Mike, I've been trying to figure out how to do that... can you send me the snippet of code :)
I can't believe this debate is still going on. Sounds to me like those opposed of Flash, are scared shitless of the development interface (as I was 2 years ago mind you.) and what you don't know or fear you often dislike or discredit. It would be a great thing for those people if Flash were to die, because that is just one less technology they have to learn, or worse yet, play catch-up on... Just as it would be great for JSP developers everywhere if ColdFusion did not compile to Java Byte Code... because now WE ARE ALL LETHAL JAVA DEVELOPERS!!! -Igor -----Original Message----- From: Mike Chambers [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Friday, June 20, 2003 2:33 PM To: CF-Talk Subject: Re: Is Flash really THAT good? I just want to make sure that everyone understands: You can have blue links in Flash. mike chambers [EMAIL PROTECTED] ----- Original Message ----- From: "Matthew Small" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "CF-Talk" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Friday, June 20, 2003 3:32 PM Subject: RE: Is Flash really THAT good? > Just jumping in here... > > It sure would be a dull world if nothing evolved. If that were true, we > would not have nice cars (they would all be horseless carriages) and > houses would be caves. > > We use new things because the technology becomes available. Some uses > are good, some are bad. There are plenty of bad sites written in HTML, > so should we not use HTML? Nope, the answer is to intelligently design > our web sites. The fact is, RIA is going to become the norm within ten > years because it will make the user experience easier, more > aesthetically pleasing, and more functional with fewer client errors on > the server end. > > Sure, blue links are standard, but people like flash. (no pun intended) > > > Matthew Small > IT Director > Showstopper American Dance Championships > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > 843-357-1847 > > > -----Original Message----- > From: Adam Wayne Lehman [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > Sent: Friday, June 20, 2003 3:27 PM > To: CF-Talk > Subject: RE: Is Flash really THAT good? > > Yeah I definitely agree with everything you are saying. Well... mostly. > I'm just saying that traditional navigation schemes transcend the media. > Just because it's done in flash doesn't mean you can't have blue > underline links. Everything can be implemented identically in one or the > other. > > But as far a blue links go (or any long standing tradition), just > because it's been this way in the past, doesn't mean we should keep > doing it into the future. Using established proven methodologies for > navigation yes, I think coloring and underlining menu object is just > aesthetic at this point. I agree it may well have been true 3 years ago, > but now users expect visually pleasing sites and applications. (Look at > OSX and WinXP) > > Adam Wayne Lehman > Web Systems Developer > Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health > Distance Education Division > > > -----Original Message----- > From: Lofback, Chris [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > Sent: Friday, June 20, 2003 2:56 PM > To: CF-Talk > Subject: RE: Is Flash really THAT good? > > > Blue, underlined text is hardly navigation. That's just a common > > identifier for a link, which in HTML is an action, not necessarily > > navigation. A link can do a number of things like execute a javascript > > function or dhtml. > > > > Google, since you mention how standard it is, does not use > > this for it's > > core navigation. Web, Images, Groups, Directory, and News (The four > > categories of google) are represented with blue text in a box. If > > selected the box is blue, if not it's gray. This is hardly a standard, > > but none the less is effective because users are familiar with tabular > > menus. > > <CF_UsabilitySoapBox> > > Well, this is quibbling over minor differences and word definitions. > And I know I'm blowing against the wind here, but the simple fact is > that users know what to do with blue, underlined text and HTML buttons. > Why deviate from something that users know? It only makes it harder for > them and increases the likelihood that they won't use your site--unless > they have no place else to go. Here is the key phrase in your post: > > > effective because users are familiar > > That is the heart of the matter. > > > Every site, whether flash or html, navigate completely different. > > This is pretty much true and it's a negative, not a positive. On the > web, different != good usability. All of those sites with > different/unique navigation are harder to use than "standard" blue > underlines and HTML widgets because users have to figure them out--and > they HATE that. Even if you think, what's the big deal, it only takes a > few minutes? They HATE to be forced to learn something new when all > they want to do is...whatever...anything but be forced by some web site > to endure their "different" navigation. > > Look at Yahoo, eBay, Amazon and Google. I'd guess they are among the > most heavily used sites and they rely on "standard" light/white > background, dark/black text, blue underlined links and (for the most > part) standard form elements. Minor differences, but they don't stray > far from the basics. They know what works. And we can leverage the > usability of those sites by mimicking their navigation and design > elements. Most users will know how to navigate a site that looks like > them. I know this is anathema to all of the web artistes out there, but > it's the truth: the big sites really define usability for the rest of > us. We ignore it at our peril. > > There is room for individuality, but most of the Flash example that were > suggested on the list are shooting themselves in the foot, IMHO. If we, > as developers, care whether or not our site is usable by the most people > (which means more opportunities for sales/readers/customers/etc) then we > must bow to the simple needs of users and not force our techie-oriented > "user experiences" on them. And using Flash like most sites do goes > against good usability. > > </CF_UsabilitySoapBox> > > Man, I need a weekend off! :) > > Chris > > > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Archives: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/index.cfm?forumid=4 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/index.cfm?method=subscribe&forumid=4 FAQ: http://www.thenetprofits.co.uk/coldfusion/faq Your ad could be here. Monies from ads go to support these lists and provide more resources for the community. http://www.fusionauthority.com/ads.cfm Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=89.70.4