Don't Be Annoying
Why You Should Never EVER Use Frames
Frames cause all sorts of navigation issues especially when coupled with using popups, disabling right-click and having disappearing submenus. What's the only thing worse than having a link trying to display in a constricted window size with normal browser settings disabled? Having the external link trying to display in a small frame located inside your template. Jakob Nielsen states that "splitting a page into frames is very confusing" and breaks the "fundamental user model of the web page". "All of a sudden, you cannot bookmark the current page and return to it (the bookmark points to another version of the frameset), URLs stop working, and printouts become difficult. Even worse, the predictability of user actions goes out the door: who knows what information will appear where when you click on a link?" Essentially frames are more hassle than they are worth. For more information on why you should never ever EVER use frames, please read this informative article: Why Frames Suck.
You can have the same look and effect of a frame site only without the hassle of any of the navigation problems they create with scrolling divs and SSI. Server side includes enable sections of your website- like the navigation and footer areas for example- to be on a separate file which is linked to all the rest of your pages. This allows you to update the links in your navigation site-wide simply by updating one file. I can reproduce a site with frames identically without using them- and what's more- it requires no knowledge of scripting or that pesky target code frames require. SSI can be written in plain old simple html. So why fight the navigational problems and headache you cause your users by holding onto frames when there is something so much better in the world? See how I code my doll websites.
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