There is a lot of talk going on about which is better, flash or html5 so we thought we’d take this opportunity to shed some light on the debate. First we will start on the flaws of each format and what we’ve done to bypass them

FLAWS OF FLASH:
* not supported across all platforms (ipad, phone, etc)
* not SEO friendly
* outdated

Our hybrid flash sites suffer from none of these flaws We have come up with a unique system that shows a beautiful presentation site in flash to visitors, while displaying a basic html site full of your content when a search engine is viewing the site. This means that as far as SEO is concerned your site IS html and all pages/content are crawlable – all without losing the professional feel of flash! We have also built two mirror sites that can accompany your template. This is even better then straight html because the mirror sites are designed specifically for the device. The IPad mirror site has special code to utilize the swipe functionality that has made IPads popular. The phone mirror site offers an easily navigated quick loading site to allow your clients to see your information quickly while on the move. Lastly the ‘flash is outdated’ argument usually is referencing flash for online video gaming, or the old school flash header look of websites. Our sites are designed by professionals to highlight your images in a multimedia presentation. Since your clients are most likely going through and looking through all the photographers in the area it is important to leave a lasting impression with your website images. When debating about the format of a site we recommend asking yourself which site a non-photographer would find more stunning and impressionable.

FLAWS OF HTML5:
* not fully supported across all browsers
* can display differently in different browsers
*  Not as visually impressive and professional as flash

First, there are still some issues with cross-compatibility with HTML5, specifically, when playing media such as videos and music. We have done extensive testing and are including flash based players as backups to play the media when html5 is not fully supported.  We have also done extensive testing and have created workarounds to ensure the site appears the same in all browsers. Lastly, we have been working for months to develop the perfect front-end system that utilizes html5, javascript, and advanced css to ensure we could deliver an html product that did not lose the professional presentation value our flash templates offer. We have included elegant animations, advanced sizing code (so the site can grow and shrink with the browser), and much more to accomplish a professional look and feel to help your html site stand out from countless others your clients are bound to experience within their search for the perfect photographer. We have also included some features such as the ability to share and pin images to allow your site to integrate with the social networking world of today.

BENEFITS OF OUR HYBRID FLASH TEMPLATES:
* beautiful high-end presentation of your images
*  as SEO friendly as html sites
* mirror sites designed specifically for the ipad/phone to give your user a truly unique experience
* built in client proofing

BENEFITS OF OUR HTML5 TEMPLATES:
* new features and more social networking integration
* ability to upload  custom fonts
* beautiful animation and presentation so it doesn’t feel like an outdated html site
* SEO friendly
* free updates for bug fixes and new features

As you can see you cannot go wrong with either portfolio website product. We recommend choosing based on the template design you like, which features fit your needs better, and of course going with whatever format you personally find more appealing. 

STEP 1: CREATE THE TREASURE MAP PAPER

To create the paper I did a lot of research online. I found the following to be the way to create the most realistic paper out of all the methods I tried.
1. On a regular white piece of paper print the look of the map you’d like. For this I went into photoshop and created a parchment paper graphic layer. I then went online and found some free hand-sketched pirate drawings of ships, pirates, and treasures that were free for non-commercial use. Once I created a really cool looking graphic I printed full bleed on the paper.

2. I pre-heated the oven to 225 degrees and took out 2 shallow pans.

3. I used heated black coffee and two hot tea bags  (blackberry and wildberry) sitting in small cups with some hot water.

4. I placed a piece of the printed paper face down into the first shallow pan and painted it with the tea bags (using the bags) and coffee (using a brush) until every part of the paper was covered. I let some drops of the coffee/tea remain for a few seconds before wiping and distributing to make a little more realistic of a look.

5. I then took some vegetable oil and painted it on sparingly. This oil will make certain spots look a little see through and more like old fashioned paper

5. Once covered with coffee/tea I took the piece of paper and placed it into the second pan and put it in the oven at 225 degrees for roughly 2-4 minutes (checking every once in a while) until it looked fairly dry.

6. I then tore away the edges and took out a lighter and burned around all the edges.

one of the treasure map clues

STEP 2: FIGURING OUT THE HUNT CLUES

After I figured out the way to do the paper to my liking I needed to plan for the hunt itself. At the lake we get to drive down on the beach and camp anywhere so I needed to come up with clues that allowed for any location along the beach. I also wanted something that had a little challenge to it that ensured they would want to find all the clues. At the bottom of each clue I wrote a number. When they got the map they had to add all those numbers together to get how many steps it was to the buried treasure.  This is what I came up with:

Clue 1: This clue I told them I have found and told them the location:
you are close to my treasure
I’d hate for it to go to waste
but be careful matey
this is a challenge you’ve never faced

There is a map in the end
but first for the clues
collect all of them
or the treasure you’ll lose

Each clue contains a number
which helps find the treasure
you’ll need to get them all
in order to measure…

the first clue is hidden
near one of the tables
get low to uncover it
if you are able

Clue 2: They found this clue slightly buried underneath the table
Your smarts are impressive
the clue you have found!
the next clue needs a giant
for its high off the ground

grab a tall giant
you will need him to reach
for the next clue is hanging
off a pole on the beach

Reading the clue while Rusty looked up to inspect where the clue was hidden

Clue 3: After they grabbed a tall adult they were able to reach the clue hidden in the poles of the EZ-Up.
you have succeeded
in finding the clue
attached is a magic crane
here’s what you have to do

 find 10 cranes
hidden around here
give them to the bearded wiseman,
he will have the next clue there

Rusty showing the cranes he had found

reading the clue

Clue 4: After they found the 10 origami cranes we hid in the ‘skeleton forest’  they handed them to my Dad who gave them the next clue.
you are proving wise
now grab the swords to prepare
go to tree where the flag flies
and beware of the scare
that is where the map lies
and I have left a pirate guardian there

When they were finding the cranes my husband went to a far tree and hung a big pirate flag. They were given each a sword (a blow up snake sword from Amazon) and proceeded to the tree to defeat the guardian pirate (my husband who had a pirate sword and hat) who was holding the treasure map.

righting off the pirate guardian

Success, they've got the map!

STEP 3: THE TREASURE

The night before the treasure hunt we went out and buried the treasure box in the sand. The next day when the kids weren’t around I took out one of my spare sheets of treasure map paper I made and drew the map to where we buried it from where they would fight the pirate guardian.  One thing we will improve upon for next time is being a little more exact with where we buried the treasure. The kids had to dig in a fairly large radius from the amount of steps they took to find it

The treasure map

digging for the treasure!

Opening the treasure box

For everyone else, our company server is also being migrated. When the DNS changes start propagating there is a chance we will lose some emails or tickets. If you do not hear from us within 24 hours please contact us again.

In the next few days we will be working on migrating your services to a new server. The copy over will begin Thursday, April 26th and they have told us it will be complete by Friday, April 27th.

How this will affect you:

1) There will not be downtime for your site. We will not be migrating accounts during high traffic times and your site will remain up on the current server while the domains propagate to the new server.

2) The IP address for your server will change. This means the temp link you were given in your welcome email, if it has a series of numbers in it, will not work. To edit your site you should be using the following format: http://www.yourdomainname.com/sitezadmin

3) This IP address change will affect any third party programs you are using on our server, such as machforms or blogsites. If these stop working after the migration please make sure to contact us at support@portfoliositez.com and we will fix it for you. Please DO NOT attempt to fix it yourself as these changes can be difficult and often create larger issues if you do not know what you are doing.

4) We recommend not making any changes to your site during the migration. If changes are made to your site during the migration they will not appear when the domains propagate to the new server and you will need to make those changes again.

We will be updating the News area of our support (http://portfoliositez.com/support/index.php?_m=news&_a=view) with the progress of the migration. Look for “Sitezhosting5.com Migration,” “Sitezhosting6.com Migration,” or “Sitezhosting9.com Migration” for information on your move. There you will find when we started the migration, when it was finished and what your new IP address is.

If you have any questions or concerns about the move please email us at support@portfoliositez.com. Thanks!