Redesigning website, to add a CMS, looking for options beside iframes.

[manuqc]

Hi guys,

Well as the title says, I am going to redesign (transfer...) a website I designed myself into Expression Engine CMS, as we will be needing some strong backend, for products, members,multilingual management etc...

So my question is what can I use besides Iframes? the page I am talking about
(ozomate.com ---english part working)is presently designed using a main iframe ('contents' --- which is inside of a Div = 'content') displaying embedded pages. Thing is I want (embedded) pages be able to resize depending on their content (and as far as I know Iframes are fixed to a given size). I just find out
uframe... I am wondering if anyone knows about it? or what about using GetElementById with js. I am open to any thoughts about.

As I am still learning the Expression engine interface, and will be actually moving the site once I decide the content display way I will use.

Any help will be really appreciated, Thank you in advance for your time.


manu

[Medyman]

Hey Manu...

I don't understand the point of using iframes here. Even without a CMS, there really is no benefit gained from doing this. I suppose you're trying to keep the header uniform across all sites. This can be accomplished with a simple server side include.

In any case, this question is really one for the ExpressionEngine forums (http://www.expressionengine.com/index.php?affiliate=visualbinary&page=/forums/). It deals greatly with the structure and philosophy of ExpressionEngine. These types of techniques have been thoroughly discussed there, so instead of repeating things, I'll leave you to browse their forum.

As far as maintaining a consistent interface, ExpressionEngine has something called "embed" or "sub" templates (http://expressionengine.com/docs/templates/embedding_templates.html). Basically, these are server side includes. So, you could place your menu's HTML into an "embed" template, and then include it on your subsequent pages. So, you don't need iframes.

If you're using iframes for another reason that to keep the menu on all pages, please let us know.

[manuqc]

Thank you very much for your answer, I think that I didn't explained myself correctly. I was not saying that I wanted to keep Iframes, but completely the opposite, actually I want to get rid of the iframe architecture in ozomate.com
and figure out something else to have the same website working, but within
the Expression Engine architecture.

I am really new to this concept of embedding content using templates which is the way they do, and probably I was confusing myself because I already have that site designed using an Iframe config.

So what do you refer when you say "simple server side include" (I excuse myself but I am not familiar with that)

I will be designing another site after this one, and will not like to use iframes at all on it. I'll appreciate your time again.

[smswetz]

PHP Include is what he's referring to, and it follows a similar setup as iframes, but more compatible and more acceptable.

http://www.w3schools.com/PHP/php_includes.asp

Basically you have seperate html files, (ie a header html, a body html, a menu html, and a footer html) and they are all included via php include in one main php file. You don't need much php knowledge for this, and it makes for a simple iframe alternative.

[Medyman]

@Manu...

Why were you using iframes in the first place? I'm assuming that it was to maintain a consistent menu at the top of all the pages, correct?

Say, you have a website with 5 pages. On each page is the same exact header and footer. You could copy and paste the code for the header and footer to each of the 5 pages. That would ensure that the same menu is on top of all of the pages. Now, say you added a 6th page down the line. You now have to go back to ALL of the previous 5 pages and make that change. If you have numerous pages, it can get to be very tedious and annoying!

Now, the concept of "embeds" or "includes" is such. I enter the code for my header in a separate file or template. I do the same for the footer. Then, I create the main webpage sans header/footer (this would be the equivalent to your content within the iframe). Now, I can simply say take the contents of the "header" file and place it above my flash movie. Take the contents of the "footer" file and place it below my flash movie. I do this to all of my 5 pages. When it comes time to add the 6th, I only have to edit the "header" template and all others will be automatically updated.

It's a feature of convenience more than anything else.