Abhishek Reddy — Mon, 18 Feb 2002 11:05:15 +0000

If you really feel that a splash page is necessary, you could always set cookies for users when they visit. With cookie detection, you could have just first-time users being directed to the intro. It's not perfect but it generally can work well.

Also, you must, must always have a "Skip intro" link. The only thing more frustrating than a slow intro page is a slow intro page that I can't skip.
Also, don't make the mistake of putting your "skip" button inside your flash movies, if any. I once saw a site that did this; I ended up waiting for 250KB of worthless flash intro to download before I could skip it.

ScreenSaver — Sat, 16 Feb 2002 10:22:32 +0000

i also agree with meghan when i go 2 a website i want 2 get 2 the site right away

Brian Farkas — Sat, 16 Feb 2002 07:50:26 +0000

If a flash animation is not too long (or big), and skillfully done, it can help portray a positive image of your company.. But if it's too long, or it doesn't load fast enough, you'll end up losing a potential customer. As Megan mentioned, intros can be used on artistic related sites. On corporate sites, however, it would be best to stick with a clean, fast-loading, easy to navigate design.

Good luck,

Brian

Enigmatic — Sat, 16 Feb 2002 03:53:07 +0000

HI there,

I think splash pages are gone for good. These long (sometimes) animations were indeed attractive when web sites picked up Macromedia Flash to attract more visitors. Then came time when people got tired of repeated animations... All your visitors want is your product/services/content... In some cases, such Flash presentation are helpful, for ex. if you want to present product from every possible angle/aspect/etc.

Best Regards,

Tom Z.

leslielauren — Fri, 15 Feb 2002 21:39:17 +0000

I agree about not using a splash page. When I visit a website I dont want to wait a hour for a huge animation to load before I can get to the content. I guess it really depends on what kind of site it is. I really dont care for splash pages on business websites but they are not so bad when used on a personal site.

Busy — Fri, 15 Feb 2002 20:56:36 +0000

I agree with Megan, esp. about the long, useless animations.

Splash pages are fun to make and use but if a visitor has to see it everytime they visit will soon get sick of it, imagation this forum with one, or a news site, hotmail etc.

but a splash page can be good if a site is graphic heavy, can be used to help preload the images. but you'll find people bookmarking certain pages within your.

as for a flash splash page, 90% of the time totally useless, nothing to do with the sites contain, is a mortal sin, an abuse of flash which has already given flash a bad name.

Megan — Fri, 15 Feb 2002 15:44:58 +0000

It depends on the nature of your site I think. Sites that are purely information-based should never have splash pages. If people are going to the site to find some kind of information a splash page is only going to make it slower and more difficult for them to find what they need as quickly as possible.

Artistic sites, or gallery sites, or anything that's more for the experience than the information, a splash can be okay. I find that sometimes a nice simple splash can sometimes do a great job of setting the tone for a design.

Therefore, splash pages that do not coordinate well with the rest of a site's design are always bad. I also think that long, useless animation is always bad.