How to make a frameset

Explanation

A frameset is a webpage and its filename must end in .htm or .html. The title, of course, should be something sensible and informative.

If it's the first thing people see when they come to your site, the frameset page should be called index.html or index.htm - that's the filename, not the title. Otherwise, you might call it frameset.html to help yourself keep track. That's what we'll do here.

It's a special kind of page. It's divided into at least two sections and it's very much like a window frame. All you ever see of the page is the wooden (or whatever) struts and the outline, like the outer rectangular frame of a window. Then people will look through the panes of glass, and see other html pages that you have made, and installed into the sections of the frameset page. By clicking on links on one of those pages, when it's visible through one 'pane', other pages can be made to appear in different panes (= frames).

I do hope that makes sense - if not, hang on, it should become clearer. Or look at that sample two-frame frameset again - the page with the links, and page 1, and page 2, are separate html pages that are installed, or called by links, into the two frames. Here. To come back, don't click the 'back to tutorial link' or you'll go back to the first page of the tutorial instead of to here, the second page. Just close the new window.

All those three pages, the one on the left with the links, and page 1, and page 2 have different coloured backgrounds. You don't put background colours in the frames (you don't paint the individual windows, you need to see through them) - the colours are on the individual pages, likewise the cascading style sheets if you are using them.

Instructions

Make a new page. Save it into your website folder as frameset.html, or if this will be your homepage, just open index.html and remove all the content.

Now you are looking at a blank page, here's a screenshot of the top left hand corner of it.

Open the Objects palette and find the Frames tab.

Choose an arrangement of frames you like and drag the icon onto the page. Don't get too ambitious yet, let's stick to two or three frames!