| On Splash Screens |
by Ross Mclean, 10/08/04
If you search the internet for Excel + Splash Screens, you'll pull up quite a few sites give advice and examples on how to add a splash screen to your excel code. The most prevalent reason as to why you should add one is "too give you app a professional looking finish".
I'm suggesting that you DON'T use splash screens.
There is, as far as I can tell, one, and one only; reason for a splash screen: Keeping the user informed that a programme is loading.
Most modern computers will load excel apps in a few seconds, so unless you have developed a real monster application, you have to ask yourself - Do I really need a splash screen?
You see the thing is that splash screens can cause a lot of bother. They increase the load time of apps, get in the way of multitasking - in Excel, you run the risk of the app not loading at all if the Excel Application loses the focus (at-least this has happen to me with excel 97). And users don’t like them that much, just take a look at this article: http://www.infoworld.com/pageone/opinions/foster/ef042996.htm
So maybe we all need to take a step back and say, "I know it will look nice, but, will it help my user?, and do I really need to included it?"
But hang on a minute, what if my programme does take a while to load, what then? Well now you have a case for using a splash screen. Or at least you have a responsibility to keep the user informed of what's happening. You see there are alternatives to out and out splash screens. Why not display a worksheet that tells the user what's going on? You can even updated this dramatically as the program loads, sure use progress bars if you must, but just keep it discreet and nested in the Excel Application.
Ultimately the choice is yours, but just bear in mind, who are you adding that splash screen for, you, or the user?
Related links:
More on splash screens
http://www.infoworld.com/pageone/opinions/foster/ef032596.htm
Workbook based splash screen
Userform based splash screen - Fancy!
Userform based Splash screen - basic
Access methods for splash screen
MS Access methods and ideas using user profiles to manage splash screens.
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