WAHM Forums

Ok let me first say I'm more of a programmer than I am a designer....

I am building a new site and I am having problems with my layout.

To show you what I am talking about, go here:
http://avidreaderexchange.com/index.php

The problem I am having is in the menu section on the left.
See how my background image is moving away from the menu tab as more books are getting listed on the site?

To see the difference go here:
http://avidreaderexchange.com/tell-a-friend/tell.php

Well this is going to be a problem. As more books get listed that gap only gets bigger. My question is how can I keep that background for the menu links butted up against the menu tab?

The second problem I am having with the menu feature is I cant fit all the links I want inside that box without it getting out of wack either.

To see what I am talking about go here: http://avidreaderexchange.com/about.html

This is a start to the links I need in the box. The problem is I have like 12 more book categories that need to go in there as well. Anyone??

Bottom line is I need more of a floating footer that doesnt effect my menu and I need that menu background to be able to handle more links.

Do I need to make that background image bigger, is it a matter of just changing the columspan or rowspan? Or do I need to change the height and width?

I really hope there is just an easy fix like some 100% value that needs to be inputed somewhere.

Thanks in advance........

Edited by: Gaylord_Focker

Gary,


It looks like your table text is centered, instead of left justified. If you set it to left aligned, then your problem should be fixed. You may need to do this in the table properties to correct it.


As to the size of the background, you can either do a background color on the table (which will fill it automatically), or you can slice the image into smaller "pieces" that will then repeat as it grows. One thing I do when creating a text based menu is type it out first, and then measure the longest line. That way I know what width I need the menu to be.


If you'd like help with slicing the image, just send me a PM. I'll be happy to help. :)

Ok, I found out why the text was centering. I wanted to get my site to center in the middle of the page, so right after the body tags and before the start of the table I put <center>. This centered the site on the page but it also centered the text on the site.

Thank you for pointing this out. I use mozillia and it looked fine in that.
I opened up IE and the text was centered. Didnt know this was happening.

So now I have another problem. smileys/smiley5.gifsmileys/smiley36.gif

I want my page to center instead of aligning to the left of the page.
How would I get this done now?

As to the size of the background,
you can either do a background color on the table (which will fill it
automatically), or you can slice the image into smaller "pieces" that
will then repeat as it grows. One thing I do when creating a text
based menu is type it out first, and then measure the longest line.
That way I know what width I need the menu to be.</font>

As for the menu, I think I understand what your saying here.

Here is what is there now:
&lt;TD COLSPAN=3 background="/images2/menubg.gif" WIDTH=300 HEIGHT=150 valign="top"&gt;

If I would eliminate the background image in the menu and instead put a background color there it will extend to allow my links to fit there? Do I need to change the width and height values as well or just eliminate them?

And If I do this will it stay butted up against the menu tab in that column as the content in the &lt;--main content--&gt; area grows?

Thanks again.

Edited by: Gaylord_Focker

As to the page centering, you should be able to leave the &lt;center&gt; tag there, and then just use either the "TD" tag or the "P" tag to "ALIGN="left" on the nav area.


As to the background/color issue...Yes, if you use a color, it will fill the entire area, and I personally prefer to define my nav area by width, but not by height. That way it can continue down the page, but it stays within a certain width on the page.


It should stay butted up against the menu tab, yes.


If you have any trouble, you're welcome to email me. :) Good luck!

Hey that is great.........

You saved me from getting a few more grey hairs today.

Everything seems to have worked the way you said it would.
Thanks again for all your help.

Other than the problems I had what do you think of the site?

Good idea?
Does it look ok?
Anything I should change?

Any feedback would be a help.........
http://avidreaderexchange.com/about.html

Edited by: Gaylord_Focker