3 columns

try this ... http://www.pmob.co.uk/temp/3colfixedtest_sourcenone.htm

you can change the div order so the left column comes before the centre column and the page will still function.

Thanks Chris.

It says

"Only tested on PC (IE5, 5.5 , 6, Mozilla 1.2 , Firebird 0.6.1, Opera7,Netscape 6.2). Opera 6 doesn't like the footer but it's usable.I expect mac and other browsers will not like the footer ."

Can anyone comment?

Take a look at this:

http://www.tm4b.com/css_demo.php

The problem is solved, but another is created!

Anyway to make the middle and right column increase in height to match the left column?

Viewing http://www.pmob.co.uk/temp/3colfixedtest_sourcenone.htm on a Mac. Results:

Safari doesn't like it.
screenshot:
http://www.bpdresources.com/3coltestsafari.jpg

Omniweb does the exact thing as Safari (text in leftcol is shunted to the bottom, body space w/background image appears below the footer).

even worse in MacIE5.x:
http://www.bpdresources.com/3coltestmacIE.jpg

Looks perfect in Mac Firefox1.0, Opera 7.5.4, Camino, Netscape 7.2.

Thanks v.v.v.v.v.v.v.v.v.v.much Helen!

There goes that one!

Any other ideas?

By the way Helen, how were you able to check the way you did?

How? LOL! I've been on Mac since 1986 and have a bazillion browsers. Unlike WinIE, Mac allows you to run as many as you want at once. I left out the obscure ones like Shiira.

I try not to preach, but I'm one of those Mac users who cannot comprehend sticking with Windows because of all its massive glitches & security issues. Anything I can do to help folks make sites more accessible for Macs just helps everybody, as I see it.

MY big problem is getting folks to preview things for me in Windows browsers. (Don't worry, I'll holler ... )

Re. your layout. Hmm. I didn't look closely at your issues, but do any of these work for your needs? I'm happy to Mac-test anything you come up with.
http://css-discuss.incutio.com/?page=ThreeColumnLayouts

So i guess my problem's not new!

Nice resource.

I'm checking it out now!

From that link Helen gave you, I can highly recommend the last one, but, as it may take you ages to work down to it:
http://webhost.bridgew.edu/etribou/layouts/skidoo_too/

Thanks Loraine.

That site looks really great, but the problem is that the centre content has to come first in the code!

And it does - just scroll down a bit and read the content, then look at the source
The only thing above the content is that silly little horizontal nav bar at the top - but it's not extensive enough to stop a proper search engine index of the content and a place can probably be found for it in the left or right column.

I think you may be onto something.

HELEN!!! Any comments?

Skiddo Too is beauteous in Mac browsers. Go for it!

Thanks! I'm going for it.

Let's see how it goes.

Ok!

I don't know much about CSS, but how come many elements are repated in the stylesheet such as body?

And also, how can i limit the width to a minimum of 760px?

That's because the CSS is laid out sections rather than the more commonly seen 'element blocks' i.e. everything to do with body in one block.

The sections are as commented:
Generic selectors
Layout
Vertical navigation
Horizontal navigation
Consistency of font-size across platforms
The 'theme' of the page - colours, font-size, font-face etc.

There could just as easily be six CSS files - one for each section, but that is probably overkill. If you prefer to work with element blocks, there is no reason not to do so. If you think you will be playing around with the layout or theme or fonts then it may be easier to make adjustments in one section and not have to scroll up and down to find them within their single element blocks. Personally, I work in sections until the design is more or less done, then combine the code into element blocks purely for the benefit of people who may want to grab the code.

You have to be very careful here because you are taking a perfectly fluid/elastic layout that uses em and %age sizing and trying to turn it into a fixed-width layout.

You could google for min/max CSS techniques.
http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&q=css+minimum+maximum+width+&btnG=Search&meta=
and here's a workaround for IE which doesn't understand max-width:

#mydiv { 
width: expression((document.body.clientWidth>800 ¦¦ window.innerWidth>800?"760px":"100%")); 
}

If the window is wider than 800 pixels #mydiv will default to 760px, otherwise it will be 100% (or whatever) of the window's inner width. Try it on #pageWrapper.

Alternatively for a Javascript solution to IE, try:
http://www.doxdesk.com/software/js/minmax.html

Cool! I will try it out.

Meanwhile, however,i abandoned the em's for px because i don't understand ems properly.

I'll let you know how things go

Ok. I tried it out.

It didn't go very well though! Nothing seemed to happen.

Any other ideas?