We just launched the new home page for the Australia Zoo website. This has some very nice features. New flash banners and an Ajax accordion to help deliver fresh daily content.
Below are some examples of the flash banners and a flow of how the display object works loading in the flash banners.
The home page flash banner loads in external (swf) banners and can currently take 1,2 or 3 banners rotating through. Each banner can have sound but is not critical and is developed to handle both regardless.
The initial swf stage file is only 24kb and loads each banner individually on a Timer() function. The stage is set to scale and will align the externally loaded banners to the center of the stage upon loading and if the stage is re sized.
Banner 1 of the new Australia Zoo Banners
Whale watching banner, from the new Australia Zoo banners
Showing the display objects and how they load the flash banners
Above you will see the displayObject layout for loading in the external banners. As mentioned the banners load in on a Timer() function and iterate through the length of a banner array, which is being passed through the swf object embedded in the page. This allows us to develop banners and add them dynamically without having to alter a core file.
If an individual banner has an existing sound file, this is also loaded externally to the swf file and stops the Timer() function until the sound has completed playing. Once sound is completed playing the timer will start and continue to rotate through the banners.
Also displayed at the bottom left of the banners are banner buttons, allowing a user to click through to a banner at anytime.
There is some more work to be done on fine tuning these. Creating AS3 packages, making the banners even more modulated. Allowing for the sound to be turned off permanently using stored objects so upon multiple refreshes the sound is switched off.
Check them out here www.australiazoo.com.au.
