The Grant Park site uses frames. Frames don't allow the user to bookmark specific pages. For example, you can't bookmark the calendar. You must always visit the home page, then click "Calendar."

The frames don't seem required except to hide the real URL's.

-- Terry Kearns (tk@tk-jk.net), November 09, 2001

Answers

I think we should use frames. We want people to see the whole site - if they have to click on the calendar to see what's up AFTER they visit the home page then we have an opportunity to get them to see any breaking news we need to share....

-- Bob Silvia (rsilvia@yahoo.com), November 12, 2001.

I understand what you're saying about frames. But, the usability theory is that frames irritate surfers: The site attempts to force surfers to do something a certain way rather than allowing the surfer to do it the way he wants. Using the calendar as an example, I want to hit a bookmark and see the calendar. I don’t want to waste my time with an intervening and time consuming page. None of the “big- time” sites do frames.

The best way to alert folks of breaking news is by email. Most folks don’t surf every day, but most read their email everyday. The email can be a teaser that says, “Check out this URL for details.”

My 2 cents

-- Terry Kearns (gradyproject@tk-jk.net), November 12, 2001.