FrameShop Definitions

Output Window -- Required

You can choose to have the frames document you specify displayed in the current browser window or in a separate output window. An advantage of choosing a separate window is that it is easier to go back and change some of the settings of your frames documents. If you choose the same window, then going back to change settings will be slower since you'll have to wait for the browser to redraw the window. Another advantage of a separate window is that it will remember the previous frames documents you specified and so you can easily go back and compare the effects of selecting different input values.

Main Frames -- Required

You must choose whether the browser window will be divided into 2 or 3 main frames (and then give the sizes for them). That is really the minimum requirement for using FrameShop. You can choose to have the browser window divided vertically so the main frames will appear as columns or horizontally so the main frames will appear as rows.

Border Size -- Optional

The Border Size specifies the number of pixels to use for the width of the frame borders. If you leave this blank, the default will be used which is generally 5 pixels on most browsers. If you set it to 0, no frame borders will be drawn.

Sub Frames -- Optional

If you'd like, you can choose to divide any main frame you specify into 2 or 3 sub frames. Since you can have 3 main frames and each main frame can have 3 sub frames, you can make a frames document with a total of 9 frames!

Size -- Required

This is very important information so please pay attention! For any main frame or sub frame you want to create, you MUST specify a size for it. If you are creating horizontal frames, the size values represents the height of the frames. Alternatively, if you are creating vertical frames, the size values represents the width of the frames. The size of frames can be specified as a fixed number of pixels, a percentage of the window size, or as a relative proportion of the window size. You do NOT have to use the same method for all the frames you specify. If you want to make one frame 100 pixels wide and then give whatever space is left to another frame, you can do that.

A plain number is assumed to be a fixed size in pixels. Since not everyone has the same size browser window, it is dangerous to rely strictly on this method for determining the sizes of all your frames. If you specify a frame to be a fixed number of pixels, you should always specify the size of at least one other frame as a relative proportion.

To specify the size of frames as relative proportions of one another, you need to use the asterisk symbol (*). In the above example, to have one frame 100 pixels wide and then give whatever space is left for a second frame, you would enter 100 for the first and * for the second. To have three frames of the same size, you would enter one * for each. You can also use numeric modifiers to increase the relative proportions of particular frames. For example, if you have three frames and you want one to be twice as big as the others, you would enter 2* for it and * for each of the other two. I highly recommend that you specify the sizes of frames using relative proportions whenever possible.

A number between 1 and 100 followed by the percentage sign (%) specifies the size of the frame as a percentage of the size of the browser window. If the total width or height of your frames doesn't equal 100%, the frames will be scaled up or down as needed. You can also mix percentages with relative proportions. For example, you can make one frame 10% wide and then enter * for a second one to give it whatever space is left (entering * for the first frame and 9* for the second frame would accomplish the same thing).

Scroll Bars -- Optional

Normally, the browser will determine whether a frame needs scroll bars or not, but choosing 'yes' for a frame will always show them and choosing 'no' never shows them. Choosing 'auto' is the same thing as leaving it blank but you can choose it if you want it explicitly stated. (Note: the scroll bar settings of a main frame will be ignored if it is divided into sub frames. The scroll bar settings for its sub frames will be used instead.)

No Resize -- Optional

Selecting the 'No Resize' checkbox will prevent users from resizing the frame. The default behavior is that frames can be resized. Making a frame not resizable will affect whether or not adjacent frames are resizable as well. So if you have two frames, and you specify that one can't be resized, the other one won't be resizable either. (Note: the resize settings of a main frame will be ignored if it is divided into sub frames. The resize settings for its sub frames will be used instead.)

Margin Height -- Optional

The margin height specifies the number of pixels between the contents of a frame and the top and bottom edges of the frame. (Note: the margin height of a main frame will be ignored if it is divided into sub frames. The margin height values specified for its sub frames will be used instead.)

Margin Width -- Optional

The margin width specifies the number of pixels between the contents of a frame and the left and right edges of the frame. (Note: the margin width settings of a main frame will be ignored if it is divided into sub frames. The margin width settings for its sub frames will be used instead.)

Name -- Optional

You can specify the name of a frame if you want to target links and/or form output to be displayed in that particular frame. The name must begin with an alpha-numeric character or your the TARGET attribute will not work. I highly recommend reading Netscape's Targeting Windows document for a more-detailed explanation of this. If you would like to use frames successfully on your site, then you will need to have a good understanding of targeting. (Note: the name of a main frame will be ignored if it is divided into sub frames. The names for its sub frames will be used instead.)

FrameShop | Definitions | Resources | FAQ