Replace Frames for Large Site w/ PHP

Maybe you could use auto_prepend_file in php.ini:

http://php.net/manual/en/ini.core.php#ini.auto-prepend-file

Hi,

1) Since the index.php is the main page for the menu as well as for the entire site.
Include the menu.php page in the index.php page itself.

2) Or else have the menu.php page in main page layout which you have in your web site then become easier for you to manage the menu.php page links.

Thanks.

auto_prepend_file would have been a good option, except there are a few sites that we host that I don't want the header to appear on. Which is also the reason I am leery of doing a multi-file find/replace.

As far as using a main layout, would that affect the links that are pulled after a link from the navigation menu is displayed.  It is the links that are not called within the navigation menu that I have a question about.

Problem is, say if the 'offices.html' page is called, it is the links on the offices.html page that I am having a problem with b/c it over takes the whole page.

If PHP is not an option, is there something else that can be used.  CSS?

include($_SERVER['DOCUMENT_ROOT'] . '/pgs/header.php');
		
	// array of allowed $_GET values
		$pass = array('intro','religious','offices','home');
			
	// If the page is allowed, include it:
		if (in_array($_GET['id'], $pass)) {
			include ($_SERVER['DOCUMENT_ROOT'] . '/pgs/' . $_GET['id']); 
                                              

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Your problem can be overcome with mod_rewrite (assuming Apache is your web server)

we are not using Apache. It is a Xitami web server.

Upon some research, I find that a solution for me may be Ajax.  Which I barely know anything about.   I have a controller page in PHP (code below).  


What is happening now is that when a link is clicked on the menu.php, the content of the <div> is loaded with the html page.
--->What I would like to happen is IF a link is clicked WITHIN the <div>, then only the content  of the  <div> will be reloaded.  All links within div are coming from my domain only.. . I am not trying to load pages from other sites.

I have downloaded prototype.js and am thinking I need to use the event_observer in some way.  

Any advice, hints, links to resources or examples will be extremely helpful.

P.S. I am new to this forum and realize I need to add 'zones' to this question, as it may not be PHP related, but not sure how.

//menu.php script
<? echo"<a href= full_index.php?page=home>Home</a>"?>  |  <? echo"<a href= full_index.php?page=pres>CEO</a>"?> | <? 
echo"<a href= full_index.php?page=so>Schools</a>"?>
 
//controller script - full_index.php
<?//sets the default page to home
$page_content = "init_content.html";
 
//Load a different page
if(isset($_GET['page'])){
switch($_GET['page']){
 
case "home":
$page_content = "page1.html";
break;
 
case "president":
$page_content = "page2.html";
break;
 
case "so":
$page_content = "page3.html";
break;
 
}
}
include_once "menu.php";
?>
<div="change_content">
 
<? 
 
//load the contents into this container
include($page_content);
?>
</div><p>
<?include_once "footer.php";
?>

                                              

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>> I have downloaded prototype.js

Consider using jQuery instead, it is more powerfull.

http://jquery.com/

This is wrong:

<div="change_content">

Change it to:

<div id="change_content">

Then with jQuery, you can do something like below to change all links within the DIV:

$(document).ready(function() {
  $('#change_content a').attr('href',function() {
    return 'full_index.php?page='+this.href.substr(this.href.lastIndexOf('/')+1);
  });
});
                                              

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I would really recommend against trying to use Javascript to emulate what you did with frames.  If you really want to get rid of frames then change your pages completely.  It will just cause more issues and make your site less friendly to visitors to try to do it any other way.  Of course it depends why your admin wants to move away from frames but usually it is to make the site more user/browser friendly.  The way you are headed it will be less so.

By the way ... since you are new to AJAX when I said Javascript that would include an AJAX solution (or any prototype of JS framework like JQuery, etc).  Either stick with frames or be willing to redesign the site so you don't use the frame design.

Let me know if you have a question or need more info.

bol

By the way ... you can still benefit from the idea used in frames (e.g. a common section to a page) by using includes instead.  PHP will support them.  They make it so part of the PHP for a page comes from a common file (i.e. header, menu on one side, etc).  It is the way to cut down on the code needed in a page and simplify future updates for the site.  If you do the redesign you should probably make sure you consider these but how you use them will depend on your site design.

bol

Thank you cxr and b0lsc0tt for replying!

b0lsc0tt, the site has been using frames for about 7 years , and the admin wants a newer/updated design.  We are using PHP5, MySQL, and Xitami for a webserver.

The company has about 10 departments.  Some depts have their own URL, and when a user accesses that particular URL, we wouldn't want the main navigation menu present.  That is why I can't add a PHP include to all the pages.  We only want the navigation menu when accessing through the main company URL.  

I don't mind frames or iframes, but if there were a way to use it so that it didn't 'look' like frames, it would be great.   A CMS is not a great option as the admin is bent on staying with Xitami for a web server.   Given all of this, a complete redesign is the 'best' route?

cxr:  Thank you!  I am going to work with the code and see how far I get.

This is the site that I am contracted to remove frames from:
http://www.catholic-doc.org/