Change Whats in the Iframe

[calum112]

Ok i think this may be a simple one (although my explanation is longwinded :

I have my website which is a big corporate site, there are a set of 8 or so links on the lefthand menu which when clicked have to accordingly change the content on the right. The easy way to do this is have a link open another page with the appropriate content on it. But i have speed in mind so i thought it would be better to just have the content on the right change rather than have the whole page of images etc reload.

Is there an easy way to do this? I was thinking of putting an iframe on the right and the links change the page that is viewed in the iframe, is it possible to do this though? bearing in mind the menu would be outside of the iframe.

Any help is much appreciated, at the moment i have a mouseover effect which is a pain to navigate with (www.paramountpanels.com/uk/).

Thank you

Calum

[darco9x2]

you can name the frame on the right right in the frame part:
<frameset name="right" or whatever
and then add target=right into the links

[mwinter]

The easy way to do this is have a link open another page with the appropriate content on it.

Yes, and that is precisely what you should do.

But i have speed in mind

Framing a site provides little benefit for the problems it causes. I hope I don't need to point out that there are laws applicable to the UK that stipulate a website must be accessible. Relying on Javascript (which you do with parts of your menu), omitting alt text[1], and using frames all hinder accessibility. Even if they don't apply to your site, they are good guidelines to follow as they help all users navigate, and interact with, your site.

The mark-up for a well-authored document (namely one which avoids tables-for-layout) will be extremely small. A navigation menu should add but a few kilobytes, so you aren't saving anything.

rather than have the whole page of images etc reload.

Any content served, including images, should be cached so that isn't an issue.

at the moment i have a mouseover effect which is a pain to navigate with

Indeed it is. If I needed to use the site, I would seriously consider disabling Javascript for the duration. Please remove it.

Mike


[1] Whilst some of the more important images do have alternative text, some of that text is wrong (for instance, the tagline "technology you can trust" rather than "About us"). However, all images require alt text. Those images that are purely decorative should specify an empty string: alt="".

[calum112]

Okay I will scrap framing it then.

Indeed it is. If I needed to use the site, I would seriously consider disabling Javascript for the duration. Please remove it.

Yes I don't know if you noticed but you can also click the links on the left incase java script is disabled.

Any content served, including images, should be cached so that isn't an issue.

Okay a bit off topic but what do the 'preload images' scripts do? - Are they worth installing?



Well i am going to remove the content changing thingy so you just see the introduction.


I would still like to have a script on the homepage which when you hover over the link it changes a small proportion of the home page so i can put in a picture and basic details about that link, i would however like it to revert back to the defalt content after the mouse is taken off the link. Does any one know of such a script?

Thanks for all the help

[mwinter]

you can also click the links on the left incase java script is disabled.

With the exception of the "Panels" section.

By the way, Javascript is one word - it has nothing to do with the Java language.

Okay a bit off topic but what do the 'preload images' scripts do?

They (attempt to) coerce the browser into loading an image before it's requested by the user. The theory is that whilst the user is viewing something (and so they're probably not using their connection), extra data can be downloaded.

Are they worth installing?

Yes and no. They're a bad thing for dial-up users if they're abused. However, when used appropriately they can improve an interface by making it more responsive.

I would still like to have a script on the homepage which when you hover over the link it changes a small proportion of the home page [...] Does any one know of such a script?

Not offhand but I've written one. The example is basic, but complete.

The restrictions involved are such that the links must be contained within an element whose id is passed to the init method. The parent for links must be a block-level (or block-like) element, and the rollover container will be positioned relative to that element. The correct mark-up would be a list (as in the example), but I haven't necessarily forced that upon you.

The content at the moment is restricted to plain text. If you need more than that, I'll have to make some modifications.

Mike

[calum112]

With the exception of the "Panels" section.

Yeh it used to have a page for that but it looked crap so i deleted it... spose id better make a new one then.

By the way, Javascript is one word - it has nothing to do with the Java language.

Yeh the ol' finger must have slipped

Not offhand but it should be simple (script coming soon...).

On the topic of scripts though the one i'm using at the moment (which comes from dynamic drive as i'm sure you have noticed - Textual tooltip Script ) distorts all the right hand of the page in dreamweaver - its width is like 1000000 although I have set them all to the correct size. Is ther something i'm missing?

ta

[mwinter]

Is ther something i'm missing?

I wouldn't know. I'm not familiar with the script. If no one else suggests an answer, I'll have a look.

Mike


My previous post has been updated.