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Posted by Ed Mullen on 02/24/07 01:43
Caleb wrote:
> How do I keep a certain portion of my website always visible? eg: a
> footer that is always displayed at the bottom regardless of the page,
> also a section on the left with links to my home page, contact info,
> links, etc. always displayed on the left w/out having to put that
> stuff in on every single page.
>
Iframes (and frames) have problems.
Javascript has problems.
Java and Flash have problems.
Browsers are not created equal.
There is no single approach that will solve all problems and remove all
obstacles other than making plain text HTML pages that have links as the
only interactive feature. Media (sound and video)? Nah. Problems.
Images? Well, a little better but still not universally consistent in
all cases ... problems.
Still ... if your choice is to create this design, then you need to
choose among the least of the evils. That is what I chose to do. I am
not able to use any server-side solution, my ISP simply doesn't offer
it. I like the drop-down menu concept, I wanted to be able to change
just a couple of files to change the menus and footer on all of my
couple-of-hundred Web pages by changing just a few files. I was willing
to cede those users who refuse to use javascript.
So. I use javascript to generate the menu content, and the footer
content, on the fly when a page is loaded. Should a user have js
disabled the page will degrade to a level of navagability, although it
certainly isn't as "pretty." But the user can get to everything on the
site. So be it. Paranoia about javascript threats on the Internet is
largely overblown. And to change every menu on 200 some pages on my
sites means editing two files. To change every footer on those pages
means editing one file. And, yes, I have a competent text editor in
which I create manually all of my pages and it does have Regular
Expression Search and Replace. Not anywhere close to the convenience of
what I do now. No, I have no desire to buy, learn, and embrace a CMS
software package. Nor do I want all the extra code added to 200+ pages
that that would entail.
Hey, your mileage may vary, just my 3.5 cents adjusted for inflation.
--
Ed Mullen
http://edmullen.net
http://mozilla.edmullen.net
http://abington.edmullen.net
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