Splash! tutorial

Plugins

Plugins are extra features that "plug in" to Splash! Many of these plugins come with Splash! and can be accessed from the menu system by selecting PLUGINS => JAVA => USE => type of plugin => plugin name. Plugins can come in many different shapes and sizes but you need not worry about whether they're made with Java or some other language because Splash! uses a wizard interface which asks you a few questions and allows you to drop the plugin object straight onto your canvas, regardless of how the plugin is actually constructed.

For this tutorial, we're going to add a plugin to the front page of our site.

navigate the menu system: PLUGINS => JAVA => USE => TEXT => TINY HORIZONTAL SCROLLER
(The pop-up wizard should indicate to you the nature of the plugin, who wrote it and how many parameters you're going to be entering.)
press Next
enter a line of text to be displayed - type "Today's Special: mopheads 20% off recommended prices"
hit Next
enter a background color - leave it white
(this will be the color of the banner behind the scrolling text)
hit Next
enter a text color - leave it black
hit next
choose a font - for now, Arial (the default font) will be fine
hit Next
choose font size - 12 is a good size - it'll stand out on the page
press Next
enter display speed - leave it at 20
(this will be how fast the text scrolls across the screen)
hit Next
select the Y coordinate - leave it as the default - center
(this will center the scrolling text vertically in the plugin window)
hit Next
select a background image - we won't need one in this case
hit Finish
place the labelled box on your page, under the text
(you won't be able to see the plugin itself until you preview the page in your default browser)
using the blue box in the bottom right hand corner of your selected plugin, stretch the plugin horizontally, and shrink it vertically so it's about a line's-worth of text wide

Preview your page with the plugin inserted. Adjust the shape of the plugin back in Splash! and re-preview the page, or right click on the plugin and edit its parameters until you're happy with the colors, font, size of the lettering and so forth.

More ordinarily you might place the scroll bar at the top of your text to catch people's eye as they load up the page.

The best way to learn how to use plugins is to experiment with them. Try out some of the other plugins included in Splash! to see what they do, or visit the Splash! website to see examples of the plugins in use.

Plugins aren't always made by the Splash! team, often they are made by a third party. The title screen on each plugin wizard should be read carefully and the conditions of use adhered to. The makers were good enough to let us use their work so we should respect their requests.

Tip: Plugins are great because they expand the power of the Splash! environment. However too many plugins on a page can slow download times for your visitors (this means they'll have to wait longer to see it). You should keep this in mind when developing your site and not use too many plugins on the same page.

More plugins can be found in the resources section at the Splash! website.