ActiveDen and Activetuts – New Names, Same Awesome Content
For just over three fantastic years FlashDen has been the jewel in Envato’s crown. It is our longest running and most active community, and thanks to the amazing authors who showcase their work there, has become the largest marketplace for Adobe Flash files in the world with over 8,500 items for sale.
Last week Adobe asked us to change our name and URL so that it would no longer contain the term ‘Flash’, which is a registered trademark of Adobe. We know that the success of our sites is about the community and content, not the names. So here at Envato HQ we’ve been busy thinking up new names and we think we’ve found a great new home for both our marketplace and our Tuts+ blog on Flash.
As of today the two sites now live at ActiveDen and Activetuts+.
The new names amend the use of the word Flash, open us up for adding other technologies and are short and memorable! To kick off the new names I thought I’d round up a few of the best tutorials and items on the sites:
Kick Ass Flash Files – ActiveDen
Without a doubt the leading marketplace for Flash files, ActiveDen has some really popular files. Here are a few of the latest:
Flash Banner Creator & Rotator – $15
Flux Buttons – $4
XML Flip Book / AS3 – $30
Unlimited XML AS3 Template – $35
XML Countdown – $40
Smart PHP Quote/Contact Form – $15
Advanced XML Image Gallery – $20
Dynamic XML Text Scrollbar – $8
Photoshow XML Template – $20
Slick Full Website Template – $40
More Popular Items on ActiveDen
Killer Flash Tutorials – Activetuts+
Though it’s one of our newer Tuts+ sites, Activetuts+ is already brim full of quality Adobe Flash, ActionScript, Air and Flex tutorials and gaining momentum with every passing week. Here’s a few of the standout tutorials:
- Build a Fluid Website Layout
A fluid web layout uses 100% width (and height) of the browser, floating all the contained elements into certain positions. This is opposed to fix-width layout where contents remain fixed no matter what the browser size is… - Create an Attractive Digital Clock in Flash
ActionScript 3.0 is a very powerful language, capable of creating anything from simple and light utilities to full-featured desktop applications… - Build a Mini Golf Game with ActionScript 3.0
In this tutorial I´ll show you how to create nice Mini Golf Game with ActionScript 3.0. We´ll work with Event Handlers, Functions and also the Timer Object which is a really cool feature in AS3… - Build a Dynamic Flash Gallery with Slider Control
In this tutorial, we’ll create a gallery which displays all image files in a given directory. A slider is used to browse easily through the images… - Create a Shuffle Gallery in Flash Using XML and ActionScript 3.0
In this tutorial I’ll explain how to access and use the Display List whilst creating an XML based image gallery with ActionScript 3.0 … - Create a Glowin Mouse Trailer in Flash
Mouse Trailers are objects which follow the mouse cursor as you move it. In this tutorial, I’ll help you create a blue and shiny mouse trailer using ActionScript 3.0 …
More Flash Tutorials on Activetuts+
More About The Change
You can read more about the change on the ActiveDen Blog or on TechCrunch. There’s also a super long discussion thread on the ActiveDen Forums.
I’d also like to take a moment to say thanks to everyone for helping us with the transition and supporting FlashDen through three years of amazing growth and community, here’s to many more as ActiveDen!
I still can’t understand how some company can claim ownership over a generic word, so if my last name is Flash, I can’t have a site called Flash Design?
I love Adobe, Adobe’s stuff, how it handles it’s PR and how us, layman, are generally treated.
But this case reminds me of FlashObject, now called SWFobject, I think Envato people handled the “request” rather graciously.
no problem with this…
but seriously it looks like someone at an office sitting and surfing the web one day tough “Hey, is it really ok that some websites use the word “flash” in their domaine name?”
….the software gets some got vibes and the website get a direct name to content… so both sides (Adobe vs FlashDen) gets the good…. so why now ? why undo all this ?
Anyway… just seems like a one-person at Adobe thing to me. Even more when seeing your new tag line including “adobe flash file” seem office word to me.
Just a question : Was it ok to be renamed to FlashyDen.com or FlaDen.com insteed ? Or do they think it was too close to Flash ? And : Are you the only website affected ?
Congrats for FlashDen having so much succes ! Dont read me wrong, i do love adobe
Some great templates there! Nice one.
Wow, nice work Adobe – bringing down the hammer on a site that fosters use of your products.
Maybe it’s time for ActiveDen to host some Silverlight apps.
That is pretty absurd of Adobe, although I think the previous commenter is correct in assuming this probably wasn’t a big conspiratorial meeting of minds, but rather one bored desk jockey that contacted Adobe’s lawyer’s to see “hey what can we do here”. And lawyers aren’t PR people, they probably just ran with it.
One thing that comes to mind too is that Adobe is branding everything with “Flash” now. Flash Catalyst, Flash Builder (previous Flex), and of course regular ol’ Flash. Which I think is overbranding. Its fine for us developers that have been familiar with Flash for years, but for new users they are going to be utterly confused about which product to purchase to make Flash content. Some will buy Flex, er Flash Builder and give up after a day of trying to use their Flash training books with the wrong program.
Flashden’s response should have been, ” Sorry Adobe, you misunderstood our domain name. Its pronounced… lashden.com , the F is silent”
Wasn’t FlashDen Envato’s first site? Interesting that they waited until the site got big before paying it any mind whatsoever.
Does this mean that they’re going to go after every other site that refers to Photoshop, Illustrator, or Flash??? Eek…..
It must pain you and Cyan to change the name of your baby
Will Adobe ask to Alex Raymond change the “Flash Gordon” name too? Will they also request to Marvel to change the name of the superhero “Flash Thompson”? Come on!… they do not own the word!
I am extremely glad to go through this encouraging post on activeden and activetuts. It seems that this entire exercise is a successful business maneuver on the part of adobe. It were as if new wine in an old royal bottle. It is an informative post.
However, it is nice remembering about rule of FlashDen in Envato and its useful in Adobe flash files. I am glad to learn about these ActiveDen and Activetuts which are of the same content. It is a useful information.
I’ve been immensely benefited by the great tutorials on activeden and activetuts. These are really useful, comprehensive and easy lessons. Thanks for sharing the valuable information.