Is using frames still bad?

[notfred]

I want to build a web application with an e-mail like interface, with a column on the left, and two panes on the right above one another. I want all three of these regions to be resizable by the user. Frames is the only way I can think of to make these resizable regions on a page.

Suggestions?

 

[Cobalt]

Why the need for resize? Maybe each section could be openabl in a new window, but if that causes too much clutter I guess you could just go with iframes.

 

[notfred]

Originally posted by: cobalt
Why the need for resize? Maybe each section could be openabl in a new window, but if that causes too much clutter I guess you could just go with iframes.

The same reason you want to resize windows in your mail application. Sometimes you want to look through a list of messages, and sometimes you want to make a single message take up most of the screen.

 

[MrChad]

Use frames.

Unlike general web sites, web applications frequently require specific interface features such as the one you are describing. If frames accomplish what you want, why not use them?

 

[Kilrsat]

I'd see this as one of the times were the drawbacks to frames don't matter:

Not being able to see the real address?
Who cares, they only need the address to the mail front end, not the individual message.

Back button a little goofy?
They'll be using the interface for navigation for the most part, and the limited use of back should still work.

External links open strange?
As long as you remember to target new windows with links inside of the messages it'll work exactly like their normal mail program.

So go ahead, use frames.

 

[AFB]

JavaScript & resizable blocks?

I guess it's possible.



<-- Would also use frames

 

[Firus]

All through school we learned how bad frames are and they "Tried" to teach us how to use alternate techniques. However most of the profs resorted to using them even for their websites. For a web-app I would use them too

 

[sciencewhiz]

What does microsoft use for OWA?

 

[znaps]

You could get the best of both worlds by using frames and making sure every link address recreates the whole page, frames and all. You'd need a server side framework that would handle this. I could do it using JSP with Struts.

 

[mugs]

Use frames. Frames have a bad reputation because people used them as design elements for the sake of using them when they first came around. If you're using it for an app where function is more important than design, and frames are the best way to accomplish that functionality, go for it.