Link Flash Buttons to Web Pages

This is simple stuff compared to doodling apps and platform games, but no less vital if that's what the job requires. Here I give a brief intro to making Flash link to external URLs.

We can often think of Flash as creating standalone apps that talk only internally, but sometimes there is a need for your Flash work to link to external web pages, either because you are making a Flash menu for a website, or because you want your Flash based CD ROM interface to link to your website.

Whatever the reason, it's really simple.

Example

In this example I have 2 simple buttons that link to other websites.



Make some buttons

In this example I have a simple button symbol in the Library. I drag 2 instances of the button onto the stage and give each the following instance names: "google_btn" and "bbc_btn".


Then I add the following ActionScript.

The Code

This ActionScript is added to the first keyframe on the root timeline:


_root.bbc_btn.onPress = function () {
    getURL("http://www.bbc.co.uk/","_blank");
}
_root.google_btn.onPress = function () {
    getURL("http://www.google.co.uk/","_blank");
}


How does it work?

Nothing could be simpler. We use a simple onPress event handler, so as soon as the button is pressed the action happens. The action is very easy to follow - we are using getURL and then specifying the URL and the target window.

getURL("http://URL_GOES_HERE","_TARGET_WINDOW_HERE");

And that's a wrap.