Creating Frame-Based Pages

Frames divide a web page into multiple HTML pages. Frequently, frames are used to add a side menu bar to a web site where the constant back and forth clicking would become tedious in a single page.

With frames, you can have a section of your page remain "loaded" at all times. In other words, you can have a navigation menu on your page so when you click a link on it, the whole page doesn't change, it loads the link you clicked into a 'frame' on your page.

Frame-based page:

Frame with main part of the siteFrame with side menu bar

To create a frame-based Web page

1. Select Create Frame Set from the Tools menu.
2. The Frame Set Wizard dialog box appears.
3. Click to select a Frame Set from the list of images.
4. Set the Frame Set Parameters - whether or not the Frame Set has a border, whether or not the user can resize frame dynamically, whether or not frame is scrollable, and whether or not frame has margins.
5. Click the Preview button to preview the frame-based page in Internet browser.
6. Click the Finish button to create frame-based Web page.

The Frame Set Wizard creates new web page with HTML code in the Head section. You can modify this code at the Page Properties dialog box in the Head section tab.

To get an HTML file for the frame-based page

1. Set the page properties, click Page Properties in the Modify menu.
2. Click Export to HTML file from the File menu to generate HTML file of this frame set.

Targeting links in one frame to another frame

When you place a link inside a frame, the web page you linked to will only appear in that same frame. If you want a link in one frame to open a new page in another frame, you must do two things:

1. You must give each frame a name.
2. In a link within a content web page, you must indicate the name of the frame in the Target field in which the linked file should open.

To link in one frame to open a new page in another frame

1. In the Frame Set Wizard give a Name to frame where the linked page opens.
2. Click Link from the Modify menu.
3. Type the Name of frame where the linked page opens in the Target box of Link Properties dialog box.