Redesigning a Flash e-catalog in PHP/SQL/JS/AJAX

[Dark Tranquility]

We are redesigning an e-catalog (http://tinyurl.com/yctgpzk) and we are migrating it from being full-flash to using PHP/SQL/JS/AJAX.

The mean reason for changing the technology is that the client wants to have a back office with which they can control every tiny bit of the catalog separately and also insert new pages that will be automatically incremented, search all the content etc... This would be very tricky to do in Flash (unless you have some suggestions?)

The problem now is that with a non flash we will loose the full screen option as we didn't find any good solution for that (and that's a must for the client!!!).
Also the client wants a downloadable version that can be used on desktop and offline and this version must be updated automatically when the online version is updated...

Any thoughts or suggestions to help us??

[molona]

Flash can connect to databases so you can still do it with Flash. It would be like you're programming in PHP but using ActionScript!

Of course, you could also make it non-Flash and use Javascript (the animations they use are not really original or anything special and Javascript would do the job nicely which would mean that the text would be accesible).

Regarding the full screen option, you can recalculate the room on the screen and re-arrange the items.

Regarding the non-Flash version... I think that PDF could be the best option.

PDF can be animated with Javascript and you can create the PDF dynamically... I haven't tried to use AJAX within a PDF though... although maybe the trick would be to check if there are any updates while the PDF is opening and if there is download the new PDF.... or give them a button so the user can check if there are any new PDFs/magazines.

To be more precise I would need to have a more clear idea of what they want. I mean, I know exactly what they want, but I assume that each "magazine" will have a different layout and the pictures will be placed differently so it would be important to know how they want to work and which templates would need to be built.

edit: In any case, I think that we're talking about using XML to create the PDF, flash, non-flash or whatever version is needed.

[Dark Tranquility]

No problem in using XML of course I was also leaning towards PDFs but I wanted to see if there are better and more accessible solutions
Yeah I know Flash can connect to DB but have you tried such complex level of administration with Flash?

[molona]

I've seen it although I haven't done it myself. Flash may be the ending result (that is, what the visitor sees) but the CMS behind doesn't need to be done in Flash althogh it can be created in Flash if you wanted to.

[Dark Tranquility]

Another reason I forgot to state about preferring a non-flash site is SEO...

[hash]

This is what your site looks like "full screen" (1280 monitor, browser maximised).

Flash is not for building web pages (let alone back ends). Your site also broke some basic browser functionality (that I take for granted) by taking control of input.

[Dark Tranquility]

Thanks for th post Hash! Haven't you seen I am trying to migrate to a non-flash e-catalog?
without losing the functionalities? What you're stating is among a long list of cons we have for the flash version (However for the small text you can use the implanted zoom in/out function to read it) you can but the pros list is long too and the client is not accepting the loss of certain things... as I explained above

[hash]

Hi, sorry, but all I can really find in your OP is that you can't lose the "full screen" aspect because of the client. My point is: full screen is not a reality. You need to explain that to the client. You can either have the whole page in the window, or a readable page in the window.

[Dark Tranquility]

yeah the client is convinced that we can't lose the full-screen and needs a lot of administration options... And for now we are in a dead end with the client and I want to be sure we can't find any technical solution to satisfy their needs...

[samanime]

I also agree that it'd be worth your time to convince them that full-screen mode is not only not a good idea for a website, but also rather pointless. If anything it'd probably hurt the usability because the user would have to look all over the screen to read the catalog.

However, as for the whether you use Flash or not, a simpler solution for getting from a database is to make calls to PHP passing the info that you need (such as the id), then processing what is returned to you to display the flash.

There is also a class on Google Code which will let you communicate directly from Flash to a MySQL server (it requires a few special configurations on the server, so it isn't always acceptable).

There really isn't a good way to have a full-screen version and an SEO-friendly version. You could suggest to users to hit F11 to go to full screen, but that's about it.

You might consider having two version: a Flash version and a non-Flash version.

Also, if you make Flash communicate with the database in some way, the CMS doesn't need to be Flash-based. It can be PHP/Ajax and just edit the database data.

[sg707]

I maybe reiterating other posts but Flash can do all those stuff easily. Honestly, there's nothing that compares in UI candy versus Flash. I'm no Flash expert but I'd advise FLEX to do this sort of stuff as it has been used for many e-commerce projects.

Or I have seen other Flash based CMS that was just awesome! I can't name any one specific one but I'm sure Google will help.

[sg707]

From what I "heard", Flash is now SEO friendly. Again, google for verification.

[molona]

Flash has improved its accessibility so it is SEO friendly compared to previous versions... but you can't say that it is accessible or SEO friedly

Regarding full screen, I am not sure what's the problem... you can set the div as a 100% or calculate it with Javascript (I will include Flex here too as it is Javascript with Adobe's objects). The client must know that he will have a public that will not be able to see it anyway... those who doesn't have Flash installed (inlcuding coold devices such as iPhones and iPads) or those who don't enable Javascript.

[Dark Tranquility]

Originally Posted by sg707

From what I "heard", Flash is now SEO friendly. Again, google for verification.

Yes Flash is better indexed these days! but it is not as SEO-friendly as semantic HTML... It's still far behind!
and by the way you are the only one still thinking that Flash is the best solution!

[sg707]

Originally Posted by Dark Tranquility

Yes Flash is better indexed these days! but it is not as SEO-friendly as semantic HTML... It's still far behind!
and by the way you are the only one still thinking that Flash is the best solution!

Good info!

No, let me correct myself if I mislead you. I was saying more like Flash is a viable solution and that it is not difficult to integrate w/ DB. So, if you got flash programmers then definitely go w/ flash! if not then PHP works too. Still, if you check out some FLEX examples, it's got great UI candies. Plus, you don't have to worry about browser compatibilities... man~~ that's another topic.

[samanime]

Originally Posted by molona

Regarding full screen, I am not sure what's the problem... you can set the div as a 100% or calculate it with Javascript (I will include Flex here too as it is Javascript with Adobe's objects). The client must know that he will have a public that will not be able to see it anyway... those who doesn't have Flash installed (inlcuding coold devices such as iPhones and iPads) or those who don't enable Javascript.

Yes, you can make the div take up the whole space of the browser viewport. However, if we're talking full-screen with Flash, we're talking the entire monitor screen, with no Windows/Mac/Linux controls being visible.

Last I checked, Javascript wasn't capable of making browsers go full-screen like that.

[molona]

Originally Posted by samanime

However, if we're talking full-screen with Flash, we're talking the entire monitor screen, with no Windows/Mac/Linux controls being visible.

Sorry. Of course you're right! I didn't see the button to go full screen till you mentioned it. I thought that he was referring to the viewport. Silly me!

[Darren884]

This is a perfect project for Adobe Flex. Use Adobe Flex

[EastCoast]

I reckon it would be possible to do what's required by using gaia framework, this way you'd have a scaffold of html content, deeplinking in the swf overlay (think of the swf display as a progressive enhancement) and can dynamically generate the required content.

[Dark Tranquility]

gaia framework seems to be a good solution! We've never used it before... Thanks EastCoast

[Dark Tranquility]

Originally Posted by molona

Sorry. Of course you're right! I didn't see the button to go full screen till you mentioned it. I thought that he was referring to the viewport. Silly me!

lol you're not silly Nuria!
Yeah the problem is that the client wants a full-monitor-screen

[molona]

Well, then that's Flash or the Flex-ible way

[Dark Tranquility]

Yep we're still discussing it with the client...

[Michael Morris]

Ah the joys of working with ignorant computer illiterate clients. Hope they pay well.

[stikkybubble]

Originally Posted by Michael Morris

Ah the joys of working with ignorant computer illiterate clients. Hope they pay well.

You said it. Frankly this is an awful user experience, which would be more likely to put me off buying (or even browsing).

They have obviously just been wowed by the dinky "oh look! It looks just like a magazine!".

And as for a catalogue that auto-updates, very bizarre. If this is just what I think of when I hear "catalogue" - something for the average person to have and keep around to look at - then who on earth expects a catalogue not to go out of date from time to time? I can just imagine the irritation of having the thing checking for updates when someone just wants to quickly view a page.

On the other hand I'm intrigued by some of the suggestions here - flex, gaia. It is all too common for people to be demanding flash for their websites, and if there are other ways of achieving what they really want or need that is great.

I'm hardly impartial, I keep flash blocked all the time and it makes me cringe when a whole site is a blank like that because of it!

Good luck. I hope they are paying you a fortune.