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Posted by Neo Geshel on 04/24/07 05:47
Jim Comfort wrote:
> I'm trying to figure out an alternative to splash pages, and I thought I
> remembered my html instructor mention a way to add an image to the top of
> the main page, I believe in the header, to make the photo display for a few
> seconds, then load the main page. Is this do-able? I'd like to use a
> photo with some text saying "welcome...come on in" then see my index.html
> file load without compromising search engine integrity on my web site.
What might work better is a full-screen layout that is *very* quick-loading.
Have a very fast-loading (<10kb) “splash screen” in a layer that floats
above everything else, and covers the entire screen. Make sure that the
formatting is completely CSS-based, and that the CSS is inline (so
external CSS files don’t have to be loaded just for it).
Since it would exist directly after the body element (warning: this
promotes poor semantics and poor page structure), it loads first. Since
it loads first and loads fast, people see it fast.
Then, once the page has loaded, Javascript (called by the page.onload,
and perhaps with an x-second delay added) causes that top layer to fade
away, revealing your proper site beneath.
Benefits:
• Small (<10kb) splash screen provides almost instant gratification
for those people who always wonder “is it *really* loading, or...?”.
• Full-screen layout prevents people from being distracted by the rest
of the page loading in (and clicking on something that isn’t ready to be
clicked on yet).
• Javascript delay between page.onload and fade gives visitors on very
fast connections at least a few seconds to view the splash screen before
it fades.
Drawbacks:
• Javascript-based fade. If JS is turned off, splash screen will not
fade, forever hiding your site’s front page behind it.
• Most cellphones do not have JS, many handhelds don’t either.
• A slow loading site may also cause the splash screen to stay up for
a very long time (since the JS fade is called by the page.onload). Best
to have an on-splash-screen “page loading in background” caption, sotto
voice).
• This kind of a splash screen promotes poor semantics and poor page
structure. Ideally, the first major semantic element (aside from div)
after the body element *should* be an h1 element holding the title of
the page, not some splash screen doohickey.
I hope this helps.
...Geshel
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