Exclusively Dance's Slideshow

This page introduces you to the slideshow and enables you to better evaluate this solution. Please review this material, go to the Exclusively Dance Test Site and give it a try.

What's cool about this is that your visitors don't need to wait for the photographs to cycle through. Visitors can take control and interact with your photos, making it a more enjoyable experience for them.

The Basics

Figure 1 shows the slideshow controls: Menu, Thumbnails and Player Controls. The Player Controls are straight-forward and will not be covered here. If you have any questions about the Player Controls, please let me know.

The Menu and Thumbnail options operate as a "toggle"; that is, you select the option (i.e., click on it with your mouse) and something appears . Then you select the same option again and what appeared before, disappears.

Now, let's try an example

Select (click on) the menu button.
You'll see a menu appear that takes you to any page on your Web site.
Select the menu button again. What happens? The menu should disappear.

Nothing to it! Now, let's build on what we've learned.

Select the thumbnail button.
You'll see a preview panel of thumbnails. Notice how your images are grouped in sets: Set 1 = Images Nikolai and Tatiana together; Set 2 = Images of Tatiana only; Set 3 = Images of Nikolai only; and Set 4 = Images of anything you want!

Now, let's play with this panel.

The Thumbnail Panel

Exercise 1: Moving the panel around

You can move this panel anywhere you want on this page. Try it by touching your mouse's arrow to the header portion of the panel.

Notice how your mouse pointer changes?

When you notice this change, push the left-mouse button down and drag the panel where you want it to go. When you get the panel is in its desired location, release the mouse button.

Exercise 2: Changing the image in the preview panel

Set 1 is open and displays the pictures of Nikolai & Tatiana. Simply click on one of the images in the set. What happens? The Preview Panel contains the image you selected. You're in control.

Exercise 3: Playing with the different sets

To open a new set, simply select the panel (Set) you want. For instance, if I want to see Nikolai's pictures, I would click on the panel (Set 3) that says Nikolai. What happens?

You should see the panels smoothly change, with Set 1 closing and Set 3 opening.

Features and Limitations

Now that you're an expert at operating this slideshow :-), here are some things to consider: Features and Limitations

The slideshow controls must remain; however, I can change the colors and fonts along with their "look and feel."
Images can have links; that is, visitors can click on them and do some of the following: Go to another Web page or send you an e-mail.
Each photo has room for a caption and a lot of room for a description.

Anyway, that's enough for starters. Please take a look at this slideshow and let me know what you think.
Take care,
—bruce.