should i use a php include for my flash header?

[dan182skater]

Hello everyone!

 

i have a flash header with animated menu links. What I really want to do is make the menu in a way so that when you click the links, the page loads under it and the flash DOES NOT reload and play the beginning animation. I can't figure out how to do this in flash (unless one of you PHP Guys knows how to) so would the best thing to do be use a php include. The problem I see with using a php include tag would be i would have to change all the pages to php files.

 

What if I used 2 frames instead? Are frames safe in all browsers? Are they good to use in general?

 

Any help is appreciated. THANKS!

 

-Daniel

[john010117]

I detest iframes. It's not search-engine friendly. But in your case, iframes might be the solution.

[Psycho]

I agree with JOhn on both counts - frames suck and they look to be your best option. I also hate flash menus by the way.

 

In any case, includes would not help you. There is one other option, but not one I would recommend. You could have a single page with the flash menu at the top and the rest of the page would be inside a div. You could then have the links in the flash menu utilize AJAX to get the appropriate page content and update the div.

[dan182skater]

thanks for your replies... maybe there is a way to stop the flash from reloading each time from within the flash itself? I just want to know if it's possible to do so I can research how to do it (I don't want to research how to do it if it's impossible; a waste of time)

 

Thanks!

 

-Danbiel

[Psycho]

Don't waste your time searching. If you click a link to go to another page the flash will reload unless you do something like frames. By the way some visitors will have issues with flash menus anyway. At worst they may not have flash installed (and may not want to) at best they will ahve to click once to activate the control and click a second time to actually select the link.