Pop up windows??? Yes or NO

[Urbansory]

Before I get too far into my latest site I was wondering how everyone feels about pop up windows(Small pop up browser windows). This will be used to display a larger image in my portfolio, or find more information that would be better delivered in a new small window.

[Urbansory]

Sorry there is NO WORKING EXAMPLE AT THIS TIME, maybe 1-21-01

[DigitalOne]

Ask this query in the boardroom, there, the pros will be happy to critique this!

[8minus8]

hey Urbansory.
i went and moved your thread to the board room

personally i don't mind pop-up windows if they are used sparingly. i've used them before. but i can't stand it when a site i go to has a window popping up for every link. what you are speaking of i've done before. realize that by using one you are taking your user away from your site by one level. perhaps making a slide show in a pop-up window. i understand how having the bigger image in your site can take away from your design. that's when pop-up windows become necessary.
hth.

[FlashGuru]

Pop-up menus' have to be the most off-putting thing i can see on a flash site!

[DigitalOne]

Originally posted by FlashGuru
Pop-up menus' have to be the most off-putting thing i can see on a flash site!

I see your point, Guy... but, what if it is ABSOLUTELY neccessary, take, for instance, a site that utilises white space around it, and if not in a pop-up it is UGLY, what do you say then?

[CNO]

Originally posted by DigitalOne
I see your point, Guy... but, what if it is ABSOLUTELY neccessary, take, for instance, a site that utilises white space around it, and if not in a pop-up it is UGLY, what do you say then?

I personally feel it hard to justify a pop-up being ABSOLUTELY necessary... I think a site, particularly one designed in Flash, if designed well should be able to scale to any screen resolution without losing too much.

I find it even more ugly when I have a small 300x400 window floating around my 1280x1024 screen, and I can't even resize the window if I wanted to. They usually take too much control away from the user, and are generally not justified except for to standardize a size or justify the use of bitmaps - all which should be able to be taken into account by pro designers.

[FlashGuru]

If it were to utilise the whitespace around it then yes, otherwise ifit was a flashsite then i would like to see the site as a whole, not in peices, pop-ups here and there!

[Urbansory]

Well after some very helpful information I will try and design a portfolio that can remain inside the flash site somehow. Thanks for the feedback.

[FlashGuru]

Note however these are our opinions, if you want your side to be your own work, then take it upon yourself to make the right choice, dont take our word for it

Hope all goes well

[GreatGooglyWoogly]

As with anything, you can use pop-up windows IF you use them correctly. Don't go poping every link in its own new window - that gets annoying.
But, if you pop a single window for your flash site, then I think that is ok. You can get rid of that pesky Back button that doesn't work with flash. BUT, leave a full control browser window open behind your pop'd window so if your user closes your window, they still have a fully functional browser. My 2c...

[jelve]

I think that popups are really only justified when they are displaying 'standalone' portfolio pieces. An example is a 'visit the site' link to let the viewer see another site you've created in a specific sized window without leaving your own site. Working everything else into one main Flash presentation seems more coherent than popping numerous windows. I've looked at a few sites where, by the time you're finished, you've got 10 or more separate windows open.

[karnak]

I think pop-ups should ultimately be viewed as an easy end..
it takes alot more to create something more all-inclusive. The problem of presenting different pages of content on a flash site, to me, is the biggest challenge I can think of, as a flash designer at least!!
As jelve already noted, pop-ups only really make sense when viewing "individual" items. What good are transitions then?
To me it's part of the enjoyment one can take from a flash site that you cannot take from an html site, or even the best dhtml stuff out there (up to this point, at least) is the great transition work people do! The stuff that joen does (turtleshell) is an obvious and good example. I think if you use pop-ups you might as well use html. :P

[phooka]

I personally love pop-ups. But I suppose the reason is that I dislike working with HTML, so I never make the HTML / swf binomy site. I want my pop-up to close completely the swf I make. And I want the user to feel obliged to use my navigation, and not the browser navigation.

I see popup like standalone applications, and they should include everything that is needed for a correct surfing experience.

So IMHO, yes all the way!

Regards,

[Urbansory]

I will try and keep it inside the Flash, but if the design becomes to cluttered, then I will have to consider pop ups.

[Subway]

There's one good reason to use pop-ups, cause if you have different parts like some flash experimentals you loose a lot of speed if you use LoadMovie to embed it into your main site.

[agent vivid]

i will be using popups sparingly in the site that i'm desigining now, and i think i will use them the right way... tell me what you think...

it is a legal website and it has a password protected section, and i feel that having this section popup in a different window is fine, if not expected... it will create a good feeling for those who have the password, imho... they 'get' something that everyone else doesn't...

also, the website is to showcase the talents of 3 attorneys, among other things, so i was thinking of doing 3 popups for the attorney's bio pages... these windows will have their own navigations... i want them to be simple yet effective... obviously, the user selects which one to view from the main site... what do you think??? is this an overuse of the popup???

btw: i agree 100% that popups should only be used when necessary... far too often, while surfing the web, i hit a site that pops up multiple windows... usually with ads in them... and i IMMEDIATELY close them... i'm sure many others do the same thing...