Frames

[chessbot]

Frames seem to be slipping into the category of "unprofessional." Here is an alternative to frames (Windows OS only):

1. Open the file with the text you want to appear on each page.

2. Select the text.

3. Hold down the control key and press "C".

4. Close the file.

5. Open the file in which you want the text to appear.

6. Place the cursor where you want the text to appear.

7. Hold down the control key and press "V".

8. Format as necessary.

9. Repeat steps 5-8 for each file in which the text must appear.

Good luck!

--Chessbot

"So it goes."
Kurt Vonnegut, Slaughterhouse Five

 

[cLFlaVA]

LOL!

Creative.

Don't forget about the possibility of Server-Side-Includes, commonly known as SSI.

For more info on SSI:

http://httpd.apache.org/docs/howto/ssi.html

My favorite recommendation is to use server-side scripting languages to "include" files, such as PHP, ASP, JSP, ColdFusion, etc.

*cLFlaVA
----------------------------
Lois: "Peter, you're drunk!"
Peter: "I'm not drunk, I'm just exhausted from stayin' up all night drinking!

 

[chessbot]

SSI requires a separate extension, however, and some people might not want that. (Like me.)

(Why? I don't know. Call it purism. Same reason I write all my code in Windows Notepad.)

Nice link.

--Chessbot

"So it goes."
Kurt Vonnegut, Slaughterhouse Five

 

[cLFlaVA]

Right. I don't have SSI capabilities either. I just wanted to make the reader aware, since in every discussion of "how can I include files without running server-side scripting nor frames" the answer "SSI" always comes up.

*cLFlaVA
----------------------------
Lois: "Peter, you're drunk!"
Peter: "I'm not drunk, I'm just exhausted from stayin' up all night drinking!

 

[chessbot]

All right, readers. As an alternative to frames, you can use the above method, or use Server Side Includes.

I prefer the first method.

--Chessbot

"So it goes."
Kurt Vonnegut, Slaughterhouse Five

 

[Foamcow]

Or "Post-Its".

http://www.foamcow.com

"I'm making time

 

[straybullet]

Curious... what exactly is wrong with using frames? Why is it considered unprofessionaly? Seems to accomplish the desired effect...

Let them hate - so long as they fear... Lucius Accius

 

[ChrisHunt]

I'm going to beat Clive to it here, and rebut some of the charges made against frames in jstreich's generally insightful post.

there are still text only browsers out there

True, but in vanishingly small quantities. Mobile devices are appearing with increasingly good HTML (including frames) support, screen readers are getting better at dealing with frames, and it shouldn't be an issue anyway - provided you get your <noframes> elements right. Search engine spiders are the most significant text-only "browser" but they, too, have ways of coping with framesets.

1.) If you link a site from inside a frame,...

True, if you decide to use frames you have to invest a little extra time and effort in using them right

2.) If you are browsing text only...

But are you likely to be? Unless there are special reasons that mean your site will attract a lot of Lynx users, I don't think this is a real issue.

3.) Each frame takes up desktop realty...

This can be a problem if you go mad with lots of frames. Even simple framesets may cause problems on smaller screens - if your navigation sidebar is in a 200px wide frame and my handheld has a 200px wide screen, I'm going to have trouble with your site.

4.) If I have a hate for frames ... I won't stay on a site that has them

Personally, I wouldn't stop using an otherwise useful site purely because I didn't like its design (unless the design itself fatally undermined the site's usability). For all I know you might hate the colour blue with equal passion and leave blue websites accordingly. It's not something to base a design decision on.

So am I a fan of frames? No. I dislike them greatly and advise everyone to avoid them. Not for the reasons stated above. Not really for the reasons stated in

http://www.456bereastreet.com/archive/200411/who_framed_the_web_frames_and_usability/

(though they're mostly well made). But for one main reason:

They make it difficult for people to link to your site

If your site's got any useful content, you should want to encourage people to link to it. Linking to any page except the home page of a frameset is fiddly, at best, and impossible at worst. People who want to link to your pages are directing traffic to your site (and pushing you up the search results list too), why would you want to put any obstacles in their way?

-- Chris Hunt
Webmaster & Tragedian
Extra Connections Ltd

 

[jstreich]

What happened to my post?