I have seen this question many times, on many forums and blogs throughout the web and have at one time pondered the same question for my own projects. As far as I know, at this time, there is no way to wrap a flash animation with html code to make it a click able link, but if you have Adobe flash and a couple minutes you can complete the task.
This method is for files using Actionscript 2.0, not 3.0. Abobe changed the code in 3.0 to be about 5 times longer and 5 times more confusing. These steps will still work with 3.0 if you have the correct action script code for steps 11 and 12 though.
on(release){
getURL("page.htm", "_self"); }
Now you can go to Control>>Test Movie and see that you new movie is now clickable. What we basically did was create a transparent button on top of our animation and made that a clickable link with the on(release) action script code.
If you have another way to accomplish this task or have the action script code for 3.0, leave a comment below with the details!
on (release) {
getURL (“http://www.domainname.com/”, “_blank”);
}
this is the right script in a url-button
I tried to do something similar to this using two separate buttons (one that covers the whole image and another that is entered on a “click here” button) that go to two different urls. Trouble is, whenever I load a page with the animation, both urls also open immediately without waiting to be clicked. I’m beating my head on a wall to figure out what I did wrong.
Thanks a million! I’ve hunted like a Diogenes for a way to do this, and this is the only one that worked for me, and it’s also the simplest!!!
Great! I am glad it worked easily for you Daniel. Adding a link is such a key thing we add to our flash videos, but for some reason their are not many tutorials on how to do it! Thanks for the comment Daniel and I hope to see you back around here again.
Hi,
I’m a beginner with Flash. I’m having troubles with creating a couple of buttons that link to different URLs. Everytime I add the actionscript in, the rest of the animations go funny (the stop actionscript on the other animations don’t work) and I get a syntax error. Any ideas?
Please help…
Andrew, if you’re getting a syntax error from simply adding the above code, my first guess would be that you are using actionscript 3.0. The OnRelease getURL code will only work with actionscript 2.0.
If that isn’t the problem, you may want to try the creative cow forums http://forums.creativecow.net/. It is a great resource to look for help on problems like this one.
Hope that helps a bit! Thanks for stopping by!
Ditto to the above comments.
Thanks SO much for supplying an easy yet hard-to-find answer to a very common question.
Cheers, PH
@Peter H – Glad to hear it was helpful!
Thanks a million!!!
Was scouring the net for an easy and comprehensible tutorial to do this seemingly simple task, and yours is the best! :D
Thanks :D
Hi there,
also new to as – I have followed your instruction to the tee (trying to link my flash file to a URL) but I keep getting 1087: Syntax error: extra characters found after end of program.
@ isobel – Usually this error code happens when there is a missing opening or closing bracket like this {
You might want to double check your code to see if a bracket is missing. Hope that helps!
Adobe Flash CS3 Professional doesn’t even let me copy and paste the clickable code on the button when I press F9 (Actions) and consider the code as an when I export the video:( Can anyone help?
The errors are :
1-Mouse events are permitted only for button instances
on(release);
…and I can’t even add the damn button in the Action options!!!
2-Syntax Errors
getURL(“http://light.cvgrenier.com/menu.html”, “_self”);
Hi there i read the comments they were very useful but i am having a different problem i am trying to link my html file to a button and i entered this code in actions:
on(release){
getURL(“G:\E safety DIDA\E-portfolio\plan.html”,”_self”);
}
and when i click the button it says
No web page was found for the web address: file:///G:/%20safety%20DIDA/-portfolio/lan.html
so please help me please reply fast.
thanks
Great, it workst, been looking for something like this for ages.
thanks a lot
May u live long Buddy!!! thanks a bunch
Thanks so much for that link info, but as a Flash newbie I have one more question. When I go into F9 for actions… is the only link option a URL code? I’m building a new website and trying to link my flash animation to another page within my site, so when I use the URL code and test it, its trying to find an existing web page that right now doesnt exist other than on my computer. Hopefully this question makes sense to you! Actually I see someone else posted a similar issue, but I don’t see an answer from you, so I hope you can share your expertise with me as well!
Thanks!
I am trying to link my flash animation to another page within my site. I used your URL code in Actions, but when I test it since my URL doesnt exist (this particular web page has not been uploaded yet to the server) I obviously get an error message that the page doesnt exist. If I am simply trying to link to another page on my website, is there any other code besides that URL I can use in Flash Actions to link my animation?
Thanks
Hi-
I am pulling my hair out trying to make my simple flash file link to a URL and nothing I have tried will work. I am following the directions as stated above but I can’t get it to work.
I am making a transparent box on the top layer of my file, making it a movie clip or button and adding the code
on (press){
getURL(“http://www.trimergence.com/staging/news.html”);
}
or
on (release){
getURL(“http://www.trimergence.com/staging/news.html”);
}
The action says it has no errors, but when I export the move, my cursor turns to a hand but goes no where when I click. Any thoughts?
Hi Joanna,
My first guess would be that your flash file is using Actionscript 3.0 and not 2.0. The on(release) method only works in Actionscript 2.0.
The page here does a good job of explaining the changes in 3.0. It’s a bit more complicated then a simple on(release), but isn’t drastically harder to implement.
Hey,
I made a clip in Aftereffects, then I exported it to .xlf and made what you said on your post. But I get a 1086 syntax error expecting semicolon before leftbrace, and yes I wrote it using AC 1.0 & 2.0