So you have a website and you want to add a bit of ooomph to it with a Flash widget. Great! Make sure you get the source from whoever develops it. Why? The one constant on the web is change and, without the source, you’ll either be locked into your current developer for changes or you’ll likely have to redevelop the widget from scratch.

How can you tell if you have the source? Your developer will always give you the SWF file. That’s the one you’ll use on your site. What you need is the FLA file. This is the file other developers can use to update your Flash widget. If you’re using any custom fonts, you’ll need those files as well.

Some developers will give you the FLA files, some won’t. We provide them on request. Under our general terms of service, the original source files and published versions are both your property.

If you don’t have the source, is it still possible to update the Flash file? Sometimes. You can convert the SWF into an FLA working file, but you lose the granularity required to make anything other than simple changes.