Frames -An Introduction

FRAMES: AN INTRODUCTION

With frames - which divide Web pages into multiple, scrollable regions - you can present information in a more flexible and useful fashion. Each region, or frame, has several features:

It can be given an individual URL, so it can load information independent of the other frames on the page;
It can be given a NAME, allowing it to be targeted by other URLs, and;
It can resize dynamically if the user changes the window's size. (Resizing can also be disabled, ensuring a constant frame size.)

These properties offer new possibilities:

Elements that the user should always see, such as control bars, copyright notices, and title graphics can be placed in a static, individual frame. As the user navigates the site in "live" frames, the static frame's contents remain fixed, even though adjoining frames redraw.
Table of contents are more functional. One frame can contain TOC links that, when clicked, display results in an adjoining frame.
Frames side-by-side design allows queries to be posed and answered on the same page, with one frame holding the query form, and the other presenting the results.

The best way to understand frames is to see them in use. Visit our Companies Using Frames page for inspiration.

Frames have been submitted to the Internet Engineering Task Force and the World Wide Web Consortium for consideration as Internet standards.