Building Frames

Probably the easiest way to think about frames is to imagine frames as pages nested within a page. The document is named the Frameset (although you can give it any title you want and save it with anyname.htm) and the parts are called Frames. An analogy might be useful here. Most of us have printed documents to special letterhead stationery. A letter of reference for a student looks nice on school or district letterhead, for example. In this analogy, the blank paper is the frameset because it's the main html document. The district logo is one of the static frames because it doesn't change from page to page. However, the letter content can be viewed as a dynamic frame because it will change from page to page. We can also look at the frameset and frames as we do an empty stage. The empty stage is the frameset, but the curtains frame it up (static frame). Each scene is also a dynamic frame within the frameset. As the designer, you plan to have static and dynamic frames. A static frame might be a navigation bar on the left. A dynamic frame may be opened to the right of the navigation bar.

Below is an example of this concept in a web page. The gray border was placed there in the photo editor to illustrate the frameset. The left side is a table of contents. It is static. The right side is where windows may open. The right side also has links.

The PageMill Help description of Frames appears below.

Frames should only be used by more advanced web site designers. They can be confusing, and they can make a site frustrating for the user. This lesson will show the basics, but if you are interested in using frames, consult the PageMill Help often.

Step #1: Creating the Frameset and Saving it

• Make a new PageMill document.
• The easiest way to create a frameset is to go to the menu bar and choose Edit => Frame => Split Frame Vertically. This will give you a frameset with a left and a right side.
• You can resize your frames with click and drag. You can also use the Inspector, select the frames tab and enter a percent for the frame width.
• Save your frameset with File => Frameset => Save Frameset As... and use a name that makes sense. Remember, the name you use to save your frameset document must be lowercase and followed by dot htm (.htm) just as with any html document.

Step #2: Renaming and Saving the Frames

• Click in the left frame. Notice that it is now outlined in blue. Look at the Inspector window and find the Name bar.
• Click in the bar and rename the left frame.
• Now go to File => Save Frame As... This will give your left frame a proper html document name.
• Do the same for the right side. Click on the right frame, change its name, go to File => Save Frame As... and give the right side a proper html name.

Step #3: Adding Content and Links to the Static Side.

• The left side is usually the static side. It is often a table of contents for the site.
• Click in the left side and enter a list of web pages. For an example, see my classroom site from last school year. Notice that when you click on an item on the left, the topic opens up in either the right or as a separate page. Those are good options to have. Your static frame is used to determine where the new topic opens.
• Create a link to one of the items in your list on the left frame of your frameset.
• Highlight your link and click and hold your mouse arrow on the highlighted link. The Target Window opens. Choose "Parent Window" so the new page opens without creating new Netscape or Explorer windows.

• When the user views your page in a browser, the browser's back button should return the user to the original location. I have found this feature a little frustrating in PageMill. You'll need to play with it for a while.
• You can also target a particular frame. Click and hold on the highlighted link, and the Target Window opens. Drag to the desired frame (usually the right frame).

Step #4: Adding Content to Frames

• Adding content to a frame is exactly like adding content to any web page. The only difference is that your links need to be targeted. The warning here is that linking to a target is tricky in PageMill. Experiment until you get it right. Switch to a browser to check frequently. I have found that the link back from the right side should be to the original frameset rather than to a parent window or the same frame.

Step #5: Uploading your Frameset

• Upload your frameset as well as your frames that are part of your frameset.
• Upload any images and site links as well.