Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Raul M. Cabrera on May 5, 2010 at 2:34pm

We've already taken the steps necessary to produce non-Flash standard sites for our dealers. There are so many tricks you can do with JavaScript that out do Flash completely, AND most importantly, it helps your SEO.

With Flash, you lose out on so much SEO potential, which is why we steer away from Flash sites for dealers in the first place.

My recommendation is to go with the current web standards, lose the Flash, and get ready for a lot of obsolete websites for those who dont!

Permalink Reply by Tom Gorham on May 5, 2010 at 5:21pm

I certainly am not willing to write off Flash completely. At least not yet. Last I heard, Google is able to read Flash "words" as long as they are not images. Java Script can have its own problems, especially when it conficts with other Java Scripts... For example, when I create a new page in Dealer.com's back-end, I can't use Java Script because it conflicts with their system. I don't know how many other website vendors have that problem. But wait! HTML5 is coming out and is said to be able to do much of what Flash does, only using HTML. Let's wait and see. In the meantime, Adobe is a pretty professional company and may surprise us all with improvements to Flash itself....

Permalink Reply by Albert Dewey on May 5, 2010 at 9:35pm

Several reasons not to use Flash.

1) Google cannot read flash words UNLESS whoever programmed the flash portion of your website has taken the time to have those words coded in such a way that they are discoverable by a search engine. Unfortunately, most flash that is produced for websites out there are not coded in this way because they were created by "click and shoot" flash development tools. You have to be able to dive into the actual flash code to allocate the words you want to have read by search engines.

2) Your customers really don't give a rat's ass about the fancy flash presentation in your website. Yes your menu has a wonderful glowing effect when a mouse is hovered over it and the speakers crackle with Star Trek noises but do you honestly believe that this has ANY influence at all in your customers deciding whether to buy a car from you? Not one bit. They are there to check out your inventory, see what your specials might be and to maybe check out your embedded Google map on where to find you. Other than that, all your fancy website huff and puff is little more than a guy dressed like a pimp trying to get a date with the prom queen. It just makes you look ridiculous. Keep your website simple and professional looking and you will get a lot more mileage out of it than trying to look like some jackass who has to have the largest Christmas light display on the block.

3) Flash is totally useless on things like the iPhone and iPad and other similar products. This is because they were made with a thing called "gestures" using your finger movements to control what is happening on the screen. Virtually all flash presentations out there are coded to rely on mouse-over interactions to make things like menus to appear and other similar effects. Since the iPhone and iPad don't use a mouse, every flash app out there that depends on this for navigation purposes or the like would be totally broken when viewed on any of these devices which explains one of the reasons that Steve Jobs refuses to allow it to run. With this in mind, the flash portion of every website out there would have to be recoded to work with gestures which is something that I am sure is not going to happen anytime soon.

4) Anything else that you have come to depend upon flash to perform (movies, animations, etc.) can most likely be handled with simple javascript, css, and basic html. Now when it comes to what css3 and html5 are going to be offering in the very near future, you can bet your bottom dollar that they will pretty much completely seal the lid on the coffin of flash at that time. Not only that but html, css and javascript are totally open languages that are not under the developmental control of one company's influence. Flash, on the other hand, is totally owned and operated by Adobe and is a closed and proprietary system. If something were to happen to Adobe as a company, where would your support and improvements come from that would allow you to stay current with ever changing technologies. Not a problem with javascript, html or css. I, for one, am hedging my bets on the open source languages to withstand the test of time.

Permalink Reply by Tom Gorham on May 10, 2010 at 9:30pm

"Your customers really don't give a rat's ass about the fancy flash presentation in your website. Yes your menu has a wonderful glowing effect when a mouse is hovered over it and the speakers crackle with Star Trek noises but do you honestly believe that this has ANY influence at all in your customers deciding whether to buy a car from you? Not one bit... all your fancy website huff and puff is little more than a guy dressed like a pimp trying to get a date with the prom queen."

No offense, but don't you think that's a bit condescending and arrogant. You assume that anyone using flash is going overboard with fancy effects and bad taste. Do people care about useless blinking lights and glowing menus? No. Do they appreciate a site that is not only professional, informative, attractive and easy to navigate? Yes. Flash, in moderation, can assist with these things. Javascript, as I stated above, can't always be used. I agree with you that open source languages will withstand the test of time... I don't know anyone who would question that. But HTML5 is not here yet and ready for prime time. If Flash does the job, so be it.

Permalink Reply by Cathy Aron on May 7, 2010 at 10:20pm

What a wealth of knowledge out there, thank you all for your input. I use Flash in my website but I have never understood it's practicality over another option until this discussion. This is pure evidence of the immense value of social media! I'm listening attentively.