Professional Web Design: Techniques and Templates, Fourth Edition

Designing for Scalability 61
Download from Wow! eBook
considerable, depending on the size of a site. Another advantage of include files is
that they make a site modular. In other words, they allow for one page, such as
the homepage, to be built with various individual pages. Those same pieces can
then be used to build other pages.
Figure 3.13, which is a second-level page of a site, is a good example of modular
functionality. The area on the right containing the oval circle is an include file.
This file not only serves a functional purpose, but it also reduces the amount of
space of the body if the content is not as long as other pages.
Figure 3.14 is a third-level page of the same site that requires the full width of the
body for the map. To accommodate this space, the designer simply removed the
include file on the right.
Figure 3.13
Modular site that uses an include file in the right section of the body. Copyright † 2002 by National
Farmers Union. All rights reserved.