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Assigning Links Using Flash

To add some interactivity to the Flash animated part of your web design template you should add some links to the Flash objects.
To assign links to your Flash template's buttons and text using Macromedia Flash you should first launch Flash and open the FLA file. For details, you can refer to Opening FLA File.
Here I will tell you how to assign links to your Flash template's buttons and text.
Assign links to buttons:
When the FLA file is opened in Flash, locate the button that you wish to assign a link to. To do this, drag the Playhead (the small pink rectangle) at the top of the Timeline to the right until you see the button on the stage. Invisible buttons appear light blue in the screen, but are not visible at all in the .swf movie displayed in your web pages.
Tips: Make sure the symbol's layer is not locked. If a layer is locked, click once on its padlock icon to unlock it.
A thin blue border appears around the object when it is selected, and Properties panel will display what type of symbol it is:

Symbol Behavior
If the Properties panel appears as pictured above, then you are ready to edit the button.
With the Button still selected, open the Actions panel if it isn't already open. (F9 key, or from the top menu, Window>Actions.)
Now you must see Actions-Button at the top of Action Panel, type the script like follows in it:
on (release) {
getURL("your_url_here");
}
Tips: You can type your entire URL enclosed in quotation marks " ". Never forget parentheses () or your link will not function.
Actually getURL function accepts three arguments: URL, window type and variables send method. Window type argument specifies the window new URL will be opened in. It will be opened in the same window if you don't fill window type. If you want to open it in a new window, use "_blank" argument. Variables send method should be used if you are parsing some variables through URL string. Available options are "GET" and "POST". Here is an example of calling index page with "item" variable with "5" value in the new window using GET method:
on (release) {
getURL("http://mysite.com/index.php?item=5", "_blank", "GET");
}
Assign links to text:
If you wish to assign links to text, select text using Text Tool. Go to Properties Panel, press "Ctrl+F3" if you can't see it. At the very bottom of that panel you'll see URL input box. Just fill it with your URL.

URL Input Box
If, however, the Properties Panel displays something other than the text, such as Movie Clip, you must go further inside the symbol to edit the text. Here, you can see the text "more" which the cursor directs to is inside a movie clip.

Movie Clip
To do so, double-click movie clip on the stage with the selection tool. Flash will display the Movie Clip's timeline instead of the main timeline.

Main Timeline of Movie clip
Click once on the object on the screen with Text tool, then you can assign links to text in properties panel.
Now, if you finish your modification, it's time to publish your Flash movie. Here with detailed instructions and tips about it.
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