About frames

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A frames page is a special kind of HTML page that divides the browser window into different areas called frames, each of which can show a different page.

For example, a frames page created by using the Banner and Contents frames page template contains three frames: Banner, Contents, and Main.

What are frames?

1 The Banner frame

2 The Contents frame

3 The Main frame

You create a frames page by using one of the frames page templates in Microsoft FrontPage. In each of these templates, the navigation between frames is already set up for you. After you create the frames page from a template, all you need to do is set the initial page you want shown in each frame. You can select an existing page or create a new page. Then you can edit the page directly in its frame.

How frames pages work

A frames page itself contains no visible content — it's just a container that specifies which other pages to show and how to show them. When you click a hyperlink on a page shown in one frame, the page pointed to by that hyperlink typically is shown in another frame, called the target frame.

For example, a frames page created by using the Banner and Contents frames page template actually shows four pages simultaneously in the browser: the frames page, which is the container, and the three pages shown in each of the three frames. In the following example, when you click a hyperlink in the Contents frame on the left, the page pointed to by that hyperlink opens in the Main frame.

How do frames work?

1 The frames page

2 The Banner frame

3 The Contents frame

4 The Main frame

How frames pages are used

Frames pages are often used for catalogs, lists of articles or information, or any other kind of page where clicking a hyperlink in one frame shows a page in another frame. Authors use frames pages because they contain built-in navigation and present a consistent user interface (that is, the structure and layout of frames).

For example, in frames pages based on the Banner and Contents frames page template, many companies use the Banner frame to show a corporate logo and the primary departments on their web site.

What are frames used for?

1 Click the link in the Banners frame

2 A list appears in the Contents frame. Click the link in the Contents frame

3 A page displays in the Main frame

Controlling the appearance of frames

You can split, resize, or delete frames by selecting and dragging frame borders.

On any frames page, you can split a frame horizontally or vertically to create two frames. You can either split it into evenly divided rows or columns, or you can drag its border to specify a certain size for each frame.

You can also choose to show or hide the borders between frames.

Controlling the appearance of frames

1 Split a frame

2 Resize a frame

3 Delete a frame

4 Show or hide frame borders

You can also control: