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- Code, Content, and Presentation
-- Flash and Shockwave
---- Flash: The Pros, The Cons, and The Solutions.

sidyadav - 2:55 pm on Jul 17, 2004 (gmt 0)


The Pros :)

  • It can look pretty to a human eye.
  • It can make presenting data much more effective.
  • It has the ability to include videos and moving images.
  • It can display text which looks much more effective than the ordinary HTML text rendered by browsers.
  • It can connect to databases, servers, and semantical formats.
  • It can perform actions and scripts.
  • It can be dynamically updated [google.com].
  • It can sometimes be much easier to navigate with (for a human).
  • It can compress MPEG's and AVI's if used as an alternative format.
  • It can be used to integrate sound to web advertisements; as opposed to GIFs.
  • It can be used to make games and/or other web entertainment resources.

    The Cons :(

  • It cannot be readable by search engines.
  • It can't be navigatable by search engines.
  • It can be unusable by some users, either because: 
    1. The user does not prefer Flash 
    2. The user does not know about Flash (and doesn't want to download it) 
    3. The user is on a platform which does not support Flash (rare, but possible.)
  • It can be slow at loading on telephone-line connections.

    The Solutions ;)
    Cloaking
    As quoted from bakedjake [webmasterworld.com] on this thread [webmasterworld.com]:
    You should know, if you are new to the SEO space, that cloaking is frowned upon by the search engines. They say "don't do it".

    That said, it works well if you're intelligent about how to do it.

    Cloaking is a technique which is used commonly to make search engines read 'different' content than a normal user. It is strictly prohibited by many search engines as some use it as a way to fool them, but if you are brave enough to do it, then do it.

    Serving Alternative Content
    As quoted from stever [webmasterworld.com] on this thread [webmasterworld.com]:
    1. Serve index.htm as start page with full html
    2. Detect if Flash player installed
    3. If Flash player installed, redirect to Flash intro

    On a related note to stever's technique, it might be possible to have two versions of a website: HTML and Flash. By having two versions, the following technique (modified from that of stever's) can be used:
    1. Serve index.htm as start page with full html.
    2. Detect if Flash player installed.
    3. If Flash player installed, redirect to Flash version.
    4. If not, redirect to HTML version.

    Using Alternative Formats
    Flash is nice, it can really do things other formats can't, but my suggestion would be to avoid it whenever possible.

    Some alternatives you can use:

  • Image
    Alternatives: GIF/JPEG/PNG
    Reason: Speed
  • Plain Text (only)
    Alternatives: HTML
    Reason: Search Engine Optimization; Usability
  • Web Animation (without sound)
    Alternatives: GIF
    Reason: Speed; Size
  • Website Navigation Bar
    Alternatives: HTML; Images (with href links)
    Reason: Search Engine Navigation; Speed
    NOTE: If you are really required to use Flash for this, put the links to your secondary web pages from the bottom of the web page so it is navigatable by search engines.

    Resources:
    [webmasterworld.com...]
    [webmasterworld.com...]

    Many other old threads, most are linked from:
    [webmasterworld.com...]

    Sid

    [edit]fixed a little grammar[/edit]

    [edited by: sidyadav at 3:40 pm (utc) on July 17, 2004]

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