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gridNavigation – An Out of the Box Solution for Grid Based Interfaces

May 26, 2023 By 901am Leave a Comment

Grid-type interfaces are almost an omnipresent navigation tool in most websites nowadays. It provides a clean and structured layout to effectively present visual data to the user. Unfortunately, its inherent structure is also one of grid’s pitfalls. As a consequence of the way data is laid out on a grid, there is this unwanted feeling of rigidness, inflexibility, and at certain extremes makes it feel boring.

Aware of the weakness of the grid, web designers have over the years tried to revitalize it. One of the more effective approaches to do this was usually through animation of grid-type interfaces through the use of flash. This works out fine for some who can easily adapt to the nuances of motion design. But to the many designers who don’t have the time to study and learn flash while keeping their heads above water, handling several projects and delivering deadlines – this is definitely not an option.

The lack of options has brought me to try several flash components to ease the pain of creating a professional looking animated grid interface. This is when I was able to try gridNavigation. It’s simply an easy-to-use and robust grid interface you can install and use as a flash component. gridNavigation displays thumbnails in a grid or pyramid like layout while allowing you to specify the exact number of rows and colums (for grid) or the position of the layout (for pyramid). Here are some of the main features of the gridNavigation component:

  • Display thumbnails of images, SWFs or movie clips in a grid or pyramid like layout
  • Built-in blur effect for smooth transitions from low res to high res content
  • Layout options: top left, top right, bottom left, bottom right
  • Number of columns and rows can be manually or automatically set when using the grid layout
  • Content, menu items and settings may be defined through XML, Component Inspector or ActionScript
  • Automatically resizes thumbnails and content to desired size
  • Option to use the same or different files for thumbnails and large content
  • Customizable zoom and easing speeds
  • Built-in skinnable preloader for thumbnails and main content
  • Supports all Flash image formats
  • ActionScript events for: onOpen, onOpenComplete, onClose, onCloseComplete
  • Comprehensive ActionScript API
  • Light weight: AS2=20Kb, AS3=32kb

Despite it being a purely grid-type interface, it allows a fairly impressive degree of customization. You can change the easing and zooming speed of the animation, specify thumbnails, external SWFs or movie clips as both thumbnail or full sized view. You can add images, SWFs or movie clips through the component inspector, or by XML or ActionScript for more dynamic data.

gridNavigation is perfect for those planning to create a photo gallery, video gallery or even as a cool interface to navigate through a whole site. With gridNavigation allowing you to create highly customizable and professional looking grid interfaces – this is definitely a must for a web designer’s arsenal of tricks.

gridNavigation costs $44.95 for the ActionScript 2 or ActionScript 3 versions, or $54.95 for AS2+AS3, with an option for a $10 upgrade from the AS2 to the AS3 edition.

Disclosure: The above article is a sponsored review published upon request by Flashloaded

Originally posted on January 13, 2008 @ 5:26 pm

Filed Under: Reviews, Software Tagged With: flash, Reviews, Software

Adobe releases Flash Player 11.1 for Android

April 7, 2023 By 901am

Adobe announced that it has released the newest version of its Flash Player for the Android mobile operating system. The new version, 11.1, now supports Android’s version 4.0 (also known as Ice Cream Sandwich) of its popular operating system. The new update is now available for download from the Android Market. Alongside the new Flash Player version, Adobe also announced that it will be releasing a new version of Adobe Air – version 3.1. Adobe Air is a crucial part of the Adobe offerings because it allows various Flash-employed apps to be brought to various platforms. [Read more…]

Originally posted on December 20, 2011 @ 8:14 am

Filed Under: Android Tagged With: Adobe, Android, flash, Flash player, Mobile

Flash Not Yet Included in Ice Cream Sandwich

April 7, 2023 By 901am

One of the come-ons for the Android operating system is support Adobe Flash, much to the delight of people who love playing Farmville on Facebook. Adobe Flash support is one factor that makes people decide to get an Android smartphone or tablet instead of an Apple device. But with the upcoming Ice Cream Sandwich, the newest version of the Android mobile OS, Flash won’t be included yet. [Read more…]

Originally posted on November 21, 2011 @ 12:26 pm

Filed Under: Android Tagged With: Adobe, Android, flash, Ice Cream Sandwich

Adobe to Stop Development of Flash for Mobile

April 7, 2023 By 901am

Adobe will not be supporting Flash for mobile anymore.

This was inadvertently revealed through a memo sent to analysts. The memo was acquired by ZDNet. In the memo, Adobe mentioned that development of Flash for mobile browsers will be effectively stopped and all efforts will be refocused on developing for HTML 5. The rumor became an actual reality when Adobe officially announced that it will indeed stop development of Flash for mobile devices saying that moving forward, HTML 5 is the best solution for “creating and deploying content” across different mobile platforms. [Read more…]

Originally posted on November 10, 2011 @ 8:34 am

Filed Under: Announcement, Web applications Tagged With: Adobe, Apple, flash, HTML 5

Adobe Flash 11 and its future

April 7, 2023 By 901am

In a few weeks Adobe will be releasing both the Adobe Flash Player 11 and Adobe Air to the market. Adobe has been advertising the new products as being significantly more powerful than previous versions, even going so far as describing it as a game console for the web. Adobe claims that the increase in graphics is almost 1,000 times faster than the previous version of Flash Player and Adobe Air.

But Adobe, as any tech savvy person knows, is also caught in a fight for its survival. Even though Flash Player and Adobe Air are quite commonly installed in PCs, Apple has removed Flash from the iOS platform and also on Macs. And another sign that does not bode well for Adobe is the recent announcement by Microsoft that the new version of Internet Explorer that will be included with the forthcoming Windows 8 Metro environment will not be supporting browser plugins – the entry point for Flash in a browser.

With slowly shrinking support and the threat being posed by HTML 5, will Adobe’s Flash still have a future especially in a post-PC age?
If Adobe will be asked, the company thinks that Flash still has a bright future for it. It has already called Flash Player 11 and also Air 3 the “next generation for the web”. This is quite a lofty claim. [Read more…]

Originally posted on September 23, 2011 @ 8:50 am

Filed Under: Features, Web, Web applications Tagged With: Adobe, Adobe AIR, flash, HTML 5

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