Concerns about Flash

[jotade11]

Hello MRForums!

I was wondering if it would be a good idea to create a backup, fully-HTML-created site to my Flash site, which I am developing for a client. My concern is not that potential visitors would not have Flash installed of course, but rather that many visitors might be using phones (specifically iPhones). So I assume that I should create an identical (or close to...) site that the browser would auto-direct phones and the like to one site, and other devices to the Flash site. Is this concern valid?

Also, I did some Googling, but all I could really find was this:

http://detectmobilebrowsers.mobi/#generator

Would the code this site generates do the trick?

Thanks!

 

[MOD YOU UPP]

It is definitely a valid concern, but it ultimately depends on what industry your client is in and who your target audience is.

For example, if your client plans to make regular edits and posts on the website, it might be hard to synchronize the html, mobile, and flash sites together.

But if your client's site will really never change too much, then it would make sense to make a second html based site for users on phones or without flash.

 

[jotade11]

Thanks for the reply! Should I use something similar to that code generator? Also, I noticed you said 'HTML, Flash and -Mobile-'... is there anything besides sizing of the frame I should keep in mind when creating a mobile site?

Thanks again

 

[lucidmedia]

MOD is correct... this all comes down to the type of site you have and the content within it.

If the flash site is large and has lots of content that changes regularly, it should be built on some type of content management. Then you can simply route your content to either your flash front-end or an HTML/CSS/JS equivalent depending on the browser.

If the site is simpler and the iphone experience does not have to match the flash experience, using something like SWFobject or the code you linked to would be the easier option.

 

[jotade11]

When you say "content management", do you mean something like Joomla? I'm just wondering about the specifics of pulling this off

 

[lucidmedia]

When you say "content management", do you mean something like Joomla? I'm just wondering about the specifics of pulling this off

sure, Joomla can work. Adobe has done lots of open source development for Drupal, so getting an SWF to work as a drupal front end is pretty well documented. Google "AMFPHP" for the glue that holds everything together.

Also, you may not need a full-on CMS... storing your content in XML and then parsing it in both flash and HTML can give you the same result with less work. Both Flash and javascript libraries like jquery handle XML nicely.

 

[manueld]

I use this php script at the top of my index.php to redirect for mobile browsers:

# <?php  
#   
# $useragent=$_SERVER['HTTP_USER_AGENT'];  
# if(preg_match('/android|avantgo|blackberry|blazer|compal|elaine|fennec|hiptop|iemobile|ip(hone|od)|iris|kindle|lge |maemo|midp|mmp|opera m(ob|in)i|palm( os)?|phone|p(ixi|re)\/|plucker|pocket|psp|symbian|treo|up\.(browser|link)|vodafone|wap|windows (ce|phone)|xda|xiino/i',$useragent)||preg_match('/1207|6310|6590|3gso|4thp|50[1-6]i|770s|802s|a wa|abac|ac(er|oo|s\-)|ai(ko|rn)|al(av|ca|co)|amoi|an(ex|ny|yw)|aptu|ar(ch|go)|as(te|us)|attw|au(di|\-m|r |s )|avan|be(ck|ll|nq)|bi(lb|rd)|bl(ac|az)|br(e|v)w|bumb|bw\-(n|u)|c55\/|capi|ccwa|cdm\-|cell|chtm|cldc|cmd\-|co(mp|nd)|craw|da(it|ll|ng)|dbte|dc\-s|devi|dica|dmob|do(c|p)o|ds(12|\-d)|el(49|ai)|em(l2|ul)|er(ic|k0)|esl8|ez([4-7]0|os|wa|ze)|fetc|fly(\-|_)|g1 u|g560|gene|gf\-5|g\-mo|go(\.w|od)|gr(ad|un)|haie|hcit|hd\-(m|p|t)|hei\-|hi(pt|ta)|hp( i|ip)|hs\-c|ht(c(\-| |_|a|g|p|s|t)|tp)|hu(aw|tc)|i\-(20|go|ma)|i230|iac( |\-|\/)|ibro|idea|ig01|ikom|im1k|inno|ipaq|iris|ja(t|v)a|jbro|jemu|jigs|kddi|keji|kgt( |\/)|klon|kpt |kwc\-|kyo(c|k)|le(no|xi)|lg( g|\/(k|l|u)|50|54|e\-|e\/|\-[a-w])|libw|lynx|m1\-w|m3ga|m50\/|ma(te|ui|xo)|mc(01|21|ca)|m\-cr|me(di|rc|ri)|mi(o8|oa|ts)|mmef|mo(01|02|bi|de|do|t(\-| |o|v)|zz)|mt(50|p1|v )|mwbp|mywa|n10[0-2]|n20[2-3]|n30(0|2)|n50(0|2|5)|n7(0(0|1)|10)|ne((c|m)\-|on|tf|wf|wg|wt)|nok(6|i)|nzph|o2im|op(ti|wv)|oran|owg1|p800|pan(a|d|t)|pdxg|pg(13|\-([1-8]|c))|phil|pire|pl(ay|uc)|pn\-2|po(ck|rt|se)|prox|psio|pt\-g|qa\-a|qc(07|12|21|32|60|\-[2-7]|i\-)|qtek|r380|r600|raks|rim9|ro(ve|zo)|s55\/|sa(ge|ma|mm|ms|ny|va)|sc(01|h\-|oo|p\-)|sdk\/|se(c(\-|0|1)|47|mc|nd|ri)|sgh\-|shar|sie(\-|m)|sk\-0|sl(45|id)|sm(al|ar|b3|it|t5)|so(ft|ny)|sp(01|h\-|v\-|v )|sy(01|mb)|t2(18|50)|t6(00|10|18)|ta(gt|lk)|tcl\-|tdg\-|tel(i|m)|tim\-|t\-mo|to(pl|sh)|ts(70|m\-|m3|m5)|tx\-9|up(\.b|g1|si)|utst|v400|v750|veri|vi(rg|te)|vk(40|5[0-3]|\-v)|vm40|voda|vulc|vx(52|53|60|61|70|80|81|83|85|98)|w3c(\-| )|webc|whit|wi(g |nc|nw)|wmlb|wonu|x700|xda(\-|2|g)|yas\-|your|zeto|zte\-/i',substr($useragent,0,4)))  
#   
# //Redirect URL  
# header('Location: mobile.html');  
#   
# ?> 
?>

it works for me and got it from: http://mobile.tutsplus.com/tutorials/html5/mobile-browser-detection/

 

[plinden]

Hello MRForums!

I was wondering if it would be a good idea to create a backup, fully-HTML-created site to my Flash site, which I am developing for a client.

Only if the client asks you to. You can mention it, but give what the client asked for, a Flash site, and offer to do it in HTML for more money. Lay out the advantages of both options, and accept what the client says, but don't offer to throw it in for free.

 

[smetvid]

I agree with Plinden.

Not everybody is excited to support Idevices yet. Some clients may not see the need and you really have to ask yourself if you want to do double the amount of work for free. The next question is the client actually going to pay you more to do this.

Remember if you do it once for free they may always expect you to do two versions for free.

My company does mostly business to business communications almost 100% on a Windows platform so Flash gives us 100% custom adoption. Our clients that do want to support idevices know they will have to pay extra to market to those users.