CSBS website design update…

Updating previous reports, I had to use the float property on the “sidebar_left” after all. It seems that even though position:absolute is supposed to work well inside the parent div, Windows IE for Windows breaks it completely. Instead of positioning to the left, the column was positioning in the center of the page.

It worked in every other browser but that one, and my disdain for Windows has subsequently not waned in the least. Here, I should reference an article about Microsoft’s lack of standards support. They’re basically an 800 pound gorilla that the web community is begging to play along. CSS is making web development easier, faster and less expensive, and Microsoft is impeding its progress. That’s my rant for today…

Anyhoo…

I’ve posted CSBS website test pages here and here. Please let me know what you think. Feel free to take a look at the CSS and ask all the questions you want (”Why in tarnation did you add THAT useless div?”) and I’ll try to answer the best I can. And please feel free to make tons of suggestions. I’m still the novice in all this, and love any constructive direction I can get.

This entry was posted on Thursday, October 9th, 2003 at 4:35 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

3 Responses to “CSBS website design update…”
  1. Phillip Swindall Says:
    October 10th, 2003 at 1:13 am

    You just gotta love Lorem ipsum!!!!

    Doy, just curious… but what is going to go above the fold (the blue line) on the front page… in the white space between the blue arc and the blue line? (and in the red space, as far as that goes?)

    One day, I’m gonna have to go to Canada so you can teach me CSS… that way when I read the source code, I’ll understand what in tarnations I’m supposed to ask you why in tarnations you did something!!! LOL

    Have a great day!

  2. Dave J. Says:
    October 10th, 2003 at 12:18 pm

    I am trying out layout-o-matic too. Things look good. I searched and searched to find an IE hack that worked–be thankful it is there for you.

    One question: did you consider making a ‘flexible’ page instead of fixed-width? Your curve arch requires a fixed-width…but your inner pages could be flexible.

  3. Doy Cave Says:
    October 10th, 2003 at 1:08 pm

    Dave,
    I really like fixed width layouts because they give me more control over the page itself, what it will look like, how it will act in different browsers. Sometimes, with flexible widths, they blow the page size out so wide, that all my intentions are completely lost. That’s more a preference thing than anything else. Tantek’s box model hack is the best I’ve seen for Windows. I’d use that one over the others. He’s actually a developer at Microsoft (I’m pretty sure I’m right about that).

    Phil,
    Above the fold is the Flash navigation I was talking about. If you look in one of the earlier screenshots I posted, you’ll see it completed there. I’m still working through how it will work, but I have most of it worked out. The whitespace will feature a photo reel that I’m still working on. Basically photos of students and places will cross dissolve in a 30 or 40 second sequence…something to look at while you read :) The red space will have navigational elements.

    You need to read Eric Meyer’s, “Cascading Style Sheets: The Definitive Guide.” That was really the only book I read before doing my own. I found a few tutorials, too, mind you. There are some really good layout tutorials at http://www.glish.com and at http://www.thenoodleincident.com. Those will give you a good head start. Eric’s book, though, is the best primer you can read. It teaches you everything from the ground up.

    Not that you aren’t welcome to come to Canada :)