After a lot of research I finally found an easy way to insert a flash header into an Artisteer WordPress theme. To see an example of the finished product click here. NOTE: I have only tested this procedure with templates with a square top and no padding.

Step 1 – Create a template using Artisteer. After saving and exporting the template, go to the exported directory (the directory with the WordPress files generated by Artisteer).

Step 2 – Open the file “style.css” and search for the word “header”. You should find a block of code like this one:

This will give you the size of the header picture. For this example, the header picture is 874 by 225 pixels. Write these numbers down. Close the file.

Step 3 – Create at least two header pictures using your favorite image editor. Make sure the size matches the size in the “style.css” file. For this example the size is 874 by 225 pixels.

Step 4 – Go back to the exported directory and make a copy of the “header.php” file. I like to do this as a precaution (make a backup). You may want to call this copy “header-OLD.php”. Edit the “header.php” file. Go to the bottom of the file, and look for a block of code similar to this one:

You will be replacing the line containing the “Header-jpeg” class definition (depending on your design, there might be other lines present) with the following LONG line (I had to break down the line so that it could fit on the screen):

Make sure you replace YOURDOMAINNAME with your domain name, and WWW with the width and HHH with the height of the header picture. For this example, we will use 874 for the width, and 225 for the height. To download a text file of this line, click here.

After you made the changes to the line, replace the “Header-jpeg” line. The file should look like this:

Step 4 – Download the template to your WordPress installation.

Step 5 – You need to download and install the Flash Fader Revived plug-in. This plug-in will allow you to add flash to your WordPress installation. We will be using it to add flash to our header picture.

Step 6 – After installing the Flash Fader Revived plug-in, click on “Settings”, then on “Flash Fader Revived”. NOTE: You need to set up the options on this plug-in BEFORE you upload your header pictures.

On the Flash Fader Revived screen, click on “Advance Display Settings”, and enter the correct width and height of the header picture. I also like to play with the “Image Display Time” – this defines how long the picture will be displayed before it changes. Personally, I like to set it to 4 seconds. Save your changes.

Next, you are ready to upload your header pictures. You need a minimum of 2, no maximum limit (that I know of).

After all these changes are done, you should see your header changing on your WordPress Website. Pretty cool!!!

I hope this has been helpful. To learn more secrets, click on the link Make a Website using WordPress.