>On 28 Mar 99, Mary McWilliams Johnson wrote:
>
>> I take your point about the annoyance of frames. But I'm not sure why one
>> would want to create a frameset for each page - as opposed to just using
>> tables that place the banner and menu in the same place each time.
>>
>> I'm building a frame site right now, and I really would like to have a
>> more detailed explanation of why you recommend multiple framesets instead
>> of tables.
>(Brent Eades eloquently added:)
>I certainly don't recommend them whatsoever; my original post said
>"if you feel you absolutely must use frames", then it was preferable
>to do so in the way I outlined. (I should add that the approach I
>describe is not of my devising. I first saw it recommended by Jakob
>Nielsen in one of his AlertBox columns, as the only appropriate way
>to implement frames. I do agree with his reasoning.)
>
>Personally, I've never found a valid use for them in any site I've
>created. In a very few cases I've seen them used elsewhere in such a
>way as to add functionality that wouldn't have been available
>otherwise. I don't condemn frames out of hand, but as typically
>implemented they represent a frustrating experience for the user,
>should he want to bookmark a page or expect his browser's Back and
>Forward buttons to work predictably.
>
>The multiple-frameset approach addresses these problems, because each
>frameset has a unique URL. As every "page" on the Web obviously
>should. Without that unique identifer, the entire navigation and
>hyperlinking model disintegrates.
Brent, the multiple-frameset approach does deal with the issue of unique
URLs for bookmarking, but of course after going to all that trouble one has
to step back and say "why the heck am I using frames at all?" :>) (as I
know you realize)
What I commonly hear from clients when they request to use frames is that,
if the site navigation is in a vertical column to one side, they want the
navigation to always be visible as the viewer scrolls up and down the page.
To my mind, this minor convenience does not outweight the negatives of
frames. But some people have a hard time appreciating just how many
problems frames bring to a site.
Barry
--
Barry Lee Brisco <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Web Design & Development - Online Marketing <http://www.ToTheWeb.com>
Web portfolio at <http://www.ToTheWeb.com/portfolio.html>
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