Cross Frame Menus

When designing a web page, frames can be used to split the page into separate sections. This allows the browser to load and display multiple files or pages on the screen. Even though two or more pages in the frameset are visible at all times, each file is displayed in a different pane.

Perhaps the most common use for building web pages with frames is to use one pane to show the site's navigation buttons. The other panes are then used to display the selected page content. This setup represents the most common implementation of cross frames menus.

The use of cross frame menus on your website can substantially decrease the number of times visitors to the site have to reload or refresh their browsers, when moving from one page to another. Cross frame menus can also significantly reduce the amount of time the developer has to spend on maintaining and updating their site. This is because a large portion of the changes are made to one central file.

Don't be Scared

Because several of the earlier browser versions don't fully support frames, many website designers and developers of web-based applications tend to shy away from incorporating cross frame menus in their websites. However, for the most part, all of these problems have been corrected in later versions. Thus, in an effort to simplify the process of navigating a website with multiple pages, website designers might want to consider utilizing cross frame menus.