How to Create a Flash Website Quickly

By: Gen Wright Click author's name for more of his/her articles

Hopefully by now the prospect of creating a website is not as scary as it used to be in the early days of the Internet. You can usually purchase a domain, hosting, and enough bandwidth to adequately run your site for what amounts to a few bucks per month. But even the most seasoned web surfer or business owner still feels a little intimidation set in when it comes to building a flash website and the use of flash files.

After all, it is much more costly and time consuming, right? It will surely get in the way of developing quality content or drumming up more visitors for a strengthened web presence. These fears could not be further from reality. A flash website and/or flash files can be ready in – well, a flash. And for much less the cost than you would think!

Here is a quick rundown of what you need to know for how to create a flash website quickly:

Set the stage. In your properties tab, you will need to set the dimensions, background color, and frame rate, for the site you wish to create. You should layer your timeline with actions, background, buttons, and content. These layers will determine the look and functionality of your website.

Create a pre-loader. What is a pre-loader? A pre-loader is, quite simply, the transition scene you will see on your flash website that communicates, usually in percentage, how much of your flash files have loaded in relation to how much remains unloaded. In other words, it shows the loading progress of your flash files. Once you have decided on a look, the pre-loader should go on your Actions tab within the Properties timeline.

Add the content. At the end of the day, your content is still the most valuable element for your website to be effective in communication with your audience. What will keep your readers/visitors coming back day-after-day, week-after-week, and year-after-year? No matter what flash website design or flash files you settle on, make sure the content stands out and adds real value to the experience of your users.

Create buttons. This tab will allow you to create and format a look for the navigation buttons that will coordinate seamlessly and beautifully with the rest of your website's design. Do not blow this part off. If the rest of your site is elegant, make sure you choose a font and look that mirrors this elegance. If you wish to go with a more playful look, keep this in mind and adjust accordingly.

For those with extreme aversion to all things technology, there is still another option that will keep the rest of the world from knowing about your phobia, while making your website an eye-pleasing competitor to the big boys. And that is the purchase of a pre-made flash website design.

Sometimes outsourcing the operation to a professionally built template is the way to go. But it does not take as much "web skill" as one might think to customize. Either way, with a few dollars and a few moments of your time, you will know how to create a flash website quickly, and you will have it up and running in no time.