can a menu overlap a frame?

[Guest]

Hi,
I have a page with 3 frames, one header and two colums below the header. On
the left side I have a menu that when you do a mouse over a submenu pops out
to the right. These submenus will not appear correctly if the frame is too
close, they get cut off. Is there a way to get this meuu to basically ignore
the frame? Or to overlap it? I have heard of "createPopup element" but have
no idea how that works. Is there any solution to this (except getting rid of
frames )? Thanks!

 

[Murray]

There is no practical way to make a layer (that's how drop-down menus work)
cross the boundary between two separate frames (i.e., two unique HTML
pages).

It is true. Your choices are limited now -

1. DUMP THE FRAMES - you would not be having this problem in a non-framed
site.
2. Redesign your menus so that they do not need to span a frame boundary.
3. Redesign the frameset so that you leave enough room for the largest
popup.
4. Move the layer code for the popups from the page in the navigation frame
to each page in the content frame.
5. DUMP THE FRAMES - you would not be having this problem in a non-framed
site.

I recommend either #1 or #5, depending on what your needs are. You just
have no idea the horrors that await you if you continue with the frames.....
8)

 

[Jon Spivey]

Hi,
No there isn't. Question - do you have a good reason to use frames? What you
want to do would be easy without the frames.

 

[Guest]

Thanks for answering guys, I apperciate it. First, I am using the frames
with the idea of having important info displayed on the same page. So for
instance, you select "online documents" from the menu and in the right frame
appears all the online documents available. Then you select "links" from the
menu and in the right frame a bunch of links appears, etc. I really thought
that this would be the easiest, but not so sure now. I might have to have
seperate windows now I guess...

 

[Murray]

Just use flat pages (i.e., no frames), and you'll do fine.

The decision 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/resources/frames/

 

[Andrew Murray]

You can do that with Include Pages. If you want the same info on every
page, used include pages or if you want the same footer/header etc use
shared borders

 

[Trevor L.]

ib_redbeard and other respondents

I read this thread with interest. I decided to use frames for the exact same
reason (see http://tandcl.homemail.com.au/) But I also ran into problems
with menus on my sidebar. I had to make them vertical menus that didn't
overlap the frame.

I have had feedback as to why frames are not good, especially what Murray
wrote. I am happy to solve the problems from my end, but I was advised that
a problem can exist from the reader's end. And that is, if one of the frames
is indexed in Google, etc, the reader may go in to the frame alone and not
the top frameset. I hope that makes sense - I understood what was meant, but
may not be re-explaining too well.

As to crossing the frame, why not use a pop-up that opens in a new window.
For example, would JIMCO's spawn http://www.jimcoaddins.com/Default.aspx do
the job - I haven't tried for this purpose yet, only in the main frame
itself.

I'll have a try myself - may be you could also.

Murray, I'll also have a look at the references you sent on frames.
--
Cheers,
Trevor L.



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http://www.polesoft.com/refer.html

 

[Murray]

Murray, I'll also have a look at the references you sent on frames.

Good luck, Trevor. Frames are rarely the right layout method....