what is the best option instead of frames?

Question

can anyone tell me what is the option in stead of frames, i want to give navigation on the left side and links will open on the right hand side. so wat can i use instead of frames.. also i want to use div based pages only,, please answer ASAP.

please provide some examples pages or website which have that functionality as i didint understand till.. please send suggest.

Answer 1

You can do this easily with DOM manipulation.

Look here for something similar:

http://www.dougv.com/blog/2007/05/11/displaying-and-hiding-content-via-javascript-dom-and-the-onclick-event/

Answer 2

I used tables and then designated several cells as content, header, nav, etc. and CSS templates to define the static properties (width, height, etc).. You don't have to use DIV, although that would be easier to maintain down the road and expose more functionality with DHTML, AJAX, or whatever buzz word you want to insert.

I personally stay away from DIV, but that is mainly due to my old fuddy-duddy mindset of learning to design HTML in Vi...

Answer 3

lots of cleverly positioned

Answer 4

this can be done easily with tables and css - here are a few examples of sites i have built this way:
http://doe.teamvenom-nfsu2.com << pages still to finish
http://www.the-lonestar.com << is permanent under construction - forum with same skin

and a site i am on building:
http://www.teamvenom-nfsu2.com/demos/thrash

here is another example - again forum has same skin:
http://www.battlefield2142-elite-fighter.de/

the site construction is:
header
page
footer

the page is the bit that the menu changes and is connected to the header with a small php call

this is the base page code i use:

include "header.php";
?>

Blank

Answer 5

You need to use style sheets that will reproduce the sides on page after page without having to copy them - you just fill in the middle.

Answer 6

In Visual Web Developer 2005 Express Edition, you can create master pages that contain the menu and navigation controls. These pages also have a content area that is filled with content pages.

You can just create content pages that share the same master page.

This requires Microsoft Internet Information Server with ASP.net (it comes with XP pro or Windows server OSs) to host the web pages, but it is not required to develop the pages. SQL server is also included. Many top hosting sites will support the ASP.net framework and SQL server databases.

The express editions of VIsual Studio 2005 are free and available here.

http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/express/default.aspx

Check out these Visual Studio Links for learning Visual Studio.

http://msdn.microsoft.com/vstudio/express/beginner/web/tier1/
http://msdn.microsoft.com/vstudio/express/beginner/
http://www.asp.net/learn/data-access/
http://www.learnvisualstudio.net
http://www.asp.net/ajax/
http://www.asp.net/downloads/starter-kits/
http://www.asp.net/learn/

Another reason to use frames is for partial page updates. An alternative to frames for this is the use of AJAX with json communications to the server. Json is a data format for data transfers that is tightly integrated into javascript to allow for efficient communications with web servers for partial page updates. Json data integration into javascript is not as complicated as parsing XML with xpaths. It is based on the syntax of initializing the data values of objects in javascript. AJAX and json are supported and easy to use with Visual Studio Express 2005 edition which is free.

Answer 7

Since no one wants to give you an example, I will.

Use CSS and make your layout with divs. They are more flexible and you don't have to wade through hundreds of lines of code to find a problem or correct something if need be.