Re: Tables vs. Frames summary?

At 01:40 PM 12/21/97 -0800, Nathan wrote:
>Hello folks, I am debating about whether to use frames or tables on a
>site I am working on at the moment.  I saw a large discussion on this a
>while back, but I was wondering if anyone knowledgable to give me a
>quick summary of the issues behind using frames.

1. Don't listen to arguments from others who say not to use frames at all
because they "hate" frames or that they "never visit" framed sites. Frames
have a place on the WWW.

2. Whether you use Frames or Tables should depend on what you need to do on
your site.

3. Use Frames if you want to provide static elements, such as navigation
lists or graphics, that do not change from page to page. Having a static
navigation bar can greatly simplify a visitor's navigation of your site.

4. Use Tables for page layout. (Caveat: There are some who say tables
should ONLY be used for true table layout, but that's another argument.)

5. When using tables, know that a table must load completely before it is
displayed on some browsers. So if your whole page is one big table, expect
to look at a blank screen for a few seconds before the whole page "pops"
into view. This can bug some people. (It was a big reason I stopped using
whole-page tables on my site and went to using frames.) To get around this,
consider using several smaller tables on a page.

6. When using tables, don't embed javascript within a table cell. NN3 and
below does not handle it well (your javascript code will show up on the
page instead).

7. When using frames, know that MANY people on the web either can't view
framed pages (they have older or text-only browsers) or CHOOSE TO AVOID
framed pages. Therefore, offer a no-frames alternative if possible. (The
way I do this is to offer my "content" pages without the frames, as each
page has text links at its bottom anyway.)

8. When using frames, watch out for where your pages load. Always specify a
frame target in URLs. If a page is supposed to load on top of your frames
(for example, you have a link to someone else's site) use a target of
"_top" (and that is case-sensitive, by the way).

9. When using frames, understand that different browsers render height and
width differently. That is, if you have a graphic that is 100 x 50 pixels,
give it a frame of 105 x 55 pixels to sit in.




--------------------------------------------------------------------
Chuck Evans                       E-mail: chuck.evans(at)enduracorp.com
MarCom Coordinator & Webmaster     Phone: (206) 522-0055
Endura Software                      Fax: (206) 522-0053
115 NE 100th St                      Web: http://www.enduracorp.com
Seattle, WA 98037                 Member: HTML Writers Guild
--------------------------------------------------------------------

HWG hwg-theory mailing list archives, maintained by Webmasters @ IWA