[CLUE-Tech] How do website authors maintain their sanity?

[Jed S. Baer]

On Sun, 14 Mar 2004 20:15:14 -0700
Jeff Cann <j.cann at isuma.org> wrote:

> Speaking of Dreamweaver, a good friend of mine is in an 'advanced HTML'
> class.  She is trying to convince the instructor (in vain) why they need
> to do layouts by hand, rather than allowing the tool to do it for them. 
> She actually does most of her layouts now in CSS because table layouts
> were frustrating in different environments.

For a demonstration of how messy CSS can be for layouts, check this out.

http://css-discuss.incutio.com/?page=ThreeColumnLayouts -or
http://www.webproducer.at/flexible-layout/

Actually, the second one works well, but look at the CSS.

The gyrations some people go through to get a simple 3-column
*full-height* layout is incredible. Getting a full-height sidebar in CSS
is so much more trouble than using HTML tables, I'm surprised people do
it. I suppose for some, it's a challenge, and perhaps other are into the
"CSS purity" schtick. When I can do

div.sidebar {
  height: inherit;
  background-color: whatever;
  border: 1px black single;
  float: left;
}

And have it just work without having to go through a bunch of crap that is
right back into the old table-within-a-table-within-a-table methodology,
except using DIV, then I'll start using CSS for overall layout. The above
does, in fact, work -- under a very narrow set of circumstances, but is
easily broken (at least in Galeon).

jed
-- 
http://s88369986.onlinehome.us/freedomsight/

... it is poor civic hygiene to install technologies that could someday
facilitate a police state. -- Bruce Schneier