When designing a new website, one of your first decisions is whether or not to use frames. Frames technology allows you to have more than one web page on your screen at same time.

Typically a frames site will include a navigation menu down side or across top, with main or contents page filling rest of screen, however you can use 3, 4, 5, or more frames if there is any advantage to your site from doing so.

ADVANTAGES OF FRAMES

1) Frames can make your site easier to navigate because you can have a constantly visible navigation menu - and as you should know, easy navigation is one of most important aspects of website design.

2) Frames can make your site faster because you can include site theme (images, logo, etc..), and navigation menu, in frames that do not have to download each time a visitor looks at a new page. Only contents page changes.

3) Using frames can make it easier to design and maintain your site, especially if you have a large site. If for example you want to add a new page that is linked from other pages on your site, you simply add a link on your navigation menu; you do not have to add links on each and every page.

(However top web design software allows you to create templates which can give similar results. You create a template and then create pages for your site based on this template. Then whenever you make a change on template, web pages based on this template can be automatically updated. This is essential if you have a large site and don't use frames.)

4) Frames can make your site more interesting and can also allow you to have permanently visible advertising banners. Take a look at Word magazine site www.word.com - well worth a visit and one of most innovative sites we have found from a design point of view.

DISADVANTAGES

> This is a suggestion for an inclusion of an article on site > design tips. It would be great if you could give some URL's of > "excellently" designed sites with reasons WHY they are > superior, in order to give a model to those of us who are still > amateurs at web design . Maybe also a not-so-good-one, > but then again, that may be construed as slander.

I told Marvin that was a great idea, and that I'd love to do an article like that-and that's what this article is. However, instead of focusing on sites themselves, I'm going to focus on aspects of sites that make them so great. So, let's begin.

First, there are always *five core elements to a successful website*: global navigation, clean and attractive design, effective sales copy, appropriate text formatting, and value to visitor. Let's explore each of these in more detail:

(Please note that with each element I explain, I may give an example of a good site and possibly a bad site. In no way are these examples meant to be an insult to site owners or reflect upon quality of their products. I'm simply pointing out what is, in my opinion, good design and bad design.)

1. Global Navigation - It's absolutely vital that your visitors be able to quickly and easily navigate your site and find what they need. In order to provide for this, a site must have a navigation system that will allow them to reach main sections of site immediately, and it must always be available and recognizable to visitor.

o Good Example: www.sybren.net. I'm probably a little biased here as this is my site, but really, note that no matter what selection you make or what part of site you're in, you can always get to "main" parts of site with one click.

o Bad Example: www.magic-city.net. Note that as you move through this site, you have to constantly return to home page in order to navigate to other pages.