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Flash - Scrolling Menus

Free Flash Tutorial

Step One: Create a Menu

A menu usually consists of a series of buttons. It does not matter if it is the same button repeated many times, each with its own individual label or a series of unique buttons.

In my movie I have a series of 10 unique buttons in a long line.

1. Create a number of buttons.
   
   Note: It is important that these buttons are not on stage but contained inside a movie clip:
   
   Cross Ref: To learn how to create buttons see beginners tutorial: Creating Simple Buttons
   
2. Go to: Insert > New Symbol
   Name: Menu MC
   Behavior: Movie Clip
   
3. Open your Library: Window > Library
4. Drag the buttons out of your library and place them on Stage.
5. Place them in a long line.
   
   
   A line of buttons inside Menu MC.
   
   Tip: Use the Align pallet to space them out: Window > Align
   If the Align to Stage button is highlighted objects will Align to stage. With this selected click the Align Vertical centre to get them in a straight line.
   Deselect the Align to Stage button and click the Space Vertically button . The buttons on both the left and right will say in position while all the others will spread out evenly.
   
   
6. Click the tab to go back to the main stage.

The Edge of the Stage
You cannot place many buttons in a line before you get to the edge of the work area. If you need more buttons than space you will need to nest Movie Clips within Movie Clips. Each successive Movie clip goes off the edge of the previous one. It is a bit like overlapping cards except they are inside one another.

If you are not used to nesting this is not easy and as of yet I have not written a tutorial on how to do this but you can download the file below to look how it is done:

Example: Download the Flash file Int 114c


The menu is longer than Flash's work area so the Movie Clips are nested.