Creating a navigational frame layout

You can set up a navigational frame that contains a list of links and make the linked pages display in another frame. This is useful for creating a table of contents for your Web site that always remains visible.

To create this type of layout you need to create a navigational frame and a target frame, assign a page to each frame, and name the target frame. Then you need to create links in the navigational list to the pages in your site and refer each to the target frame.

Before you set up the frames, you need to create the pages for your Web site, including the page that contains the navigational list.

To create a navigational frame layout:

1. Open the Web page that contains your navigational list and the first page you want to display in the target frame.
   
   Usually the first page you want displayed in the target frame is the first item in the navigational list.
   
2. Create a page that uses frames by choosing New from the File menu, clicking Create New, selecting Frame Page and clicking OK.
   
   A list of the open Web pages appears in the Frame dialog box.
   
3. Select the page that contains the navigational list and then select the first page you want displayed in the target frame.
   
4. Click OK.
   
   An untitled page appears with two frames displaying the two assigned pages in Edit Frame mode.
   

   

    

5. Double-click the target frame to open the Frame Object Editor.
   
6. Click the Content tab, if necessary.
   
   Note If you want to change the page that is assigned to the frame, type the new name in the URL text box or choose it from the URL pop-up menu in the Frame Object Editor.
   
7. In the Frame Name text box, type a name for the target frame.
   
   Type a name that's easy to remember, such as "target."
   
8. Close the Frame Object Editor and save the page.
   
   Note To modify the message that your audience will see if their browsers don't support frames, click the Edit Page button on the toolbar and type a new message. To switch back to the frames, click the Edit Frames button.
   
9. In the page that contains the navigational list, specify the target frame for each linked page. Do one of the following:
   
   • If you've already created the links in navigational list, you'll need to specify the target frame for each link individually. See Specifying the target frame for linked pages next.
     
   • If you haven't created the links yet, you can set up a default target frame that's automatically referred to by every link you create. See Creating links that refer to the target frame.

Specifying the target frame for linked pages

When you create a navigational frame layout, each item in the navigational list that is linked to a page must also refer to the target frame. You specify the target frame for each link in the navigational list using the Link Editor.

Note If you haven't created the links yet, you can set up a shortcut so that you'll only have to specify the target frame once. See "Creating links that refer to the default target frame" next.

To specify the target frame for each link in the list:

1. In the page that contains the navigational list, select the first item in the list and click the Link Editor button on the toolbar.
   
   If necessary, click the triangleto expand the Link Editor.
   

   

   

   Note The name of the page that the item is linked to appears in the URL text box. (If you haven't created the link yet, this box is blank. See "Creating links that refer to the default target frame" next.)

2. In the Target Frame text box, type the name of target frame.
   
   Be sure to match the name of the target frame exactly as you typed it in the Frame Object Editor (for example, "target").
   
3. Repeat these steps for every item in the list and save the page.
   

You can test the page that uses frames in Preview Page mode by clicking the links in the navigational frame and viewing the alternating pages displayed in the target frame.

Creating links that refer to the target frame

You can set up a default target frame that Claris Home Page automatically refers to whenever you create a link. This is useful if you haven't created the links yet in your navigational list to the pages you want displayed in a single target frame.

Note You can specify a different target frame for individual links in the Link Editor.

To create links that automatically refer to the target frame:

1. In the page that contains the navigational list, choose Document Options from the Tools menu (Windows) or Edit menu (Macintosh).
   
2. Click the Parameters tab in the Options dialog box.
   
3. Type the name of the target frame in the Default Target Frame text box.
   
4. Click OK to close the Options dialog box.
   
5. Create links to all the pages by selecting each item in the list, choosing Link to File from the Insert menu, selecting the page you want to link the list item to and clicking Open.
   
   For each link you create, the target frame is automatically specified. You can change the target frame for an individual link by selecting the link, opening the Link Editor, and typing a new name in the Target Frame text box.
   
   For more information on creating links, see Linking to external Web pages and resources.
   

You can test the frame layout in Preview Page mode by clicking the links in the navigational frame and viewing the alternating pages displayed in the target frame.