Flash has been around for a while now – since way back in 1996 which is centuries in “internet years” – yet many internet users know little or nothing about it. Why should you? Does it really affect you? Well, yes – Flash can have a big impact on you and your website. Hopefully after reading this you’ll feel a bit more savvy so you can make the right choices for your website.
What is Flash?
It’s often referred to as a “video”, which isn’t really true. Flash is actually much more than that – a powerful multimedia format which can manipulate graphics, supports audio, video and contains a scripting language called ActionScript. All of these things combine to allow web developers to create anything from a simple animation to whole websites or powerful online software and games. One of the most famous uses for Flash on the internet today are the billions of videos streamed by YouTube.
So how does it affect me?
Traditionally Flash has taken a lot of stick for being inaccessible and typically bad for search engine optimisation. These days things have moved on and if you have a talented Flash developer working for you they will be able to overcome these challenges.
The real problem is that the powerful scripting features of Flash mentioned earlier could actually contain something rather nasty for your computer. Spyware or viruses hidden in Flash have been making the news for over a decade now and are still prevalent on “the bad side of the internet”. Rather than risk unsavoury images or viruses being loaded onto their computers, many businesses have simply blocked Flash with their security settings. Imagine you’re offering services to businesses – if your site navigation is in Flash how will they be able to view your website? Or worse, what if your whole website is in Flash? They’ll likely give up and go elsewhere.
Have I got Flash?
It’s easy to see if a website is using Flash. The most likely place for it to be used is in the main navigation menu or any areas which are animated. Just use your mouse to right click on the part which you think might be Flash and the menu that pops up will tell you – if it is Flash, you’ll see Flash Player mentioned on the menu. I’ve included a screenshot from Firefox, though it will be very similar in Internet Explorer or any other browser.
So I should avoid it at all costs?
Of course not! Flash has many excellent uses (just look at YouTube) and in some cases it can be the only way to achieve a certain effect. Some areas, such as arts or design are very graphic intensive and a rich, glossy movie could be just the ticket to show off what they do. Just remember it’s important to consider who might be viewing your website and make sure they’ll be able to use it.
Archive for May, 2009
All About Flash
Friday, May 29th, 2009New Feature: Multiple Pages
Friday, May 22nd, 2009If you were a doctor, you might not appreciate someone telling you that you’re going to get multiple pages – that entails a lot of running around and performing amazing feats of medical heroism… which bascially all sounds like rather hard work.
Talking of hard work, here’s something that got absolutely nothing to do with hard work. In fact it’s all pretty easy-going stuff.
*Fanfare*
You can now easily add extra pages to your clever little site, name them whatever you want to, and hide them again if you feel like it. All these additional pages are free as well – you don’t have to pay any extra for them at all.
How To Manage Your Pages
It’s dead simple. On your clever little site’s Dashboard page, find the drawer named “Manage Pages”, and click the “Manage Pages” button in there…
Open up your Manage Pages drawer on your Dashboard, then click the button...
… and then you’ll see something like this:
... and you'll see your clever little page manager
There’s some simple instructions at the top to give you a few pointers when adding, naming, and hiding your pages.
It’s all really easy though – you don’t need to spend 4 years in medical school for this kind of heroism.
Free Domain Name – Don’t Build it! Get Clever!
Thursday, May 21st, 2009A Website for £99 PA?
As we say “Don’t Build It, Get Clever” why not see how easy it can really be to get your business online and generating new sales for your company, not only has the clever little site been built by professional web developers it has been created with usability in mind. The aim is to ensure that you never need any HTML knowledge of website skills to abtain a website and keep it up to date.
You Receive all this and more…
Free UK Domain Name
Free Hosting
Free Templates
Free Text and Image editing
Insert YouTube Videos and PDF’s
All instantly available and you can be up and running within minutes!
No-one really wants to build a website
As attractive it may appear to be able to say ‘ I built my own site’ the reality is usually a sense of disappointment. This is mainly because it is not easy to build a website the way you have it in your mind. If you do not have any website skills or do not really have the time to learn software, the end result tends to be one that you are not happy with.
Focus on what you are good at Website Compatibility image
If you are in business because you have a skill and can help people via a product or service, or you are raising money for others then don’t waste time on website builders ‘Eat the fruit and study the roots later’ if you really wish to.
That’s it
There it is, we just want people to take advantage of what the Internet has to offer without being bogged down with the mechanics of it all. We intend to keep adding more functions that are of use to you, not superfluous to requirements and provide these in a usable way.
Visit the clever little site today and get your Free Domain Name
Free Templates – Don’t Build it! Get Clever!
Wednesday, May 20th, 2009A Website for £99 PA?
As we say “Don’t Build It, Get Clever” why not see how easy it can really be to get your business online and generating new sales for your company, not only has the clever little site been built by professional web developers it has been created with usability in mind. The aim is to ensure that you never need any HTML knowledge of website skills to abtain a website and keep it up to date.
You Receive all this and more…
Free UK Domain Name
Free Hosting
Free Templates
Free Text and Image editing
Insert YouTube Videos and PDF’s
All instantly available and you can be up and running within minutes!
No-one really wants to build a website
As attractive it may appear to be able to say ‘ I built my own site’ the reality is usually a sense of disappointment. This is mainly because it is not easy to build a website the way you have it in your mind. If you do not have any website skills or do not really have the time to learn software, the end result tends to be one that you are not happy with.
Focus on what you are good at Website Compatibility image
If you are in business because you have a skill and can help people via a product or service, or you are raising money for others then don’t waste time on website builders ‘Eat the fruit and study the roots later’ if you really wish to.
That’s it
There it is, we just want people to take advantage of what the Internet has to offer without being bogged down with the mechanics of it all. We intend to keep adding more functions that are of use to you, not superfluous to requirements and provide these in a usable way.
Visit the clever little site today and get your Free Templates
Free Hosting – Don’t Build it! Get Clever
Tuesday, May 19th, 2009A Website for £99 PA?
As we say “Don’t Build It, Get Clever” why not see how easy it can really be to get your business online and generating new sales for your company, not only has the clever little site been built by professional web developers it has been created with usability in mind. The aim is to ensure that you never need any HTML knowledge of website skills to abtain a website and keep it up to date.
You Receive all this and more…
Free UK Domain Name
Free Hosting
Free Templates
Free Text and Image editing
Insert YouTube Videos and PDF’s
All instantly available and you can be up and running within minutes!
No-one really wants to build a website
As attractive it may appear to be able to say ‘ I built my own site’ the reality is usually a sense of disappointment. This is mainly because it is not easy to build a website the way you have it in your mind. If you do not have any website skills or do not really have the time to learn software, the end result tends to be one that you are not happy with.
Focus on what you are good at Website Compatibility image
If you are in business because you have a skill and can help people via a product or service, or you are raising money for others then don’t waste time on website builders ‘Eat the fruit and study the roots later’ if you really wish to.
That’s it
There it is, we just want people to take advantage of what the Internet has to offer without being bogged down with the mechanics of it all. We intend to keep adding more functions that are of use to you, not superfluous to requirements and provide these in a usable way.
Visit the clever little site today and get your Free Hosting
Clever Little Site Of The Month
Wednesday, May 13th, 2009Every month we’re going to be choosing our favourite clever little site, so if you think you’ve done something cool with the website templates or got some imaginative content we’d love to see it! Still haven’t tried the free demo or got your own website? Come on… get clever!
May’s Site Of The Month: www.adifferentbeat.co.uk
Al’s done some neat graphics and embedded Youtube videos in his website promoting his company’s drumming and percussion workshops. Simple but effective!
Have Your Say: How Can We Improve?
Wednesday, May 13th, 2009
Use the How Can We Improve? drawer to let us know your ideas
I just wanted to highlight one of the features of your Admin Home page – and that’s the “How Can We Improve?” drawer. If you’ve got some thoughts on something that would make things easier for you when you’re playing about with your website, or maybe you’d like to suggest something you’d love us to add, that’s the place to do it.
When you click the submit button, your clever little ideas get sent direct to our special collection of gifted, free-range geniuses (or is it genii?), who spend many happy hours pottering about in and around a large mansion we own in Shropshire. There they come up with various ways to make your clever little site even more clever (or is it cleverer?) than it already is. They like nothing more than building, tweaking and improving magnificently simple but powerful features, which then get passed on to our users.
They also like chemistry experiments, Diagnosis Murder, and rollercoasters. We organise a field trip to Alton Towers every couple of months, which they enjoy very much. You should see their genius eyes light up when we arrive. It’s wonderful.
UK Jobless Total Hits 2.2 Million – an ideal time to Get Clever
Wednesday, May 13th, 2009Now is the time many are deciding to start up their own business
The fear of unemployment is very real for those currently employed and as the BBC reported they have real concern for their welfare and that of their families;
“The number of people out of work in the UK rose 244,000 to 2.22 million in the first three months of 2009, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said.”
From the BBC News – click here to view
The clever little site, originally for Startups enabling them to test the water with an Internet Website that only costs £99 per year, could be exactly what those who have found themselves out of a job need to start generating another income. With so many people being made redundent an alternative source of income is paramount and an obvious choice is advertising a service on the Internet via a website.
For many they will be very cautious with their money, and rightly so; not only could the next source of income be a while away but the perceived costs of websites may make the idea of advertising online not a viable option.
£99 for the 1st year will give you everything you need
The clever little site is (obviously in our opinion) the best product for those where cash and time is a premium. Our websites require no further fees other the £99 per year and no website building or HTML experience. You can have a website in minutes and be adding text and images to inform potential clients of your services. As we say “don’t build it, get clever“, forcus on getting your services in front of your clients in the quickest time possible. Good
Try our Free Online Website Demonstration by clicking this link
Best wishes form all at the clever little site
Startups Don’t Build It, Get Clever – Websites for only £99
Tuesday, May 12th, 2009Websites for Startup Businesses
We wanted to provide a genuine solution for start up businesses and assistance to those who want to spend their money wisely; we did not want to set up another gimmick. This is why we have set up the clever little site which costs only £99 per year and includes free hosting and a free .co.uk domain name.
No-one really wants to build a website
As attractive it may appear to be able to say ‘I built my own site’ the reality is usually a sense of disappointment. This is mainly because it is not easy to build a website the way you have it in your mind. If you do not have any website skills or do not really have the time to learn software, the end result tends to be one that you are not happy with. This is commonly the case when using software that provides websites at a very inexpensive price, they tend to require some website building by the purchaser. This extra effort on your behalf tends to be where these products fall down. The clever little site is specifically aimed at providing a ready made website enabling you to focus on what you’re good at; informing your clients about the benefits of your company.
Focus on what you are good at
If you are in business because you have a skill and can help people via a product or service, or you are raising money for others then don’t waste time on website builders ‘Eat the fruit and study the roots later’ if you really wish to. It is more enjoyable to get results from what you are good at.
That’s it
There it is, we just want people to take advantage of what the Internet has to offer without being bogged down with the mechanics of it all. We intend to keep adding more functions that are of use to you, not superfluous to requirements and provide these in a way that makes sense.
Google Analytics – Now Added
Monday, May 11th, 2009
Maps, graphs, pie charts and pretty colours - Google Analytics has it all
Of all the things Google have come up with over the past few years, one of our favourites is Google Analytics. Using this ingenious package, you can build up a great picture of the people who visit your website – this includes where they are in the world, what stuff they were looking at on your pages, what they searched for in order to end up on your site, and how long they spent there.
You can also quickly and easily compare statistics with those collected previously – for example, you can easily see how many people visited your site in the first quarter of 2009, compared to the same period in 2008. Of all the various website statistics packages we’ve used, it’s definitely the best.
Obviously we didn’t think that you guys should be without this excellent tool, so, as of today, we’ve sorted that all out for you. All you need to do is sign up for a Google Analytics account (which is free), and then plug in the unique “Web Property ID” they give you into the handy drawer on the Admin Home page of your site. Easy!