How to Add Flash Text to a Web Page With Dreamweaver CS3

Dreamweaver is integrated with Flash in ways that make it easy for you to use small Flash movies on your page to create text in fonts and styles that wouldn't normally display on a web page. The following steps will show you how to use it.

Difficulty:

Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need

• Dreamweaver CS3 software (may also work in older versions)

1. Open your document in Dreamweaver. Position the cursor in the location where you want to insert the Flash text.

2. Select Flash Text in the Insert menu.

   Select Insert > Media > Flash Text

3. Flash Text Dialog Box

   The Insert Flash Text dialog box opens. Type the text you want in the text field. You get a preview of what the font looks like as you make your choices. This dialog is where you set up the font, which can be any installed font on your computer. You also set the font size, the alignment, color, rollover color, link and background color.

4. The Save As field is very important. You want to assign a useful name to the .swf file that will be generated for the Flash text. You could use the same words as the text you will insert, or a name that will still be meaningful at a later time when you may come back to work on the page again.

5. You can preview it on the page with the Apply button. When you click OK, the Flash file is inserted on the page.

6. To edit your choices, just select the Flash text block and either double-click it or click the Edit button on the Property inspector.

7. Resize with the drag handles.

   You can resize the Flash text block by selecting it in the document window and dragging one of the drag handles.

8. Dreamweaver automatically adds a .swf file and a JavaScript file to your site root. Both these files are needed to make the Flash text work and should be uploaded with your HTML file.

Tips & Warnings

• Flash text is best used in small doses as a heading or other small page element. If you use it for all the text you'll slow your download speed and lower your search engine rankings (since search engines index real text, not Flash).

• Dreamweaver will automatically save the Flash movie (the .swf file) in the same folder as the web page that displays the Flash movie to ensure that the links will work. Don't move the .swf file to a different folder.