Oh boy where do i start... I have a website that i would like to start developing: http://supercaralley.com the script is already installed, and it think it will do exactly what i want. However, the design is butt ugly and i have a flash template that i have choosen that i want to intergrate into. Currently the template has a flash header and a html body, but i want to make the body full interactive flash and has all the opertaions flow on one page (the home page). I know it is somewhat simple to relay mySQL to a php file to a flash movie, but the stuff i want intergrated (basically the entire website above minus the design) is somewhat complicated, and i have barely started on developing flash projects. Would you guys reccomend me learn how to do this? Or will my head explode with all the advanced coding? In a perfect world, i would just outsource this project to a professional and pay the 4 to 5 figure cost, but i have limited funds, of which most has to go into marketing the site when its done. So basically what im asking, is should i take on this project by myself or am i way too far over my head on this?
I'm a huge proponent of flash (certified developer), but I'd serious consider against doing an entire site in flash. It makes it harder to maintain and extremely difficult to SEO. They both can be done, but you have to be in it for the long haul.
nsmchris said it exactly correct. I would never ever do a whole site in flash. The best thing to do IMO is to use flash elements on your site in places that will help make it more appealing. Such as your main page for the banner and another little something that you want more attention directed towards. Maybe the menu as well. Also, flash can be 'read' and spidered by search engines (at least google) for seo. But it is no where as efficient as html.