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Frames Part 1: What’s good about frames
Theoretically, the concept is great.
A page is divided into sections. Each section or frame is actually a page with
its own URL (Uniform Resource Locator). Pages can all be displayed at once in
their separate windows and still be able to be scrolled independently. You know
that the page uses frames when you scroll in one area and the rest of the page
is stationary.
What to remember about frames
The collection of frames in the browser window
is called frameset.
The frameset file contains:
the layout instructions in columns or rows
the contents source for each frame.
The <frameset> tag replaces the <body> tag.
A framed page would be a normal HTML page
containing text and graphics, if it was not in a frame.
A common layout includes a banner or title across the top, a navigation bar
down the left and a core section that displays the site’s main contents to the
right. This layout counts for 4 pages (banner, navigation bar, contents and
frameset).
What’s good about frames
Your standard layout with logos and navigation bars can be downloaded once.
This provides consistency throughout the site and reduces download time for the
following pages.
Frames can also be useful for special applications such as
- Comparing two documents displayed at once.
- Scrolling long documents and still have the
navigation bar visible.
- Expanding a menu on the navigation bar without
the contents section moving.
- Viewing a graphic or picture and reading
simultaneously comments or caption displayed in another frame.
- Continuously displaying banners while the
visitor is scrolling other sections. Great for advertisers.
- Printing the ‘contents’ frame without
navigation bars and advertisers banners. Only good for web users.
- Providing a glossary or explanatory footnotes
for contents viewed in another window.
- Offering interactivity. Questions and answers
can be displayed simultaneously in separate windows.
- Changing regularly the contents of a file
without needing to alter the other files.
Although they are many well designed pages using frames, there are too many
with technical shortcomings.
Why do
web users hate frames 
Why frames are not a good marketing tool
Henriette Martel-Lawson is the author of the book
200 Marketing Ideas for Your
Website. You can find more articles on
www.marketingcues.com. © 2003 Henriette Martel-Lawson
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