PROFESSIONAL WEBSITE TEMPLATES - flash and html:

This article is to help you learn the two very popular technologies out there in the web world, HTML (HyperText Markup Language) and Flash. Although there are many other programming technologies including PHP, I thought when it comes to mainly aesthetic programming and web site design, HTML and Flash are the two main contenders. This article introduces you to the technologies/programming and also will give you some resources to help you out. There are different applications out there that works with both technologies, so I will briefly talk about those as well.

HyperText Markup Language - (HTML)

We all have heard the word HTML, but some of us don't know what it means or what really it is. Well, HTML is the dominant programming language for web sites and web pages in the internet. Wikipedia has a great definition that can be viewed here. HTML controls many/all aspects of the page. Some of these aspects are layout, navigation, colors, fonts, etc. When used with CSS (Cascading Style Sheets), web sites designed with HTML can look refined and aesthetically pleasing.

For example, to get this link you actually have to write this code for it to display properly on browsers:

Browsers, like the one your using now to view this web site will understand that language and display it on your screen in a nice and neat link. What's interesting about this is different browsers like Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari, etc. can display web sites differently. Technologies like .Net mainly work well with IE (.Net is a Microsoft technology). Some browsers like Safari are forgiving and will allow a lot of HTML mistakes and still may look ok to the viewer. Its good to test your site on at least Firefox (Mozilla Browser) and Internet Explorer since they are the main browsers used on the internet today.

One of the most popular HTML editors on the market is Dreamweaver. I'm actually using Dreamweaver right now to create this article. Not only does Dreamweaver allow you to create paragraphs (<p> tags) and header titles easily (<h> tags) it will also create Javascript for utilizing rollover menus with a few simple clicks. You can assign different browsers to your preview menu in Dreamweaver to see what your page would look like in each one. Insert Flash, Quicktime, or other media with simple clicks and change their properties with simple menus. Ok, I'm not trying to sell you Dreamweaver since I don't make a commission on Dreamweaver sales. My site does however sell Professional Website Templates and Dreamweaver or any other HTML editor will easily allow you to edit or customize these templates.

FLASH

Flash is a program by Adobe (was Macromedia) that allows designers and programmers to create fresh and refined layouts, animation, or movies. Flash has become a popular method to create animation and dynamic interactivity to web sites. Its also common for some designers to create a full site out of Flash. Although the latter has some SEO repercussions, its can be very aesthetically pleasing and smooth in loading and interactivity. Here is a good example of a web site that is programmed in Flash.

Flash can be a difficult technology to use. I use the term technology because Flash isn't really the Programming Language, its actually Actionscript. Actionscript in a way is like HTML for browsers and Flash Player is like the browser that can render the animation and and logic from the Actionscript. I personally program all my Flash movies in Adobe Flash. You can however create Flash movies with other programs like Swish. Although Swish files and Flash files are different, you still export your file to a swf or Flash movie file to use for your web page. Like creating a jpg file from Photoshop, Flash and Swish creates Flash movies that browsers play on their web pages. The Flash plugin is needed to view these movies on your browser. Since Flash is such a popular format used on the internet, your browser should automatically download and install the latest player in you come upon a Flash movie or web site on the web.

Here at Model Template you have many Flash Templates to choose from. All come with the FLA file which is the raw Flash file. Within this file you can edit or customize your Flash site or movies. I will note that some experience with Flash is necessary when going this route. Some templates can link to external txt or other files to receive its content for each web page. This can be a nice feature since you just need to edit the content and copy in the TXT (text file) to change the content on the Flash site. Most Flash elements on the web are web site introductions. You know the little animated movie that everyone skips at the beginning of a site? Well, its true that many people do skip introductions, but when used in a tasteful way, they can still add some pizzazz to your site. If your interested in Flash Introduction movies there are a wide assortment to choose from here.

So, although this doesn't explain everything you need to know about HTML and Flash, at least you have a basic introduction to the technologies. If you endeavor to learn more about these technologies, pick up a book or do some online classes to help you. Lynda.com is a great source to learn these and other technologies.