
Click to expand...

Agreed. An entire flash site can be obnoxious unless its done very well.

HTML site, flash tour. Best of both worlds.
 
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