Sample Text for Frames Display

by Jay C. Treat [09no2007 draft] [#02]
[revised 07ap2008 and 29oc2011 by RAK]

for use in illustrated presentations


Step #1: create a folder/library (for present purposes called "frames") to hold the main file (on the left) and the display items (on the right). Give it an appropriate name such as "2008-Nov-Conference." Within that folder there need to be at least three files, one called "index.htm" which creates the frames format, another called "text.htm" and a third called "slide1.htm" -- the "text.htm" material will appear in the left window, and the "slide1.htm" will  be the the initial display on the right (it could, for example, contain a title and abstract of the presentation). What you are reading now is the "text.htm" file for the "frames" display and instructions. Give that name ("text.htm") to your html file that you want to appear on the left.

Step#2: copy the "index.htm" file from this directory to your new library. That's what runs the show. The file may be copied by placing your cursor on this page and clicking the right side mouse button, then choosing the option "view page source" (which shows the simple frames program), then choosing (from the "File" menu) the "save as" option, by which you can deposit the file into the desired location, at the same time renaming the file "index.htm."

Step#3: create the "slide1.htm" file -- which in these instructions appears to the right and repeats much of this information in other words.

Step#4: The folder you have created can also contain the other display items you wish to use, either along side of the index, text and slide1 files, or as a sublibrary (e.g. "images"). If they are in a sublibrary, you will need to identify them with the library name before the actual file name -- e.g. images/slide2.jpg as the link from text.htm. If no sublibrary is used, the link need only give the name of the desired display file. Links to internet files or files outside of the main library that you create will need to have explicit addresses.

Editing the "frames" directory to accommodate your needs is fairly simple, once you have a main "text" file to appear on the left, and a series of "slides" files to appear on the right (they can be text [.html] or images [.jpg] -- e.g. PowerPoint slides can be converted to .jpg files for this purpose, using the "save as" function in the "File" drop down menu).

The trickiest part of the process is making sure that the links to what you want to appear on the right include the formula

target = "slides"

as explained in the present slide1 (the window to the right). My own approach to this problem is to use an html editor, and once my text file is finished, to use search/replace to add the element

target = "slides" to each link. Even though it is sometimes quirky, I find Netscape Composer (or its offspring, SeaMonkey) to be adequate for most such tasks. I haven't figured out how to do it as efficiently in Macromedia Contribute.