We’ve made some tweaks to the Flash file upload instructions, so all Flash authors please take note! The changes have been made in order to improve our file review/approval process which will help Flash file reviewers review your files even quicker. If we have less files uploaded that have to get rejected, it means we can spend more time approving acceptable files!
New rules will take effect from September 1st, 2008. Please familiarize yourself with the full set of new instructions. Any new files (not already in the queue) uploaded from September 1st that do not meet our new guidelines risk getting rejected. In the meantime, here is a quick overview of the changes:
Above: Name your preview files correctly!
Preview File (Regular, 590px x 300px)
- Your preview SWF MUST always be named “preview.swf”
- Do not link to any external sites. This includes your own personal Web site or any minor or major external site. For example, you cannot link to Google.com or Yahoo.com. If you have to link to an external site to demonstrate functionality, you can only link to Flashden.net pages. You are welcome to link to your own Flashden portfolio if you like.
Preview File (Full Screen)
- For any preview that needs to be displayed larger than 590px wide x 300px high, you MUST provide:
- a preview SWF named “preview.swf”
- your original file in .FLA format
- and an HTML document which MUST be called “index.html” which calls preview.swf.
General Updates/Notifications
- You CANNOT upload PHP, ASP or any type of server side script files to Flashden as part of your preview file. If your preview uses some kind of dynamic server side script, we suggest you stub it
out in the preview (i.e. make it load a static data.xml instead of getting it from
generate_xml_data.php), OR, create a preview that links to an externally
hosted version (on your own site) of the file you are selling.
- In the Comments to Reviewer field, your information will NOT be publicly viewable. It is simply an opportunity for you to communicate any special instructions or image/video/audio licensing notifications to the reviewers. Please state URLs and details for any source images, code, video, audio or other items that you have used in the file, even if you have taken the photographs yourself. Information about source files that you provide here will be used by reviewers to assess whether your file meets FlashDen copyright requirements.
- Ensure any ActionScript, comments and library asset names are in English. Non-English Flash files are not accepted at Flashden and will be rejected.
- Documentation is now required for ALL Flash files. Read our blog post for more information. Your help file can be in TXT, HTML, DOC or PDF format. You can also provide instructions via video, but you will still need to provide written documentation.
- Do not create or upload files in RAR format. If you create a RAR file, it will be rejected. We only accept files in ZIP format.
As always, please let us know if you have any feedback about these changes or perhaps if you have any suggestions or ideas that you would like to see tweaked in our approval process. We may not respond to everything, but we do read through all your cool ideas!
As you may have seen in our latest newsletter, it’s coming up on our birthday in just two days - yep back on August 21st 2006 FlashDen was born!
As they say, it’s always better to give than to receive, so we’re going to celebrate with a week of giving! All authors on FlashDen, AudioJungle and (the upcoming) ThemeForest will automatically earn 50% commisisons all week long regardless of their exclusivity or sales count. So if you’re going to make some big sales, that’s the week to do it in!
It’s our way of saying a big thank you to the authors that make these sites as brilliant as they are! We hope to keep improving and building on them long into the future! I wonder what we’ll be announcing in our twentieth birthday 
The Exact Dates & Times:
Start = 21 Aug 2008 00:00:00 AEST (Australian Eastern Standard Time)
End = 27 Aug 2008 23:59:59 AEST
Rate for everyone, exclusive and non-exclusive during the period = 50%.
Happy Birthday!
EDIT: This competition is now closed. Thanks to all who entered! We’ll be announcing the winners in the next few days.
FITC Seoul is a one-day flash design event featuring seven of the world’s top designers and developers. Among those scheduled to appear are perennial favorites Joshua Davis and Erik Natkze, creative guru Kyle Cooper (Imaginary Forces), Papervision 3D team member Ralph Hauwert, digital storyteller and creative director Euna Seol (PostVisual.com), and from Adobe Richard Galvan and Marcos Weskamp. Simultaneous translations from English to Korean and Korean to English (for Euna Seol’s presentation) will be provided throughout the event.
AND WE’VE GOT TWO TICKETS TO GIVE AWAY!!!!!
All you need to do is win the tickets and get to Korea and you’re on your way to having the Flash experience of a lifetime!
What do you need to do to score this awesome prize? Simply tell us why you’d like to go to FITC Seoul in the comments below. The two best answers will each win one ticket!
Read More …
Flash rival Silverlight in the Spotlight
Microsoft’s Silverlight technology will get the exposure it has been hoping for this month as it will be used by NBC in the United States to deliver their entire video content during the Beijing Olympics. Silverlight will also be used by the Democratic National Convention at the end of August. And, if you’re still not convinced that Flash is about to get some strong competition from Silverlight, MS Silverlight will also be provided video for the forthcoming season of the NFL.
Flash Gaining Traction in the Enterprise
Using Flash to produce Rich Internet Applications (RIAs) has been mentioned in the news quite a lot recently. It appears as though more and more companies are turning to Flash, Flex and Adobe Air to deliver both Web-based and desktop applications. Both InfoWorld and eWeek provide more in-depth commentary.
ActionScript APIs
Here’s a superb collection of resources for AS2 and AS3 application programming interfaces (APIs) for Flash/Flex/AIR designers and programmers.
Why Flash is not available on the iPhone
Media and Technology commentator James Gardiner from the JamieG Analysis gives a lot of valid thoughts and reasons why Steve Jobs is not currently allowing, and probably will not allow Adobe Flash player on the iPhone.
FlyPaper - Simplifying Flash file Maintenance?
Watch out Flash developers! New application FlyPaper, with a $3.5 million investment, aims to assist non-programmers to easily maintain and update Flash content without the need to even touch Adobe Flash. CNET and MarketWatch have the lowdown.
ABC, Easy as 1-2-3
Don’t know your Adobe Air from your Flex? Always mix your Zend Framework with your ZK? Then you need this little refresher course of alphabetized Web technology terms to help you out, courtesy of EnetLive.Net
Search Cloud
Not sure why this is developed in Flash when it does not offer anything more visually dynamic than something that could easily be reproduced in any number of JavaScript based technologies, Search Cloud gives a different slant on the search engine. Type keywords, assign each word a priority, and then search. Be sure to watch the demo video if you get stuck as it’s not as straight forward as one might think!
ActionScript Cheat Sheets
AS3, PaperVision, Flex… All the Flash cheat sheets you could ever want!
Some of the more observant of you may have noticed that starting yesterday some little “Envato Network” widgets began appearing in the top right of both this site and our other blogs and marketplaces. What is Envato? Well it’s our new name!
A lot has happened since this company formed two years ago and as a team we’ve grown a lot and certainly learned a lot. When we came to trademark our company name recently, it turned out that the name Eden was pretty difficult to win a trademark for. About a dozen companies blocked our application in Australia alone! Sheesh Kebab!
While I’m a bit sad to see Eden go, I’m happy to announce that as of today we are rebranding the business under a new name: Envato. Read More …
You’ve heard us alluding to it now and again, and now the time has finally arrived. We’re launching our third marketplace, and today we’re offering out some early Beta invites to authors looking to get some wares up early. Meet ThemeForest.
Read More …
