Why use so many frames

[Bob]

I'm trying to work on a website and in the process I'm saving a few sites
from the internet and opening them in FrontPage to get ideas.

My question is, why do they use frames within frames? When I create a 2x2
frame or whatever, the borders are thicker also. I know how to reduce the
border thickness so it looks like dotted lines when it's being edited.


But I don't understand why they make the borders so thin (dotted lines).
you can't see them when you're viewing the webpage and why do they use a
frames within frames and also if they want a blank area, they use an entire
empty frame for it.

I just move the text around the frame I'm working on to get it to look the
way I'd like it to look.

 

[Murray]

There are many reasons for using frames within frames - one might be to
construct a letterbox type display, e.g.,

11111111111111
11111111111111
22233333333444
22233333333444
22233333333444
55555555555555
55555555555555

This allows the central content area (frame3 in the diagram above) to be
always centered vertically and horizontally. Such an arrangement cannot be
made without nesting framesets.

But there are many more reasons not to use frames at all.

The reason for using or not using frames should be based on a) your site's
needs, and b) your willingness to accept the potential problems that frames
can create for you as developer and maintainer of the site and for your
visitors as casual users of the site.

I am down on frames because I believe that they create many more problems
than they solve.
Judging from the posts here, and the kinds of problems that are described,
the kind of person most likely to elect to use frames is also the kind of
person most likely ill-prepared fo solve the ensuing problems when they
arise. If you feel a) that you understand the problems and b) that you are
prepared to handle them when they occur, and c) that you have a need to use
frames, then by all means use them.

As far as I know, the most comprehensive discussions of frames and their
potential problems can be found on these two links -

http://apptools.com/rants/framesevil.php
http://www.tjkdesign.com/articles/frames/

 

[Bob]

Oh man, I think I used the wrong name.

I should have said a table.

Obviously I'm using FrontPage and I use the table box up top. When I view
other webpages, they have tables within tables.


Sorry for the confusion. As you can see, I'm new at this.

 

[Rob Giordano \(Crash Gordon®\)]

They're used for positioning.



| Oh man, I think I used the wrong name.
|
| I should have said a table.
|
| Obviously I'm using FrontPage and I use the table box up top. When I view
| other webpages, they have tables within tables.
|
|
| Sorry for the confusion. As you can see, I'm new at this.

 

[Murray]

Tables within tables is also a good way to accomplish some things on an HTML
page.

For example - suppose you have a site design that fits a nice regular grid
like a checkerboard, except in one 'cell', you need to have some (say 4)
pictures on one line with captions centered underneath on the next. To
accomplish this, you would have a regular table with cells for your layout,
and in the cell where you have this particular need, you would insert
another table having two rows and, say, 4 columns. In the top row, you
would put your pix and in the bottom row, you would put your captions. See
how that might work?

HOWEVER, using such layout methods can lead to VERY bulky pages (i.e., pages
that contain lots of HTML and not so much content). There are better ways,
and by the time this bulk begins to bother you, you will be ready to learn
them....