CSS Layouts

If requiring help? Please think first before posting and follow these basic points:

1. Describe as clearly as possible the problem you are having.

2. Please describe what elements the problem appears on.

3. Provide sight of the code you are using pasted within <code> tags.

Describe as accurately as possible the problem rather than the solution you require, allow us to establish the best course of action/remedy.

When posting code in your thread can you please ensure that it is set in the correct tags for display,

This is for a two fold reason, first it helps anyone reading the code if it is formatted and highlighted for legibility and secondly certain html characters will be parsed so you cannot post naked html code '<' will be rendered as though a web page so you need to escape these opening angle brackets using & lt ; (close spaces) however it is far better when posting a full amount of html to enclose it between <code></code> tags

You will often see the moderators of this forum constantly going on about DTDs and Doctypes, and their completeness. We don't do this for a laugh, Doctypes are important.

IE has two rendering modes - Quirks mode and Strict mode. In Quirks mode, IE renders the page however it feels like on that particular day. You will notice problems with your CSS layouts that woudln't appear in Strict Mode.

To enable Strict Mode you must use a COMPLETE DTD.

Please, ensure you have a complete and correct doctype before posting a question, as it cans olve many problems, and saves us having to waste time forcing people to use them before getting on to their problem.

It seems like a large percentage of the problems that CSS newbies have is with trying to use absolute positioning to create their layouts.
Often the cry goes up: "don't use absolute positioning" and then the requisite explanation of why it can be a bad thing.
So I thought it might be a good thing to have something to refer to that might illustrate and explain why people should be wary of using absolute positioning. So here goes:

Absolute positioning can be used to put together a layout quite quickly: by using values for top, right, bottom and left you can get everything exactly where you want it.

Before Asking:

1. Search and see if you can find a similar problem with a solution.

2. Check the FAQ, Frequently Asked Questions as often the answer is already there.

3. Validate your CSS and Markup (HTML or XHTML)

4. Ensure that you have a valid, full DTD and that you are rendering in 'Standards' mode.

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