AOLpress Help

---

Using Frames

See the tutorial lesson on frames for a hands-on example.

Frames let you divide the page window into sections. For example, if you are reading this page with a browser that supports frames, this page has a frame on the left that lets you jump to the main headings of the page in the right frame. (If you don't see two frames, try clicking here.)

A page that contains frames is called a "FrameSet." There are separate files for the FrameSet and for each page you want to display in the frames. If you already have pages that you want to put inside a frame, first create a new FrameSet. Then, you can follow the instructions for putting a page in a frame and linking to frames.

To create a page to which you can add frames (a "FrameSet"):

1. Choose the File New New FrameSet menu item. You will see a new page with one frame outlined.

To add frames to a FrameSet page:

You can't add frames to a regular page, first you have to create a FrameSet page. Then, follow these steps to add frames to the FrameSet.

1. Move your mouse cursor to one of the page or frame margins.
2. When your cursor looks like the one to the right (pointing in any direction), hold down your mouse and drag across the window to create a frame.

If your page has a complicated set of frames, there may be several levels at which AOLpress could create a new frame. AOLpress normally creates frames within the smallest possible area. However, if you press the <Ctrl> key, it creates the new frame in the largest possible area. These pictures show an example:

However, the order in which you create frames affects the "largest possible area" a frame can have. In general, it's best to create all the frames that divide the entire window first. Then, divide any of those frames into smaller frames.

For example, in the second row of pictures above, if there were already a separate frame "row" below the frames shown, you couldn't create a new frame "row" across the entire width of the window as shown. However, another way to create the same frame layout would be to divide the window into three frame "rows" and then divide the middle row into two frame "columns".

These limitations exist because of the way the HTML code for frames is structured. However, you don't need to understand the HTML structure in order to create and use frames. If you can't create the frame layout you want, try creating the frames you want in a different sequence.

To remove a frame:

1. Put your cursor in the frame you want to remove and choose FormatFramesDelete Frame.

   or

1. Move your mouse cursor to the frame border.
2. When your cursor looks like the one to the right, drag the frame border to the frame border next to it or to the edge of the page.
3. AOLpress will ask if you want to destroy the frame. Click Yes to remove the frame. (You cannot remove the last frame from a FrameSet page.)

To resize a frame:

1. Move your mouse cursor to a frame border.
2. When your cursor looks like the one above, drag the border.

To set an exact size for your frames:

1. Select the frame to which you want to assign a size.
2. Choose the FormatFramesFrame Size menu item. You will see a window like this:
   

• Percent: Initially, frame sizes are set to percentages of the entire page window size. For example, if the window is divided into a left and right frame, the percentages might be 30% and 70%.
• Pixels: Selecting this option and typing a number of pixels sets a specific width or height for a frame. However, you should use a Relative size for at least one frame in each direction. This allows one frame to adjust to different page window sizes while the other frames stay the same size.
• Relative: Selecting this option lets you give frames sizes that are relative to each other. If you want one frame to use all the remaining space after you specify pixel sizes for other frames, select Relative and use a relative width or height of 1. For example, if you want frame2 to be three times the width of frame1, use a relative width of 3 for frame2 and 1 for frame1.

For example, if you want narrow frames across the top and left edge of the window, the frames could have the sizes shown here:

To edit the contents of a frame:

1. Click inside a frame. The border of the frame will be outlined in red. (If the page is outlined in magenta, the entire FrameSet is selected.)
2. Edit the page within the frame as you would normally. Commands you select apply to the contents of the selected frame. For example, if you use Spell Check, it checks the text in the frame you have selected.

To save frames:

When you save the contents of a frame, the frame layout and the contents of the other frames are not saved automatically.

1. To save the contents of other frames, select each frame and choose the FileSave menu item.
2. To save the frame layout, select the FrameSet and choose the FileSave menu item. (If you follow links within your frames, the pages that are displayed when you save the FrameSet will be displayed the next time you open the FrameSet.)
3. If you use Save As to save the FrameSet to another directory, AOLpress normally saves the pages and images inside the frames unless you made absolute links to them. (You can control whether frame contents are saved by clicking the Options button.)

To put a page inside a frame:

1. Select the frame in which you want to put a page.
2. Use FileOpen to open the page you want inside that frame.
3. Use your mouse to drag the web icon (to the left of the Location field) into the frame you selected.

Or, you can put a page inside a frame this way:

1. Choose the FormatFramesFrame Info menu item. You will see a window like this:
   
2. Either type the name of the file in the URL field or click the Browse button to browse for the file.
3. In the Name field, give the frame a name. You will use this name when linking to pages that you want to appear in a particular frame. For example, "left" and "right".
4. If you check the Disable Scrolling box, there won't be any scroll bars around the frame. Make sure that the pages you display in a frame that can't scroll are small enough to fit even if the reader's browser window is small. And, don't forget to test your frame sizes on both Macintoshes and PCs with several different browsers.
5. If you check the Disable Resize box, readers won't be able to drag the frame borders to resize the frames. Since AOLpress is primarily for creating pages, you can resize the frames in AOLpress even if you check this box.
6. You can also set the Width and Height of the margin around the contents of a frame in pixels.

To work with the entire FrameSet:

1. Move your mouse cursor to the frame border until your cursor looks like the one to the right (or a cursor like the one to the right rotated a quarter turn).
2. Click your mouse button. The border of the entire page window will be outlined in magenta. (Or, you can choose FormatFramesSelect Frameset.)
3. You can use commands such as the following to work with the entire FrameSet:
   • EditUndo: Removes the last change you made to the frame sizes and layout.
   • FileSave or FileSave As: Saves the file that contains a definition of the frame layout. If you use Save As to save to another directory, AOLpress normally saves the pages and images inside the frames unless you made absolute links to them. (You can control whether frame contents are saved by clicking the Options button.)
   • ToolsShow HTML: Shows you the HTML tags that define your frame layout.
   • BrowseReload Page: Reloads the file that defines the frame layout.

To edit what people without frame support see:

Some older and less-common Web browsers do not support frames. AOLpress lets you see and edit what people using these browsers will see by hiding frames.

1. Select any individual frame in your window.
2. Choose the FormatFramesHide Frames menu item. This shows you what the FrameSet page looks like to people who use browsers that do not support frames.
3. Edit the page as you would edit a normal page. For example, you might want to cut and paste the contents of your main frame into the window you see when you hide frames. Also, don't forget to provide important links that are shown in your other frames. You may also want to provide a link that lets people download a browser (such as AOLpress) that supports frames.

To create links to frames:

If you want a link to show a page in a particular frame, you use the name you gave the frame as the "Target Frame" in the link. In addition, there are some special frame names you can choose from:

• _blank (this link displays the table of contents in a new window): Opens another page window and displays the linked page in that window. Each time someone clicks on link to the _blank frame, a new window opens, even if that page is already open in a separate window.
• _self (this link displays the table of contents in this frame): Puts the linked page in the same frame that contains the link. This also happens if you don't select any Target Frame for a link. You can use the back button in newer browsers to move back though pages you have visited in a frame.
• _top (this link displays the table of contents in the outermost frame in this window): Removes the frames from your page windows and displays the linked page. For example, if you link to another Web site, you should use the "_top" target so the other Web site won't be displayed inside your frame layout.
• _parent (this link displays the table of contents in the frame that contains this frame): Puts the linked page in the frame that contains the current frame. Unless you have a complex frame layout, this is usually the same as the _top frame.
• Any other name (this link displays the table of contents in a new window called "other"): Puts the linked page in a new window. (Netscape and Internet Explorer will reuse the new window if the reader leaves the window open and later follows a link with the same target name.)

For example, the two frames in this window are called "toc" (for Table of Contents) and "main". To create a link in the left frame that displays a page in the right frame, follow these steps:

1. Highlight some text in the left frame.
2. Choose the ElementLink menu item.
3. Type the filename of the page you want to display in the Link to Page field. For example, you could type new.htm.
4. In the Target Frame field, select the frame in which you want to display the page. For example, this frame is called "main".
5. Click OK to create the link.

You can also select a target frame when you are creating links in an image map, when you are checking links, and when you are selecting a form handler. (The target for a form handler determines which frame will display the results of the program the form runs.)

See also: