flash navigation menu :(

[y_pavlov]

good evening all,

sorry if i sound lame, but i am having big dificulties in creating a flash or java navigation menu on my site
i was using 1 Cool Menu FX TOOL, because i though it was free and all and created the menu fine , bu then it told me that i have to buy it!!! i have macromedia flash and mx and dreamweaver, but its so hard using them, and Frontpage 2002 wont let me create Jave or flash navigation menus (as far as i know) so can u please please advise me, if i can download a completely free flash navigation menu for the site, or alternetively use one of these apps i have to do that
many mnay thanks

sorry if i sound stupid,, i am just starting with web-design


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[spufi]

Let me repeat what I said before...

Originally posted by spufi If you are a newbie, don't use a Flash menu. Making changes to a Flash menu can be a royal pain.

Having said that, Front Page does not create Flash menus because Flash is a Macromedia product. It doesn't create Java menus because Java is a Sun product. If you mean a JavaScript driven menu, then you need to learn JavaScript.

If you are using Macromedia Flash, or Dreamweaver and they are too hard then skip using them for now and try to use HTML and CSS to make your menus and use a more basic text editor to code your pages in. Even something like Note Pad will save you a lot of headaches until you get your feet wet.

Again...

Originally posted by spufi
Don't use Front Page. It sucks as a tool to design web pages. Learn how to actually code HTML/CSS and you'll be much better off. Do a search on something called HTML Kit and use that instead. It's free too.

Here's the link for HTML Kit.

http://www.chami.com/html-kit/

[MotherNatrsSon]

There are several "pre-made" javascript menus out there. Try looking at www.dynamicdrive.com they have a bunch of different ones. Until you can actually use Flash to build your own menu, forget about a Flash menu.

If you looked at pyro's site in your other thread, you will see he has it done correctly by also having text links on the page as well as a flash menu. It is for accessibility reasons.

MNS

[Sux0rZh@jc0rz]

flash is easy to learn. just mess around with it, take the built in tutorials, and you'll be fine.

just to help you: make a base design first in a layer(on the timeline at top of the page) and name it base. then once you have that basic platform, you can make a new layer named navigation and but all your buttons on that one. then you can make ANOTHER layer and add movie clips in it if you want(like a logo that spins or something) don't forget to have the base layer far down on the list and navigation at the top, this way the buttons appear OVER the base.

when you make animation, its always good to make the first image a symbol(movieclip style(you can get to this in the properties)) and then do your animation by "right-click" editing the symbol and making the animation inside of it.

[Aronya1]

I agree with spufi about FrontPage. Most web developers will tell you the same thing; it's not what you want to use. In my opinion, it's a little like AOL. For a certain segment of the population, it's perfect, but for anyone who's serious about what they are doing, look for something else.

Dreamweaver can be used in the code view mode, where all you see is the code. No wysiwyg at all. Plus, you can preview your work with the press of a key. Hand code in DW the same way you would hand code with notepad. That said, you need to know your HTML.

I'll second MNS's suggestion to try Dynamic Drive.

[fla5hba5h]

I hate WYSIWYGs. They add a bunch of junk code and often limit your ability to edit the site/template.

[Aronya1]

I don't seem to have that problem with DW. FrontPage is a different story.