Table Help

I've been dong webpages with html editors for a few years now (mainly my own goofy little site), and have pretty much just done them to suit my fancy.
Now I have someone who wants me to do a small site for them.
I don't have too much experience or knowledge of tables, and I am using a dreamweaver template that has them.
I'm not sure if I'm using the right terms and descriptions, but it's a simple 4 page website, and all the templates for each page are the same. You
just customize them the way you want. The problem I'm having, is that the templates come with sample text and a picture. And I like the overall size
of the layout the way it is for each page. When I remove the sample text and picture...the template gets smaller when I save it.
Another way to describe what's happening is when I take out the sample text, etc...and put in my own...the whole frame (table collapses because I'm
putting in less text, etc. I would like to know how you can "lock" the table using Dreamweaver, so that it will stay exactly the size you have it, so
it will only allow just so much text & pictures, etc., and neither collapses or expands despite it's content.
Jeez...I hope that makes sense!
Thanks in advance

On Tue, 31 May 2005 05:04:29 -0400, The Magician
<vanished (AT) thedropofahat (DOT) com> wrote:

I've been dong webpages with html editors for a few years now (mainly my own goofy little site), and have pretty much just done them to suit my fancy.
Now I have someone who wants me to do a small site for them.
I don't have too much experience or knowledge of tables, and I am using a dreamweaver template that has them.
I'm not sure if I'm using the right terms and descriptions, but it's a simple 4 page website, and all the templates for each page are the same. You
just customize them the way you want. The problem I'm having, is that the templates come with sample text and a picture. And I like the overall size
of the layout the way it is for each page. When I remove the sample text and picture...the template gets smaller when I save it.
Another way to describe what's happening is when I take out the sample text, etc...and put in my own...the whole frame (table collapses because I'm
putting in less text, etc. I would like to know how you can "lock" the table using Dreamweaver, so that it will stay exactly the size you have it, so
it will only allow just so much text & pictures, etc., and neither collapses or expands despite it's content.
Jeez...I hope that makes sense!

Just a thought but check to see if, within the table parameters, it
reads something like <table width="100%"> or <td width="60%> or some
other percentage. If so, then exchange the flexible width with a fixed
value, e.g. <td width="400">.

The reason some people use flexible widths is to account for the
different screen resolutions that are commonly used. However, for my
own purposes, I now design sites for 800x600 resolutions and set my
page width at 768 pixels. This takes into account the width of a
browser's scroll bar and gives the page the same 10-pixel border that
appears at the top and left sides of the page.