• Panel
    • Jonathan Boutelle, CEO of SlideShare
  • SlideShare is built to be the YouTube of PowerPoint
  • Users upload ppt files after a conference and get a flash-version compiled that is share
  • and embed-able worldwide
  • The app uses both Flash and AJAX integrally
  • 1- Play the field
    • You don’t have to choose either AJAX or Flash
    • You might even need both tools
    • Bottom line: pick the best tool for the job, don’t let biases or hype decide which tool you use
  • 2- Keep Flash on a leash
    • Full-screen Flash is a no-no
    • People don’t like 100% flash sites over time
    • Use “Flash nuggets”
    • A less-thought of disadvantage is that search-engines can’t spider Flash apps
    • Flash is bulkier and takes a little longer to load
    • Instead of the bulk of Flash, use the power of HTML already given to us over time
  • 3- Cheap Tricks
    • Things like in-place editing, attention control, in-page messaging to user, tabs
    • In-place editing
      • Show people data in a read-only fashion, with small controls to change the data
      • When they click to edit, change the read-only data to text fields, or some analogous field for your type of data.
      • When done editing change back to read-only and save behind the scenes using AJAX
    • Attention control
      • Show that “something happened” behind the scenes
  • 4- Flash graphic goodies
    • Flash is the best for things like embedding fonts, heavier animation, vector graphics, etc.
  • 5- Flash multimedia
  • 6- Widgets
    • Choosing the Flash or JS version of a widget depends on what effect on the page you want to have
    • Flash tends to be more noticeable, JS tends to integrate into the page better
  • 7- Cool Flash features that aren’t useful
    • Sockets
    • more pro’s choose an HTTP hack to keep the session open. Used by GTalk and Meebo
    • Local Data Objects
    • not a lot of people using them, a cookie-like client storage system
    • FLEX
    • mostly outputs full-screen Flash application replacements

Check out Jonathan’s slides on his SlideShare.