#01-002

Creating Frames

How do I create frames?

If you want to create a frame page, for example, one small frame for navigational buttons and one large frame for content, you have to create three web pages: 1) a “basic frame” to define the layout of the frameset and the links to the other two. This document contains the frame windows themselves, and will be created as an entirely separate page. You need not create anything on it; 2) a page for the navigational controls, e.g. links and buttons; 3) a page for the content where the web pages will be displayed.

Here’s how to do it:

1. Create two new web pages — e.g., the navigation page and the content page — without frames and save them.

2. Create a third web page to act as the basic frame where you define the layout of the frameset.

3. Choose Frames from the View menu.

4. Choose Split Frames from the Frame menu. A typical example might contain 1 row and 2 columns.

5. Click OK

You now have two frame windows on the page. For example, a narrow one on the left side to contain buttons, and a wide one on the right for content. Now you need to tell WebExpress which pages you want the browser to display in these frames initially.

1. Double click the larger frame window on the right. In the Frame Properties dialog window you need to enter two items:

   • A Name for this frame, for example, “Main”. The browser will use this name to identify this particular window. In hyperlinks you’ll need to include the name of the window you want the linked web page to be displayed in.

   • The web page file name of the page you want this frame to display when it’s first loaded into a browser.

2. Double click in the smaller frame window and follow the same procedure.

3. Save this frame window page and exit Frames Mode by selecting Web Page from the View menu.
   
   Important: When you create hyperlinks you may notice a drop-down list labeled Target at the bottom of the Create/Edit Link dialog box. The Target modifier to a hyperlink is necessary for web pages that use frames. They are used to “tell” the browser which frame window you want a web page displayed in. Place the cursor where you want to create a hyperlink, then select Link from the Insert menu. At the bottom of the Create/Edit Link dialog box, type the name of the frame in the Target list. This will cause the page linked to by this hyperlink to be loaded into the frame window (the one named Main in this example). Now click OK.

4. Place the cursor on a second hyperlink on the page and follow the same procedure, setting the hyperlink’s target modifier to the same window.

5. Click OK when you’re done and save the page.