Frames anyone? (HTML) 3

[golcarlad]

Been a while since I did a website - but are "Frames" still the way to go, or are they a bit 'old hat'. Have things progressed from 7 years ago ???


(I want an area at the top that is always accessible i.e. a top frame equivalent.)

 

[Foamcow]

There are better ways to do most anything rather than use frames.

Forum215

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[golcarlad]

So what do you recommend?

 

[Foamcow]

CSS

That said it depends on what exactly you want to do.
Frames do have their uses, but they tend to cause more problems than they solve. Often people want to use them due to a (imho) misplaced belief that users don't like scrolling the page.

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[golcarlad]

OK thats cool, I think CSS seems to be popular so it must have some good uses. The main reason is to have code that is easy to manage and logical. I dont want to end up with spaghetti code or anything. I think all I want to have is a little banner staying a the top of screen, with maybe a few icons underneath (flags of Europe) which change the language dynamically.
Thats basically it.

 

[Foamcow]

If you want to keep your code lightweight, logical and easy to follow then definitely avod frames.

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[itlama]

I am neutral to frame/no-frame dilema. But ...

There are websites using frames to keep playing same music (uninterrupted), by putting <bgsound> tag inside the 'menu' frame. The music just ends neatly when user closes the mother browser window.

I still can't find a non-frame alternative. Ring any bell?

Thanks.

Michael Chan

 

[Foamcow]

at the risk of being sent to hell...

just use the <bgsound> tag in the normal document as you would in the frameset.

but... don't... it's horrible.

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[itlama]

Thanks foamcow. You fixed my unthoughful mistake. Yes, "put <bgsound> in frameset document". Then music is uninterrupted by whatever click (except page reload), and music ended on windows closing. Handsome.

But is background music that bad as you describled?

My experience is nicer, esp. with ligher music, e.g.

http://www.masterhinlun.com.hk

Of course, this website would be even nicer if follows your suggestion. (Now it opens a new window for almost every click, in order to continue the music i guess.)

Still, but back to our topic question: It seems FRAME is necessary here?

 

[Foamcow]

If I understand you correctly then yes a Frameset would allow you to play music in one frame (or the frameset document) which would be uninterupted by clicks to other pages.

I cannot condone any of this though
1. I don't like frames. They have their uses but tend to make things more complex than necessary. Also, users cannot bookmark individual pages etc. The drawbacks (and advantages) are well documented.

2. Background sound. Generally a bad thing. At least provide an option to turn it off. For instance, some users may be browsing in an office environment and find the sound obtrusive. What does the sound add to the site? Is it fundamental to the site's function or is it just "candy". Is it really necessary? Music has to be VERY good to warrant leaving it playing in the background.

3. Opening each click in a new window. Poor accessibility practice. This can be confusing for some users, as well as potentially being resource intensive on the client machine.
It makes navigation with the browser's back button impossible.


Sorry
I guess, if you must have music and you wish it to be uniterupted then your best bet is to use a frameset. But I would question why it's necessary.. unless you are a composer perhaps.

That site you linked to didn't load correctly. The Java App didn't load and I didn't hear any music.

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[xtendscott]

If you want to provide background sound let the users turn it on. Let the click a button that pops up a small "_blank" window that then has the background sound playing. It is now seperate from the navigation window and can be closed when they nolonger want the music.

xtendscott
Web Site Design and CF Programming

 

[itlama]

thanks Foamcow & xtendscott for comments.

The link i referred does work here (Hong Kong, IE6). Interesting if can't reach some countries (U.S.?)

Recently i saw a few elegant websites done without Frame, not even tables (in a general sense 'not so boxy'). All done with css. i guess css ('box model','positioning'... to be specific) is gaining wide acceptance & browsers compatibilty.

I agree we don't need HTML Frame in most cases.

 

[Foamcow]

Yep, all 3 sites in my sig use only CSS for layout and style.
They do fall into the slightly boxy category though

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