Frames

Frames are dividers that you create to separate areas on a Web page. Each frame contains a separate page and has its own URL independent on the other frames. Frames allows you to create pages where only sections of the page change. This is useful when you want to display a stationary item, such as a company logo or a navigation bar.

Frames are also a convenient way to display table of contents or indexes, where a click on a word or image in one frame brings up a detailed description of the topic in an adjoining frame.

Both standard pages and frames use links to move to different locations. The main difference is that clicking a link in a standard page displays the linked page by replacing the contents of the open window or by opening a separate, overlapping window. Clicking a link in a frame opens the linked page in only that section (frame) of the page (the frame to which the link is targeted), leaving the other parts of the page unchanged.

To create a frame, hold down the "Ctrl" or "Alt" key while dragging from one of the window margins.

You can also split existing frames horizontally or vertically, creating a new frame, by choosing "Split Frame Horizontally" or "Split Frame Vertically" from the Edit menu.

If you want to add a frame target to a link that you've created, select the entire link (triple-clicking a link will select it), then click-and-hold down the right mouse button on top of the link to get a pop-up to select the target pane for the link. You can also get the targeting pop-up by clicking on the target button at the lower-right-hand corner of the window. Other frame attributes can be accessed in the Inspector.

A frame layout (such as this document) consists of many HTML pages. This layout consists of three pages. Each of these three items is a separate HTML document which much be named and saved individually.

1. The frameset, which specifies the layout and files.
2. The vertical index to the left.
3. The larger text document that you are now reading.

Under the "File" menu, you will find many options for saving each frame element. Additionally, names of individual frames can be specified in the Inspector.