Speed optimization for Flash movies (sort of)
An excellent means of increasing ‘perceived’ load times is to use source ordering. This method places the flash code at the bottom of the HTML document, then sets it in place on the page using CSS code.
The HTML is simple to change by removing the Flash code and placing it in a DIV box
< div id="fla_movie"> Flash code < /div>
The CSS is fairly straightforward as well…
div#fla_movie {position: relative|absolute; top: XXpx; left: XXpx;}
I’ll leave the details of how to properly write the code to any number of sites dedicated to teaching basic HTML and CSS such as W3C Schools. I have used them often and still refer back to them at times.
What effect does this have on the page? Placing the HTML for the Flash Movie at the bottom of the file allows the all-important main content to load first. As a matter of fact, this method can be used to separate content from presentation to the point where you can alter your code structure entirely. You will be able to move the blocks around the page visually until it looks the way you want, then sort out each block of code in order of importance to your page. Place your relevant ‘Main Content’ section up top, followed by your navigation, footer, then your header at the bottom of the HTML file. You will have to experiment to find out how drastically you want to alter your pages, but I would suggest to start out by moving your largest images and flash files to the bottom of the page first.
If you clear your browser cache and visit your site for the first time again, you’ll see that it appears to load so much faster than before! I should point out that this offers no real increase in speed because the filesize never changes. It’s just the order of the parts on the HTML page that fools humans into thinking the page loads quicker. Humans are, after all, the goal of the Flash website afficianado.