How am I going to do this?

It doesn't matter if you do all the error checking in the world, or if you have the most beautiful graphics, if your site or application design isn't usable, it's not going to do well. Get input and advice on usability and user interface issues here.

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seodevhead
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How am I going to do this?

Post by seodevhead »

Hey guys... I need some help figuring out how I am going to accomplish something with one of my web applications. This particular application needs to allow a user to submit a form (one text field) and upon submitting, the user is taken to an external website (another domain), but at the bottom there needs to be a small footer frame that keeps the user within the initial website that says something to the effect like, "click here to go back to the form", etc.

So essentially, after submitting the form, they are taken to another website, but I want a small footer frame loaded with a page on the initial server to be present with a link back to the aforementioned form.

I know what to do as far as the database/php stuff is concerned, but on the realm of this frames business, I haven't a clue. I hate using frames, but from what I gather, this is my only option, correct? Does anyone have any advice on how I can construct such a framed "after-submission-page" that will allow the submitter to go to another external website but still stay within the initial website?

The easiest way to describe the concept is to compare it very closely to how Google Images works. When you click on one of the images in google, it takes you to the website, but there is a frame on the top (mine would be bottom)... that keeps you within Google.

Any guidance or suggestions on this matter would be greatly appreciated. Thanks so much.
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Kieran Huggins
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Post by Kieran Huggins »

Is this a trick question?

Use a frameset!
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seodevhead
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Post by seodevhead »

Kieran Huggins wrote:Is this a trick question?

Use a frameset!
So I guess frames are the only way to go with something like this? To be honest, I've never used frames before so I am in a whole new territory I know nothing about.

What is the browser support like right now for frames? Still good? I would imagine some browsers may be doing away with support in the future... or am I way to paranoid and framesets aren't going anywhere?
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Kieran Huggins
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Post by Kieran Huggins »

Frames are supported by all browsers IIRC.

Google for a frames tutorial - they're fairly straightforward.
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The Phoenix
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Post by The Phoenix »

Kieran Huggins wrote:Frames are supported by all browsers IIRC.

Google for a frames tutorial - they're fairly straightforward.
Most cell browsers do not. Neither does WebTV (I think?). Many search engines also have a harder time correctly correlating the content from frames into the overall context of the site - which can skew your rating.

Finally, virtually all accessibility browsers (Jaws, Fangs, etc) do not handle frames well, causing problems for tabbing and reading.

Avoid frames if possible. However, in the example you gave, thats the correct choice. I'd say use importing into your own content, but with the user logging into the external site, doing so would be a security nightmare (for users and you).

Frames is the right choice, although it will cause problems for some browsers.
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feyd
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Post by feyd »

Last time I used WebTV (a long time ago) it supported frames.
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