HTML 3.0 Banners (BANNER)

Think of BANNER as a oversimplified FRAME -- whatever you put in the banner stays at the top of the screen while the rest of the page scrolls. Such a simple element should be easier to implement (in a browser) than frames; the fact that it's so seldom implemented is merely a another sign that Netscape, et al. really don't care about the HTML 3.0 development process as much as they say they do. Bastards.

What The HTML 3.0 Specifications Say

The BANNER element is used for corporate logos, navigation aids, disclaimers and other information which shouldn't be scrolled with the rest of the document. It provides an alternative to using the LINK element in the document head to reference an externally defined banner.

Compatibility Issues

Since Level 2 browsers won't recognize BANNER as a block-like element, the contents of the banner will slide around the screen.

Recommended Solutions

  1. Never use LINK to create a banner; as clever as the idea is, it's too seldom implemented to be useful.
  2. Make sure any BANNER contents are contained in valid HTML 2.0 block-like elements (like P ) to prevent text sliding around the page.

Examples

The navigation bar of this page (and of every Websnob page dealing with HTML 3.0) has been placed in a BANNER. Readers with advanced browsers get a nifty effect and nobody else loses signal. The banner IMG element is placed inside a redundant P for the benefit of non-compliant browsers.

Future Implementations & Alternatives

Neither the HTML 3.2 draft nor it's sucessors include the BANNER element. Given the strong competion it faces (FRAME is widespread and CSS is suddenly making a comeback), BANNER is probably doomed.

Assuming you're ready to move on and start using Cascading Style Sheets Level 2, you can reproduce the BANNER effect using fixed positioning. As of 2002, only a couple browsers (Internet Explorer 6 and Opera 5) support fixed positioning.

HTML 3.0 (Beta) Checked!

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