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dzirkelb1
Posts: 1306
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From: Cedar Rapids, Iowa
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Dabbling with Swishmax, need ideas - 8/16/2005 15:35:57
I started dabbling with swishmax to get our site a little more interactive, and here is the base I have come up with so far:
http://www.msushoppers.com/test.htm
I like the animation used, but I know it is very, very plain once I put some content on there. What I was thinking was maybe adding some sort of blue background which faded to white on the edges, or, starts blue and fades white in the middle (I think I like that better). That would give it a little color, then, I could do some sort of color for the links (home, about us, etc)..but, unsure what.
So, I'm in the dark when it comes to making it look good...any help is appreciated. Also, how do I even make a background that has the fading effect of blues to white? Is that a photoshop toy or can I do it in the freebie paint?
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dzirkelb1
Posts: 1306
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From: Cedar Rapids, Iowa
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RE: Dabbling with Swishmax, need ideas - 8/16/2005 16:14:58
The old site I am redesigning it from is http://www.msultd.com if anyone is interested in taking a look at it. I want to change it as it is very plain. My idea was to use the same content, just change its image a tad by adding the little flash intro thing. And, each page would have a different "business" picture on it like the one above listed has the people dining...they would contain a picture of food, someone drinking coffee, maybe someone talking on the cell phone, whatever...each page would be different in a sense on that idea. Also, the picture would be on a idfferent side depending on the page.
But, for now, I want to get the top frame figured out to look good. Also, I think a frame is the only way to get my flash to load once without having to view it each time a link is pushed, is that right?
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Brandon
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RE: Dabbling with Swishmax, need ideas - 8/16/2005 19:09:40
Yeah the image took forever on my computer too....Also using broadband....
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Tailslide
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RE: Dabbling with Swishmax, need ideas - 8/17/2005 6:42:35
According to http://www.websiteoptimization.com/services/analyze/ it takes 432 seconds to download on a 56kbps modem. You probably want closer to 10 seconds!
In my opinion flash and swish can enhance a site - but you should have a site that works and looks attractive without the flash stuff. Then you add whatever flash thingy on top of an already good site to enhance it further.
I would avoid using flash or swish to do things that can easily be done using CSS which is lighter weight and more accessible such as menus, buttons, backgrounds etc. Use flash and swish for what (I think) it's meant for - pretty animations etc - that way they won't detract from the site if the user has them switched off.
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"My strategy is so simple an idiot could have devised it"
Little Blue Plane Web Design | Blood, Sweat & Rust - A Land Rover restoration project
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dzirkelb1
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RE: Dabbling with Swishmax, need ideas - 8/17/2005 10:00:33
Heh, I just tossed that image on there for filler for the time being...guess I better shrink it quick..sorry about that! (its 26kb now)
I guess what I meant by interactive is to have some movement on the page. I know I can do everything on this page in CSS, but its soooo much easier (at least for me) to do it in swish. Maybe I could have an intro page using cool words like "Excellence", and "Reliability" and stuff like that fading in and out at different points on the screen with random pictures, then end with our logo and the "Where the customer comes first" line / address. Of course, I would put a skip intro thing also. On the bottom of the page where it shows the BBB link and MSPA link (well, they will be links), I could do a fade in / fade out timer of showing those pictures, on the left hand side under the picture instead...that might be neat. I'll dabble with that.
Now, for the plainness...I need help. I have never owned any paint shop program besides, well, Paint :) So, whats a cheap one that will allow me to work with layers and do the stuff that I will need? And, any good ideas on how to fix the top portion of the page? I think once that portion is fixed (I'll get rid of the flash animation and make it static), then the rest of the site will look ok.
Also, the font is set to arial...is the flash animation the part you were speaking of?
< Message edited by dzirkelb1 -- 8/17/2005 10:13:12 >
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Tailslide
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RE: Dabbling with Swishmax, need ideas - 8/17/2005 10:22:13
Gimp is free and uses layers. Photoshop Elements costs about £70 and also uses layers etc.
Be a bit careful if you're having an intro page with flash on it and not much else - it could hurt your search engine ratings...
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"My strategy is so simple an idiot could have devised it"
Little Blue Plane Web Design | Blood, Sweat & Rust - A Land Rover restoration project
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dzirkelb1
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RE: Dabbling with Swishmax, need ideas - 8/17/2005 10:29:50
Currently we have no search ratings at all besides Alexa...and, I mean 0 (site wasn't designed by me :)
Could I put a bunch of blank pictures with alt tags that would catch search engine eyes? And maybe a bunch of blank text that no one sees? I have to learn on how to increase that eventually, and I know there are some good reads on this site about it :)
< Message edited by dzirkelb1 -- 8/17/2005 11:13:46 >
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dpf
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RE: Dabbling with Swishmax, need ideas - 8/17/2005 11:53:21
quote:
So, whats a cheap one that will allow me to work with layers and do the stuff that I will need? Paint Shop Pro
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Tailslide
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RE: Dabbling with Swishmax, need ideas - 8/17/2005 12:05:10
quote:
ORIGINAL: dzirkelb1
Currently we have no search ratings at all besides Alexa...and, I mean 0 (site wasn't designed by me :)
Could I put a bunch of blank pictures with alt tags that would catch search engine eyes? And maybe a bunch of blank text that no one sees? I have to learn on how to increase that eventually, and I know there are some good reads on this site about it :)
There are others on this forum that know more about SEs than me but to my knowledge you will be penalised if you have text on the page that is meant for SEs only - i.e. if it's the same colour as the background or otherwise hidden from the viewer. You may be banned from Google for good (you can grovel to them and plead ignorance it may work but no guarantee).
As I understand it Google in particular likes: inbound links from quality sites; relevant url if possible; Title tags; <h1> tags and lots of relevant content containing whatever your keyword phrases are.
I believe that alt tags are not held as important as text for example.
If you can get lots (and I mean thousands) of very high quality links from authoratitive sites (high page rank sites) then you may be able to get round having lots of text etc - but I think this is very hard to achieve - which is why you don't see too many flash intros these days on sites other than BIG name sites that people would go to anyway.
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"My strategy is so simple an idiot could have devised it"
Little Blue Plane Web Design | Blood, Sweat & Rust - A Land Rover restoration project
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dpf
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RE: Dabbling with Swishmax, need ideas - 8/17/2005 12:09:06
for a business, google and yahoo pay per click ads are the way to go
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dzirkelb1
Posts: 1306
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RE: Dabbling with Swishmax, need ideas - 8/18/2005 14:32:51
I'll skip the flash intro, and I'll skip putting words in same color as background. I also wish to skip the pay ads as they have nothing at all to do with our business.
I am going to buy a photoshop program, and try to make a header for each page (that log just has to go also...its so ugly).
On the intro page, or home page, I will have a small flash animation which will show our key assets, like how long we've been in the business, our online reporting (all learned from this site btwy!), and other junk...it will be small and to the point.
I'll post back once I get something made...it may be a week as I have to learn photoshop quick :)
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