Should a modern intranet-only web application still use frames nor not?

Question

I'd like to ask about using frames in a modern intranet-only web application. Of course there a several reasons to use or probably not use frames in a modern internet web application. But what about when it comes to an intranet web applications (think about a financial application)?

Think about parts of the application which are most of the time constantly visible (like a toolbar, menu, identity et cetera), where frames can be a simple/faster solution to do things? Are these advantages that count these days when considering things like PPR?

I am curious and both thankful about your view on this.

Answer 1

Frames are frustrating no matter what. What about using AJAX to just refresh the parts of the page you are changing? Assuming you aren't stuck using IE6.

Answer 2

Frames should definitely not be used for toolbars or menus. Browsers cache the DOM when it matches exactly between pages, making iframes useless at best, and harmful at worst (double inclusion of JS libraries and such).

That said, there are specific use-cases for frames that make them necessary. Until you run into them, however, you don't need them.

Answer 3

CSS, ASP.NET master pages, and tons of other technologies make frames unnecessary not to mention unsightly.

It's not that you can't use frames, it's just that you should avoid frames as they look somewhat unprofessional. To me, frames are on the same level as animated gifs.

Answer 4

Lord no. Internal or not, why would you use frames, they're old and antiquated, and need do die a horrible death.

Instead if you feel you CANT break the paradigm, use an <iframe> instead.

Don't get me wrong, the universe won't crumble if you do decide to use frames, but they're not really supported by the standards anymore, you might kick IE into Quirks mode and end up with more of a headache. Not to mention you will end up having your users fight with contexts and the site wont be smart-phone friendly at all.

Answer 5

I would argue that there's no compelling reason to use frames in a modern web application. Contemporary markup techniques are just as, if not more easily maintainable, and solve some of the frustrations of frames (you can never bookmark anything, it's difficult to set the page title, etc). Most of the drawbacks of frames could be worked around, but why bother?

Answer 6

Frames aren't inheritly evil, but they do create challenges that other approaches don't face. Since you're talking about intranet you probably aren't concerned about:

• the search-indexing implications of frames
• the usability/accessibility issues
• supporting significantly different browsers (mobile, text-based, etc)

Overall there probably isn't an outstanding reason to dodge them. However I don't think you've offered a compelling reason to use them.

However: the one issue I could see you running into with a rich internet application is the potential need for your differing pages/components to talk with one another. Frames can be a royal headache with scripting, and for that reason alone I avoid them.

Answer 7

As everyone else said, frames are pretty much a thing of the past. One major exception is when dealing with files, if you want an ajax like experience and are having the user upload files, iframe is the only way to go (for now).

Answer 8

A layout based on frames and tables is definitely overcome by CSS. (--> no)