Problem centering tables after DWT's

[Brightbelt]

Hello -
FP 2003, Win XP Pro here. I'm doing DWT's - I'm having a very, very
difficult time centering tables (to hold my editable content) so that the
editable content is centered the same in an 800 x 600 browser and in a 1024
x 768 one. I haven't published any pages created from DWT's yet for this
reason, but you can look at www.westwindentertainment.com and see what I'm
having to deal with. I've set the Navigation table (vertical down the left)
to be absolutely positioned thru CSS in my template - it was the only way
the editable content in my page would not dis-place it all over the place.
And to get the editable content centered on the page I've usually had to do
a blank left column cell for all my editable content tables. I'm using
percentages to be more browser-flexible and I've usually set the table % to
65%, aligned it center, and set the blank left column cell to 10% (of the
table). That has worked to a point. But the main bomb comes on the Home page
(index.htm) because the content I need for the page is so wide. To get the
page content away from meshing into the navigation area in an 800 x 600
browser, I have to set the table (editable content remember) to 100% and set
the blank left column cell to 30% (of the table). This works for 800 x
600, but then as a result, in an 1024 x 768 browser much of the page content
is off-center to the right. It's maddening.
Maybe I'm missing something basic here. I apologize if that's the case ...
I really appreciate any help anyone could give me. Thanks,...Frank

 

[Jim Buyens]

It looks to me as if a 100% wide, two-column, one-row table ought to do it.

Put the jazzgroupwind.gif picture and the link bar in the left column, and
assign a column width of 1%.

Give the right column a width of 99% and make that your editable region.

Don't use any absolute positioning.

Jim Buyens
Microsoft MVP
http://www.interlacken.com
Author of:
*----------------------------------------------------
|\---------------------------------------------------
|| Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services Inside Out
|| Microsoft Office FrontPage 2003 Inside Out
||---------------------------------------------------
|| Web Database Development Step by Step .NET Edition
|| Microsoft FrontPage Version 2002 Inside Out
|| Faster Smarter Beginning Programming
|| (All from Microsoft Press)
|/---------------------------------------------------
*----------------------------------------------------

 

[Brightbelt]

Hi-
Thanks for your very specific advice. I'd never guess doing a column of 1
%. I'll give it a go. Thanks,...Frank

 

[Brightbelt]

Hi again Jim -
I thought I'd report on progress. In general your suggestions are working
very well. The home page is layed out alot better with the new template, but
now when I browse it with an 800 x 600 browser I get a left-to-right scroll
bar for a bit of the page that is not able to fit in. I figure I may just
have too many pixel-widths with my images on the home page. So I may
downsize the photos a bit. I'm open to any other suggestions as well. Thanks
again,..Frank

 

[Jim Buyens]

Right. The objective is to "push" the column divider as far to the left as
possible. The jazzgroupwind.gif picture wil keep the left column from getting
narrower than you want.

Jim Buyens
Microsoft MVP
http://www.interlacken.com
Author of:
*----------------------------------------------------
|\---------------------------------------------------
|| Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services Inside Out
|| Microsoft Office FrontPage 2003 Inside Out
||---------------------------------------------------
|| Web Database Development Step by Step .NET Edition
|| Microsoft FrontPage Version 2002 Inside Out
|| Faster Smarter Beginning Programming
|| (All from Microsoft Press)
|/---------------------------------------------------
*----------------------------------------------------

 

[Stefan B Rusynko]

Alternatively setting a 200 px wide left aligned table
(for jazzgroupwind.gif and below it in a cell the nav bar as a right aligned table)
And a 100% center aligned table for the page content
(both above tables in a 100% center aligned table)
will also do the same and slightly improve browser rendering

PS
In general I don't recommend allowing your content to spread on larger screens
Keep the content in a 560 px wide center aligned table (so total page width is 760 px)
Easier to read and more predicable layout




| Right. The objective is to "push" the column divider as far to the left as
| possible. The jazzgroupwind.gif picture wil keep the left column from getting
| narrower than you want.
|
| Jim Buyens
| Microsoft MVP
| http://www.interlacken.com
| Author of:
| *----------------------------------------------------
||\---------------------------------------------------
||| Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services Inside Out
||| Microsoft Office FrontPage 2003 Inside Out
|||---------------------------------------------------
||| Web Database Development Step by Step .NET Edition
||| Microsoft FrontPage Version 2002 Inside Out
||| Faster Smarter Beginning Programming
||| (All from Microsoft Press)
||/---------------------------------------------------
| *----------------------------------------------------
|
|
| "Brightbelt" wrote:
|
| > Hi-
| > Thanks for your very specific advice. I'd never guess doing a column of 1
| > %. I'll give it a go. Thanks,...Frank
| >
| > | > > It looks to me as if a 100% wide, two-column, one-row table ought to do
| > > it.
| > >
| > > Put the jazzgroupwind.gif picture and the link bar in the left column, and
| > > assign a column width of 1%.
| > >
| > > Give the right column a width of 99% and make that your editable region.
| > >
| > > Don't use any absolute positioning.
| > >
| > > Jim Buyens
| > > Microsoft MVP
| > > http://www.interlacken.com
| > > Author of:
| > > *----------------------------------------------------
| > > |\---------------------------------------------------
| > > || Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services Inside Out
| > > || Microsoft Office FrontPage 2003 Inside Out
| > > ||---------------------------------------------------
| > > || Web Database Development Step by Step .NET Edition
| > > || Microsoft FrontPage Version 2002 Inside Out
| > > || Faster Smarter Beginning Programming
| > > || (All from Microsoft Press)
| > > |/---------------------------------------------------
| > > *----------------------------------------------------
| > >
| > > "Brightbelt" wrote:
| > >
| > >> Hello -
| > >> FP 2003, Win XP Pro here. I'm doing DWT's - I'm having a very, very
| > >> difficult time centering tables (to hold my editable content) so that
| > >> the
| > >> editable content is centered the same in an 800 x 600 browser and in a
| > >> 1024
| > >> x 768 one. I haven't published any pages created from DWT's yet for this
| > >> reason, but you can look at www.westwindentertainment.com and see what
| > >> I'm
| > >> having to deal with. I've set the Navigation table (vertical down the
| > >> left)
| > >> to be absolutely positioned thru CSS in my template - it was the only way
| > >> the editable content in my page would not dis-place it all over the
| > >> place.
| > >> And to get the editable content centered on the page I've usually had to
| > >> do
| > >> a blank left column cell for all my editable content tables. I'm using
| > >> percentages to be more browser-flexible and I've usually set the table %
| > >> to
| > >> 65%, aligned it center, and set the blank left column cell to 10% (of the
| > >> table). That has worked to a point. But the main bomb comes on the Home
| > >> page
| > >> (index.htm) because the content I need for the page is so wide. To get
| > >> the
| > >> page content away from meshing into the navigation area in an 800 x 600
| > >> browser, I have to set the table (editable content remember) to 100% and
| > >> set
| > >> the blank left column cell to 30% (of the table). This works for 800 x
| > >> 600, but then as a result, in an 1024 x 768 browser much of the page
| > >> content
| > >> is off-center to the right. It's maddening.
| > >> Maybe I'm missing something basic here. I apologize if that's the case
| > >> ...
| > >> I really appreciate any help anyone could give me. Thanks,...Frank
| > >>
| > >>
| > >>
| >
| >
| >

 

[Brightbelt]

Hi -
Thanks for all your suggestions. This is a site with alot of pages, so
it's tedious making changes once I've decided on a lay out change. I
appreciate your time,...Frank Bright

 

[Jim Buyens]

Right. If you're pictures are too wide in total for the target screen size,
you need to either downsize one or more of them, or rework the page layout to
be more vertical.

Jim Buyens
Microsoft MVP
http://www.interlacken.com
Author of:
*-----------------------------­-----------------------
|\----------------------------­-----------------------
|| Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services Inside Out
|| Microsoft Office FrontPage 2003 Inside Out
||----------------------------­-----------------------
|| Web Database Development Step by Step .NET Edition
|| Microsoft FrontPage Version 2002 Inside Out
|| Faster Smarter Beginning Programming
|| (All from Microsoft Press)
|/----------------------------­-----------------------
*-----------------------------­-----------------------