Are Flash intros evil?

(this is an old thread, btw)

Are flash intros worth it?
In my opinion, flash intros are, and continue to be, one of the biggest mistakes Web designers choose to interpret in their Web site. Although most people now expect to find such introductions in movie Web sites, I think we still need to reflect their uses with the real world. It would be rather unconvinient to be forced to watch a 30 second introduction film before you enter the Warehouse!

How long should a flash intro be?
Probably no longer than 10 seconds, although I wouldn't choose to have one at all.

Flash intros are usually a waste in m opinion. I always skip them if I can. But if you want to jazz up your site trying using some small bits of Flash mixed in with your regular layout. (Remember, Search Engines don't recognize Flash, so it's not helping your rankings either.)

1. Are flash intros worth it?

It depends on what your goal is. In general NO. On the rare occasion yes. For instance if your site is primarily visited for information NO! You'll drive your clients angry even with a skip intro button if all they are trying to do is find your phone number. Web surfers have no tolerance for delays.

If the site is entertainment... maybe. People might only go to it once. Similar to going to a movie once.

Think client here. What are they visiting your site for? Information? Boredom? Entertainment? To many designers design with only how "cool" a site looks in mind. You can tell a poor designer almost instantly if they use an extremely small font with no way to enlarge it. Billions of dollars in sales are lost to that kind of design.

2. What makes a good flash intro (technically, artistically and content-wise)?

Somewhat subjective. Does it WOW the client? Would people tell other people about it? Does it enhance the sellers image?

3. How long should a flash intro be?

Again subjective but given most web surfers short attentions span, mostly very very short intros.

4. Are there any flash intros that you really like/dislike and why?

There used to be a company called DennisInteractive that had the best Flash site I've ever seen. Very minimal and neat. Very informative. Very high tech looking. They are no longer around. Bought or went out of business.

I intensely dislike any without an skip intro button. Nothing pisses me off more than sites that resize the browser window so that it takes up my whole screen. Who are they to decide how big I want the window? Arrogant bastards. Making the window a bit smaller doesn't bother me so much. But there should be a good reason for doing it.

A skilled Flash designer can create a modem-friendly, exciting, and interesting Flash piece. They can definetely be the selling/drawing point to your site. Though, there are too many designs that detract from the site...as im sure you've seen.

To wit. You can't tell me that http://monkeyclan.com/ could have been more effective in html/css. And if http://www.gabocorp.com/gc/ is not sexy, i don't know what is. I've shown people that site before, and look how much exposure it is getting on this forum.

SO! A think a well-done one can be huge for a business.

Im new and not chure if its splash but heres a intro i love cw.envy.nu
try it out!! p.s. its not mine but 1 of my friends bros

I would like to thank everyone who answered for their comments. If I would like to use any quotes, I will contact each of you directly. I'll also pop a link on this board when the article finally goes live sometime in November. The article will also have a short list of five to ten examples of effective flash intros. If you have a site or would like to nominate one, please post the link.

Thanks again.

Imo, good, brief, informative (to an extent), usable, useful, Flash intros are acceptable. And that too only if stopping access to content is justifiable (site may be personal/entertaining). 'Skip intro' links are a must.

Your welcome Megan, and I think it's VERY effective as the Flash on the pages simply run really quick (as the pages load which, btw, also occurs quickly even on my slow connection, LoL), then they're finished and a visitor can move "forward" with the site content, rather than sitting there waiting for some "movie" to finish playing.

I guess one could say you made it a little spicy, but not too spicy (just spicy enough, in other words). It's not an actual movie-style Flash like many seem to be, but simply (and very nicely) "rolls" the next content a visitor wants to see onto the screen . . . then it's finished.

For me, while watching some long, drawn-out Flash movie at the beginning of a site (that didn't ask me if I wanted to see it first), I'm basically thinking something like don't we have DVD's and VHS's for that (if it's movies we want to see)?

P.S.: I don't think Andy??? was the one with the bartender site. I don't remember who it was, but it had an actual intro that was nice (and short), and it didn't require a "skip intro" link on it because it was over before you knew it . . . a good thing.

Flash intros are good for designers if they know how to use it. However, the strength of flash lies in actionscript, which has a lot of advantages over html for graphics programming and component development. Designers I've spoken with are quite surprised when I tell them I use one keyframe, instead of hundreds or thousands used by designers in frame by frame animation.

TM
electricmountain.com

Hey, thanks for that! I actually used to have that fly intro a fair bit longer but I shortened it up a lot and it's just as effective I think.

I agree with you about the use of "evil" here - the more I look at this thread the more it bugs me. I know he meant it sort of tongue-in-cheek or whatever, but still...

Not sure what the word "evil" has to do with web design but I think most Flash intros should be skipped because it seems many people simply overdo them.

Unless an intro is TRULY great (still needs the "skip intro" option, though), I think Flash should either be skipped entirely OR incorporated in with the text (like a flashy thing happening when you click on a link that only lasts until the next page loads . . . hopefully only a few seconds).

One thing NOT to do with Flash: have a series of words on each little "movie" page, such as WELCOME (load, load) TO OUR (load, load) BUSINESS SITE (load, load) HOPE YOU (load, load) ENJOY IT. Well, before I have a chance to "enjoy it," I'm likely going to go elsewhere, unless it's something I REALLY want to see . . . even though I would already be annoyed with the intro (unless there's a "skip intro" option to sort of cut down on my annoyance).

Here on the Webmaster Forums, Megan has a site with good example of what I'm talking about (a great use of Flash), and there's another bartender (Andy???'s, I think?) site I saw that has a nice, quick intro that really leads a person into the site and isn't what I would consider annoying.

P.S.: Any quoting about Megan's or Andy???'s sites will have to be with their permission only . . . I just listed them as examples of (what I personally feel are) 2 good uses of Flash.

It's weird.......I like Flash, but when I get to a site that uses it I quickly tire of it. Especially when I have to wait for a nav menu to go through it's transistions. I don't think I have ever fully explored a full Flash site.

As for intros I don't have any use for them at all. To me thet waste my time. It's like having a splash page for the sake of displaying a pretty image.....just another click for nothing.

But if a client does insist, it at least should be quick, which for me is around 15 seconds, and serve a purpose...at least it should contain site nabigation, and not just bells and whistles.

all i can say about flash intro's is:

AGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!

hate them. although I have seen some good ones over the years, i just skip them nowadays.

Quote: Originally posted by VLD1
1. Are flash intros worth it?

Sometimes, yes. I think there are cases where it's good to set a tone before the user gets into the site. This is most common with the artistic and entertainment genres. There are also cases where something needs to be explained before the user enters.

Quote: 2. What makes a good flash intro (technically, artistically and content-wise)?

A flash intro should first of all have a purpose. If it's done just for the sake of having an intro it's no good. Secondly, the flash intro should fit with the look and feel of the rest of the site. It needs to match the rest of the site, as two parts of a whole.

Quote: 3. How long should a flash intro be?

Less than 30 seconds, I guess. I'm not good at estimating time frames so dont' quote me on that.

Quote: 4. Are there any flash intros that you really like/dislike and why?

The ones that don't have a purpose and/or don't relate to the rest of the site. Also anything with loud, generic techno music.

You can go ahead and quote me if you'd like, and let us know when and where your article is published. My contact info is in the row of buttons above here.

1. Are flash intros worth it?
IMHO, yes. As long as there's a 'skip this intro' option. Let the user decide is the credo. That counts for all intros actually, not just Flash.
And I think that if I've seen it once, I never have to see it again, unless I decide to. IE: When I visit a site a couple of times a day, I don't want the intro to show up every time. Think of cookies

2. What makes a good flash intro (technically, artistically and content-wise)?
Technically: nothing. That is, it doesn't matter. From a technical point of view it only has to do one thing: play without errors.
Artistically: that depends on what the site is about. For some subjects it just isn't possible or 'not done' to be artistic.
Content-wise: that's what it's all about. IMHO a intro always should tell something about the content of the site, otherwise it's mostly useless.

3. How long should a flash intro be?
As short as possible.

I hate intro pages fullstop.

IMHO you don't need one. I especially hate Flash intros because they take up a lot of bandwidth and waste my time especially ones which don't have a "skip" link. Being on a 33.6k (connected at 21.6k at the moment) its not really my "thing" A waste of time. Most people neglect to think that others might be using slower modems than 56k. There are still people out there using 14.4 (I know of one personally) I usually skip flash sites too.

You don't need one.

It really depends, I'm not a huge fan of flash full stop but some are very well done and as you say can create a nice atmosphere but not many! I will almost always skip the intro and if given a choice between html or flash I'll choose the html for speed and normally ease of navigation. I have done flash intros for clients before because they really wanted one and in a couple of cases done a flash site with html alternative and looking at the stats around 90% of visitors choose the html version!

I personally hate them, but I've seen one or two which worked well.

I think it's possible to create a good one, it's not very easy. Most just end up being annoying bandwidth hogs.