Alternative to embedding HTML with <OBJECT>?

[jenncita]

I'm a proficient, standards-conscious HTML/CSS coder who is in over her head!

Here's my dilemma. I've got a page with some boilerplate text at the top and a "portfolio" area that extends beyond the fold. I need a coding strategy that would allow visitors to navigate the "pages" of the portfolio without forcing them back to the top of the page with every click.

There are probably several ways to do this, but since I don't know anything beyond basic HTML and CSS, I thought I could do it by embedding HTML for the portfolio pages within an independent viewport on the containing page. Frames get a bad rap, so I chose the <OBJECT> tag for this purpose. It was all working great until (surprise, surprise) I tested it in IE.

IE (all versions) treats objects as "ActiveX" (ie., potentially dangerous) components. My current setup triggers a security warning and requires visitors to click to allow the content.
Even if the user chooses to allow, IE adds an ugly gray "shadowbox" border around the object that can't be removed or even masked with CSS. Thanks, Microsoft.

Anyway, I need to find another way to create this page and I'm at a loss. I tried using a server-side include to import the portfolio content, but it only works for the first page — after the user clicks the "next" arrow, the containing page disappears.

I'm totally clueless about everything outside of HTML, so if the solution is javascript or CGI-related, I might need a little handholding. I don't even know what search terms to use. You see this sort of thing all the time (stationary containing page with navigable content), but I just don't know what it is or what it's called.

Help!

Thanks,
jenncita

P.S. You can see the current <OBJECT> setup here: http://www.inkmeansbusiness.com/Old/...ingsamples.htm. My attempt at using SSI is here: http://www.inkmeansbusiness.com/Old/...inerTEST.shtml.

[drhowarddrfine]

Are you saying you don't want to do what you're doing now and prefer to display each item one after another scrolling their way down while some other navigation is available while scrolling? If so, you might look into putting your nav on one side and using 'position:fixed ' which will keep it in one position. The only 'gotcha' of course will be with IE where 'fixed' doesn't work in IE6 and is buggy in IE7.

[jenncita]

Thanks for your quick response, DrHoward.

Actually, no, it's not that—only one portfolio "page" is visible at a time. If you have a moment to check out the page (http://www.inkmeansbusiness.com/Old/...ingsamples.htm) you'll see that I used CSS to make this part of the page look like a notebook, with the visitor seeing the various "pages" as they click the [next] arrow.

With the object setup I currently have (that—unfortuna tely—doesn't work in ie), the book does just what it's supposed to: hold still while the inner text and images change, like a slide show. Without this viewport functionality, changing slides would make the view jump back to the top each time.

[drhowarddrfine]

I don't have IE available and may be gone most of the day. I thought I had looked at that page and it did work in IE, at least for me with IE8.