Hi, Crawfor --
Yeah, you could use a script to redirect people, but if they have JavaScript disabled, they'd still be trapped in your website, not to mention the terror it would be for accessibility.
Includes are nice because it's just a little snippet of code, like the <iframe></iframe> construct, but they're browser independent and aren't near as clunky.
Another advantage of includes over iframes -- they don't have to be just a square. I usually have everything in includes except for the part of the page that's different (i.e., the reason for having that webpage). For example, I use server-side PHP includes. My file might consist solely of:
<? include("../headsection.php"); ?>
<title>Elephants Roaming America</title>
<? include("../menu.php"); ?>
<div id="article">
<h1>Breaking News! Elephants Are Roaming America!</h1>
<p>This just in! The African elephant, known solely for its gray hide and large frame, has made an appearance in the United States, worrying the citizens of the small town of Kelston, KY.</p>
...
</div>
<? include("../footer.php"); ?>
This is a simplified example, but say the head section would be everything that would normally be in <head></head>, the menu page would contain not only the navigation, but also the company logo and a jazzy Flash animation on the top. Finally, the footer page would contain everything after the article, not just the footer bar. Say, for example, there might be a little floating box with the company's address that could be stashed in this section.
So, for this reason, includes are much more practical because they avoid all the headaches of updating the same bit of information on every webpage, but they have more flexible shapes than iframes and aren't dependent on the browser's implementation.
Jonathon VS
Freelance Web Artist
www.jonathonvs.com