There are lots of "bells and whistles" that you may have seen
on someone else's site. Some of these things are harder to
implement than you may realize. Below, we've tried to describe
some of the more commonly desired web site features along with
information on what you can reasonably expect. We'll talk about:
Flash-enhanced web sites range from "embedded" animations in
an otherwise normal web site all the way up to full Flash sites,
where the site is completely done in Flash. If you aren't sure
if something is a Flash movie or not, try right-clicking on it.
If you see options like "Settings" and "About Macromedia Flash
Player," then it's a Flash (or Swish) movie. Typically, you'll
see web designers and movie or music artist sites with all-Flash
sites, while "larger" sites (such as
www.macromedia.com or
www.microsoft.com) will have HTML sites with embedded Flash
movies.
It won't take much time to learn how to do some simple text
or image fading animation effects using Flash or Swish (Swish
has a lot of built-in text effects), but if you're looking for
high-quality Flash work, it will take a lot of time to learn,
and you might not even be able to get the job done. It's best to
outsource any high-caliber Flash work until you have time to
take some classes or buy lots of "learn Flash" books. Expect
custom Flash work to come with a hefty price tag.
Macromedia Flash can be purchased from
www.macromedia.com and runs in the hundreds of dollars
range.
Swish can be purchased from
www.swishzone.com and is currently around $50. It's not
as easy to optimize Swish movies and there's definitely less
functionality than with Flash, but it comes with lots of
built-in text effects that are easy to use if you just want
to create simple animations.
DHTML Menus (Pop-out Menus)
You've probably seen those cool "pop-out" menus - some with
some really nifty effects. These are usually done using a
third-party software. If you are using a FrontPage template, you
will NOT be able to use FrontPage built-in navigation bars if
you want DHTML pop-out menus, but will have to build your own
images and use the third-party software to generate the code.
Sothink offers a nice program that creates these
pop-out menus that are compatible with all the major
browsers.
xFX Jumpstart also has a nice program that creates
pop-out menus that are compatible with all the major
browsers.
JavaScript Drop-down Menus
These are the drop-down menus that look like:
(this doesn't actually work)
When you select the choice, you are sent to another page --
kind of like clicking a button or a link, but it saves a lot of
space.
There are two ways that you can integrate music and sound
into your site:
By embedding a "background music" file into your web
site. This is obnoxious and annoying and we don't recommend it.
By using a Flash movie that has background music in it. This can also be obnoxious and annoying. If you decide to
do this, please include a "mute" button on the movie so that
the user can turn off the music if desired.
We won't go into depth on how to do this. You can find Flash
support or search online for how to embed music into your web
site.
Member/Client Login
This can also take many different forms. The most common
variations:
A subfolder that is password protected (a system
dialog box pops up to ask for the user/pass - this is
different than a login box that is ON a web page). Once
someone enters the username and password, they can access
the subfolder. You will need to talk to your hosting
provider or server administrator to help you do this -
basically they will set specific "permissions" on the folder
so that you have to log in to access the folder.
Some kind of database that holds usernames and
passwords and programming on the pages that checks
the usernames and passwords. You will either need to
outsource this to someone who knows how to do it, try to
learn it yourself, or find a third-party tool. For FrontPage
users, check out the
Spooky Login from Outfront.net. You may also try typing
in search terms like "password protect web site" and see
what sponsored links show up.
Collecting Information in Forms
There are two main ways you can do this:
Email the form information to yourself. You'll
have to check with your hosting provider to see if this is
possible, then create a form with a "mailto" statement.
There are lots of tutorials online that will help you do
this. If your web host allows form emails, then you can do
this for free.
Collect the form information in some kind of
online database. You may want to outsource this or find a
third-party tool if you don't know anything about ASP or
similar programming. Type "collect form information web
site" in a search engine and see what comes up.
FrontPage users who are hosting on a server with
FrontPage extensions may be able to collect form information
in a ".csv" file (able to be opened with Excel) as well as
email the information to themselves. They should check with
their hosting provider to make sure that this is possible.
Guestbooks and Forums
There are plenty of free (and not free) guestbook and forum
programs online. Just search for "forums" or "guestbook" at a
search engine.
We were recommended Snitz forums -
http://forum.snitz.com/ - they feature ASP, fully
customizable forum.
Email Newsletters
If you want an email newsletter and don't have a friend who
is a programming whiz, look for a third-party solution. Type
"email newsletters" in a search engine and see what comes up.
A nice, cheap solution that we've heard of is
www.newsletteradministrator.com. There are no up-front fees
and it costs $1 to send 500 newsletters.
Live Chat
Be aware that you should check with your hosting service to
see if they allow live chat - some don't! Other hosting services
offer live chat as an add-in for an additional fee. If you're
looking for a third-party solution,
Volano.com is
pricier than most but we've heard that they're good.
Site Search or Product Search
If you want search functionality that searches the text on
your web site, the cheapest way is to sign up for Google's free
SiteSearch. Go to
http://www.google.com/services/free.htmll.
There are also plenty of third-party solutions. Try keywords
like "search functionality integrate website."
If you want product search capability, you'll have to find a
web developer who is proficient in ASP or CGI-type programming.
You will also have to integrate your products into a database so
that you will have "fields" that you can search. Some shopping
cart systems may also come with search capability. Read on to
find out more about ecommerce!
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