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Sustainable Development Communications Network |
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Framing Web Sites: FARN's ExperienceBy Nikki SkuceFebruary 2001 About FARNOrganization: Fundación Ambiente y Recursos Naturales (FARN) http://www.farn.org.ar Objectives: FARN is a non-profit, non-governmental, non-partisan organization. Its main objective is the promotion of policy, law, economics and institutional organization for sustainable development. It is addressed, mainly, to public and private decision-makers. Mission: The foundation's mission, and the method used to achieve it, respond to the conviction that the challenge lies in how to organize in order to meet complex human needs without negative effects on the environment. Staff: Employees – 13 Users: Staff from public organizations, NGOs, businesses and universities, lawyers, judges, legislators, economists, sociologists, journalists, professors and university students. What is a frame?Frames divide Web pages into multiple, scrollable regions. Information can be presented in a more flexible and useful fashion. Frames allow the establishment of constant features, such as control bars, title graphics, copyright notices and table of contents, that the user will always see. In other words, when the user clicks on a link in the table of contents, the information appears in the adjoining frame, while keeping the table of contents fixed. Technically, frames are multiple pages seen as one. For example, a Web site with two frames needs three files to operate. An HTML frameset file needs to be created without the usual <body> coding, and with <frameset> </frameset> definitions. This file defines how the screen will be organized and what files will open up within it. The codes for the frames' attributes, such as size, margin widths, the inclusion of scroll bars, etc., are included here. The other two files use regular coding, and include whatever information you want to appear in each frame. Difficulties encountered using framesA number of difficulties emerge when using frames. The most common annoyance arises when printing. If the user's mouse is not over the frame they would like to print, they could end up with a printout of the table of contents or title, and not the information they wanted from the moveable frame. The address seen at the top of the page, will not necessarily take you to the page you would like to bookmark, link to or send to in an e-mail. For example, if FARN's Web site was set up in frames and the user frequently used their legal database EcoLegis, the address at the top might simply read: http://www.farn.org.ar. Bookmarking this site, creating a link to it from your page or sending the reference to a colleague, would therefore lead you to the FARN home page, and not to the EcoLegis page within the site. The URL points to the frameset and not necessarily to the current or desired view. Frames can also be slower to load because the server must go through a sequence instead of reading and opening one page in a single action. Older versions can't always read frames, and the back button, one of the Internet's most used features, doesn't always work in older versions of Netscape. History of FARN's Web site and use of framesFARN first developed their Web site in 1997. Soon after, frames emerged as the new, innovative technique in design. In thinking that frames were more user friendly and better in general, FARN began converting their site into frames in 1998. The site was developed so that the left menu would remain fixed and there would be one moveable page. Once the technique was learned, it was not overly complicated to program FARN's site into frames. Maintaining it didn't pose any extra challenges either. However, pretty soon it became apparent that having a site with frames had many disadvantages, similar to those described above. In 1999, FARN took out the frames and moved back to a simpler design. A few of the larger documents remain in the old Publications section of the framed site because of the difficulty and time it would take to move them to the new format. Therefore accessing some publications links the user back to the old framed site. ConclusionThings to keep in mind in deciding whether to use frames: Is there a need for frames? Will they really facilitate usage? How should users navigate through the site? Who uses the site? Are people mainly visiting a site for information that they might want to print or bookmark? It´s probably best not to use frames if there is any uncertainty about them. The more complicated web site, the greater the chance for bugs and for incompatibility with older computers. While sites should be innovative and attractive to users, design trends should not always be followed. Contact: FARN |
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