Frames, Tables, or Div Layers?
Not sure which to use, frames, tables, or div layers? Perhaps this article will help. :)
FRAMES
PROS: You only have to edit one or a few pages, so basically the layout around your frame changes while the pages within the frame are constant, or don't need to be changed.
CONS: They can be a pain when you forget to target your main frame, so the layout gets all messed up looking and visitors don't know what to do. Not all computers support frames, so some people may end up not being able to view your website. Frames can only do so much- after a while on the web, you've pretty much seen every possibility with frames, so it just gets boring. If someone finds your page on a search engine and it isn't the home page, they'll be left with a page of content and no navigation, which will result in them leaving the page shortly and never being able to see your whole site.
TABLES
PROS: They can look so much cooler than frames. They offer more space to display graphics, and unlimited space to scroll down, while frames have a set height. Tables are used by most of the web, and can look very professional. They also offer much more control over exactly where everything is placed on a page.
CONS: They're hard to code unless you're using an html editor such as FrontPage or Dream Weaver. Especially if you're hand coding them, they can get easily messed up. If you change the layout, you have to change every page. They can also become very complicated and un-validate your coding.
DIV LAYERS
PROS: If you're good at coding, this can be the easiest way to have valid coding. They look very nice and with the CSS, are easily changeable. Changing your layout is a breeze.
CONS: They can be difficult and confusing to code.
---------------------------
Some of the cons for frames, tables, and div layers can be fixed. The reason you see so many sites with tables or div layers is because you can add PHP includes or server side includes and then you just have to have a header and footer that you change. For frames you can have each page link to the homepage to eliminate the problem of people finding a random page of your site through a search engine.
It really just depends on what your site is about, whether it be a personal site, graphics, or anything else. It also depends on how devoted to your site you are, and how much time you want to spend on your layout. Happy choosing. :)
