Whats that code?

Sun Feb 06, 2005 4:49 am

I'm not sure if this belongs here, but here goes:

Say I have 10 Pages, and I have a sidebar that displays on all the pages. I have to change the sidebar but dont want to re-edit all the pages. Isnt there a code thats does if this page changes in this part, so and so page will also change?

Sun Feb 06, 2005 9:16 am

Nope, it's not that easy.

You can use frames (or iframe/ilayer tags) to embed pages into the main, "template" page with the navigation. That way, you'll only have to update the navigation frame to update navigation everywhere.
You can use javascript to store your navigation (and reference it from every page) -- update the javascript file, and your navigation will update on all pages. This fails if your visitors do not have javascript enabled.
You can use PHP to "template" your website, but that requires PHP.

Sun Feb 06, 2005 7:11 pm

Hunter Lupe wrote:Nope, it's not that easy.

You can use frames (or iframe/ilayer tags) to embed pages into the main, "template" page with the navigation. That way, you'll only have to update the navigation frame to update navigation everywhere.
You can use javascript to store your navigation (and reference it from every page) -- update the javascript file, and your navigation will update on all pages. This fails if your visitors do not have javascript enabled.
You can use PHP to "template" your website, but that requires PHP.

Bleh, PHP >.>

That iframe idea doesnt sound too bad, I've seen websites use it before.

Sun Feb 06, 2005 10:30 pm

don't get hooked on iframes though cuz not all browsers display them the same way.

Mon Feb 07, 2005 4:46 am

Obviously you don't like PHP all that much, but that's what I use on my site. PHP includes allow you to put certain things on all the pages that have a certain code on them that "includes" the uploaded file with the segment of code you want to display. So, if you change that one file, all the pages with the PHP include telling them to display it will change automatically. It's really handy when you have a lot of pages. That probably didn't make a whole lot of sense, I'm not very good at explaining things...LOL...but look up "PHP includes" on google and you should get something on them. They're pretty simple.

Tue Feb 08, 2005 1:04 am

You don't need to use PHP Includes. Just use SSI... here's a simplified tutorial:

http://www.crucialparadigm.com/resource ... torial.php

Fri Feb 11, 2005 8:59 pm

i think normal frames work perfectly on every browser

Sat Feb 12, 2005 1:47 am

i think normal frames work perfectly on every browser

Frames are anti-professional, anti-SEO and anti-W3 standards. Definitely not an option for any remotely serious web designer.

Sat Feb 12, 2005 10:48 am

FlareEyes wrote:Frames are anti-professional, anti-SEO and anti-W3 standards. Definitely not an option for any remotely serious web designer.

I though they were part of W3C standards? http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/present/frames.html

Sat Feb 12, 2005 8:55 pm

Hunter Lupe wrote:
FlareEyes wrote:Frames are anti-professional, anti-SEO and anti-W3 standards. Definitely not an option for any remotely serious web designer.

I though they were part of W3C standards? http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/present/frames.html

Yes it is present in the standards, otherwise the fox wouldn't support them, but you have to understand that HTML was designed to be a flexible language which could be used in many environments. Frames are oriented towards more static pages, such as documentations, e-books or what else have you. Internet-wise, it just fails to be effective when used normally on page. That's why includes were created, because it dinanically generates the content, in a way that the page exists as a whole, not two or more pages artificially joined.

I'm not saying you can't use frames, it's just not professional or SEO friendly.