Must I use frames for this?

Question

I have some external links that I'd like to keep within a
site versus opening a new browser window (for branding purposes).
Do I need to set up a page with frames to essentially bring those
sites into my main content area?
Thanks!
Eric

Answer 1

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sorry, i left this part out of my last message, and just
wanted to
mention that i'm aware of the page history button next to the
back
button that allows you to choose which page to go back to,
and use it
often. but many people do not know about that handy option,
and would
instead just keep clicking the button until they get back to
where they
want to be.
that's all!
courtney (n h c) wrote:
> sorry, but i disagree. what if the visitor is taken to
the other site
> and starts clicking around in that site? then they have
to click the
> back button who knows how many times to get back to the
page they were
> on to begin with. i, personally, would much rather just
have to click
> the close button once on the new tab or window, than
click "back"
> however many times it takes me to back to the original
page.
> obviously, everyone has their own preferences, but i'm
gonna have to
> go with one click over several on this one. not to
mention, what if
> the new site has some kind of form on it that they fill
out? i doubt i
> have to tell you what happens with a lot of forms when
you try to
> click back to where you were before the form.
>
> also, what if the visitor gets caught up in the new
website and
> forgets where they started in the first place? the back
button won't
> help then. they're just gone. and my company has lost a
potential
> customer. but if the new site is in a different tab or
window, when
> they close it they'll see my site again, and be all
like, "oh yeah! i
> was looking at this site before. guess i'll look at it
some more."
>
> i guess i'm not so worried about people who don't notice
when a new
> window or tab is opening. it's fairly obvious when that
happens. and
> if it's that much of a concern, you can add an alert
pop-up that lets
> them know the link is opening a new window. i have a
link on one of
> the websites i work on that has an alert that says
something like
> "this link is opening a different website in a new
window. close that
> window to return to this site." i did this because
having it open in
> the same window was confusing people. they thought the
new site was
> part of ours.
>
> i'd be interested in other people's thoughts on this.
>
> Michael Fesser wrote:
>> .oO(courtney (n h c))
>>
>>
>>> yeah, that would probably be the only way to do
it. but i'd recommend
>>> just opening them in a new window. i've done it
with frames before, and
>>> it just doesn't work well. you're basically
trying to fit one website
>>> into another, and it generally looks horrible
(not to mention the
>>> various drawbacks involved in using frames in
general). i understand the
>>> desire to keep people on your site, but you can
achieve that by having
>>> the links open in a new window/tab, because your
site will still be
>>> there when the visitor closes the new
window/tab.
>>>
>>
>> It's an illusion that you can keep visitors on your
own site if you open
>> external links in a new window. People know how to
use a "back" button -
>> it's the second-most used function in a browser. New
windows/tabs might
>> even be confusing, because they break(!) this
important function.
>>
>> Frames and the 'target' attribute are not allowed in
all strict (X)HTML
>> standards for good reasons. It's best to simply link
to the other site,
>> without trying to mess with how or where the browser
will display it.
>> Let the browser and the user decide such things.
>>
>> <a href="
http://example.com">another
site</a>
>>
>> That's it. Can't get easier.
>>
>> Micha
>>
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Content-Type: text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01
Transitional//EN">
<html>
<head>
<meta content="text/html;charset=ISO-8859-1"
http-equiv="Content-Type">
</head>
<body bgcolor="#ffffff" text="#000000">
sorry, i left this part out of my last message, and just
wanted to
mention that i'm aware of the page history button next to the
back
button that allows you to choose which page to go back to,
and use it
often. but many people do not know about that handy option,
and would
instead just keep clicking the button until they get back to
where they
want to be.<br>
<br>
that's all!<br>
<br>
courtney (n h c) wrote:
<blockquote cite="mid:[email protected]"
type="cite">
<meta content="text/html;charset=ISO-8859-1"
http-equiv="Content-Type">
<title></title>
sorry, but i disagree. what if the visitor is taken to the
other site
and starts clicking around in that site? then they have to
click the
back button who knows how many times to get back to the page
they were
on to begin with. i, personally, would much rather just have
to click
the close button once on the new tab or window, than click
"back"
however many times it takes me to back to the original page.
obviously,
everyone has their own preferences, but i'm gonna have to go
with one
click over several on this one. not to mention, what if the
new site
has some kind of form on it that they fill out? i doubt i
have to tell
you what happens with a lot of forms when you try to click
back to
where you were before the form.<br>
<br>
also, what if the visitor gets caught up in the new website
and forgets
where they started in the first place? the back button won't
help then.
they're just gone. and my company has lost a potential
customer. but if
the new site is in a different tab or window, when they close
it
they'll see my site again, and be all like, "oh yeah! i was
looking at
this site before. guess i'll look at it some more."<br>
<br>
i guess i'm not so worried about people who don't notice when
a new
window or tab is opening. it's fairly obvious when that
happens. and if
it's that much of a concern, you can add an alert pop-up that
lets them
know the link is opening a new window. i have a link on one
of the
websites i work on that has an alert that says something like
"this
link is opening a different website in a new window. close
that window
to return to this site." i did this because having it open in
the same
window was confusing people. they thought the new site was
part of
ours. <br>
<br>
i'd be interested in other people's thoughts on
this.<br>
<br>
Michael Fesser wrote:
<blockquote
cite="mid:[email protected]"
type="cite">
<pre wrap="">.oO(courtney (n h c))
</pre>
<blockquote type="cite">
<pre wrap="">yeah, that would probably be the only way
to do it. but i'd recommend
just opening them in a new window. i've done it with frames
before, and
it just doesn't work well. you're basically trying to fit one
website
into another, and it generally looks horrible (not to mention
the
various drawbacks involved in using frames in general). i
understand the
desire to keep people on your site, but you can achieve that
by having
the links open in a new window/tab, because your site will
still be
there when the visitor closes the new window/tab.
</pre>
</blockquote>
<pre wrap=""><!---->
It's an illusion that you can keep visitors on your own site
if you open
external links in a new window. People know how to use a
"back" button -
it's the second-most used function in a browser. New
windows/tabs might
even be confusing, because they break(!) this important
function.
Frames and the 'target' attribute are not allowed in all
strict (X)HTML
standards for good reasons. It's best to simply link to the
other site,
without trying to mess with how or where the browser will
display it.
Let the browser and the user decide such things.
&lt;a href=<a moz-do-not-send="true"
class="moz-txt-link-rfc2396E"
href="
http://example.com">"http://example.com"</a>&gt;another
site&lt;/a&gt;
That's it. Can't get easier.
Micha
</pre>
</blockquote>
</blockquote>
</body>
</html>
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