We have created the ultimate menu navigation solution for Flash Web Sites that can be used by both beginners and power users.

In the following I will guide you through the main features of this amazing Flash component:

• Easy & Intuitive flash-like user interface

• Contextual help

• 100 % customizable

• Ready to be used just out of the box

• Easy to define menu structure ( visually or by XML)

• Easy skinning & styling

• Integrated Preview Mode

• Over 30 skin and over 35 effects

To get started, we have to Drag and Drop the component on stage. The component can be found in the Component Panel under Extend Components folder. To open the Components Panel press CTRL+F7 or select Components from the Window Menu

The interface will open with the General Tab selected which holds the general parameters that configure the menu. If you're using one of the built in skins you can have the menu set up just by filling in the parameters on the General tab. The other tabs will be automatically filled in with the default values for the selected skin.

Because it uses a Flash-like user interface it feels like it’s totally integrated with Flash. The Creative FL Drop Down Menu component is designed to be compliant with our Plug & Play standard so the learning curve is almost instant.

At EXTEND we know how it feels to need an answer fast; because of this we have implemented an additional help system. The contextual help system gives you answers when you need them just by moving the mouse over the controls.

The interface is further organized in 5 tabs, providing you unlimited customizability options.

• Layout Tab: holds the positioning and sizing parameters for the menu items and submenu items ( alignments, spacing, margins, minimum dimensions, button resizing options and others )
• Animation Tab: holds the parameters which will help you define the button and submenu animations. You can choose from more than 35 transition effects and set the duration for each of these effects.
• Text Tab: this tab gathers all the information needed to set up the text held in the menu buttons. You can set: font, size, style & color, alignments, spacing and margins.
• Presets Tab: You can use the Presets Tab to save your menu configuration as a preset so that you can reuse it at a later time.

If you're using one of the built in skins you can have the menu set up just by filling in the parameters on the General tab. The other tabs will be automatically filled in with the default values for the selected skin.

Defining the menu structure is a very easy job (simple & intuitive) and can be done in two ways. One way is to click on the “Edit Menu Structure”which will open a panel where you can add as many menu items  as you want. The “>” is used to define a submenu item.
The second way is to define your menu structure using a XML File.

The component gives the ability to change the color, size, font settings, margins and many more. Also you are able to change the entire look of the Creative FL Drop Down Menu using custom made skins that only require you to create a Movie Clip for each part of the menu ( background, button, etc…)

Clicking on the “Preview Mode” button will open a preview system that will save you time. Using it there is no need to publish the flash movie to see the menu changes made in the authoring environment. Now you can work directly in preview mode where you can edit your menu (menu structure, colors, effects, fonts …) and click the update button to see the changes.

There are over 30 built in skins to choose from, including web 2.0 styles and with one click you can choose one of the 35 effects for transition between button states and for show/hide submenu.