making boxes fit right

Here's an example I found on another site. I was visiting the site named
in the URL in this image, and got the registrar's site because the domain
had apparently expired. Look at the boxes along the top with text on how
to renew or how to backorder the domain. They run off the bottom and you
can't see all the text, now the link that's supposed to be inside.

The question I have: is there a right way to make these boxes show up with
a size that always fits the text, and without screwing up the relationships
of things on the page? What has this webmaster done wrong?

The capture of the page is in this PNG file:
http://phil.ipal.org/usenet/ciwas/2006-05-20/iyd-1.png

FYI, I'd recommend NOT using that registrar for a different reason:
When the domain goes expired and disabled, they hide the owner information
on the WHOIS data. Seems like they want no one to notify the owner that
the domain is expired and might be handed over to someone else who offered
more money for it. That's probably not the case for this domain, but it
could be the case for some, and hence their practice. What it does mean
is if you set up web sites that run themselves and expire when you are
away, you might not know, and your friends can't renew it for you (assuming
you have friends that are friend enough to do that).

--
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Phil Howard KA9WGN | http://linuxhomepage.com/ http://ham.org/ |
(first name) at ipal.net | http://phil.ipal.org/ http://ka9wgn.ham.org/ |
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phil-news-nospam (AT) ipal (DOT) net wrote:

Here's an example I found on another site. I was visiting the site named
in the URL in this image, and got the registrar's site because the domain
had apparently expired. Look at the boxes along the top with text on how
to renew or how to backorder the domain. They run off the bottom and you
can't see all the text, now the link that's supposed to be inside.

The question I have: is there a right way to make these boxes show up with
a size that always fits the text, and without screwing up the relationships
of things on the page? What has this webmaster done wrong?

The capture of the page is in this PNG file:
http://phil.ipal.org/usenet/ciwas/2006-05-20/iyd-1.png

Okay, the site at
http://www.welistyourdomain.com/?host=andrewdupont.net is made up of
frames. The top frame is sized at 150 pixels tall and has scrolling
turned off.

So if the content is taller than 150 pixels (which it easily is if the
user uses a font size of their own choosing) any content that doesn't
fit inside that 150 pixels is hidden.

This is one of the many pitfalls of using frames, and also of assuming
a fixed font size that can be imposed on all users. Both ideas should
be be avoided for the majority of sites.

Steve
--
"My theories appal you, my heresies outrage you,
I never answer letters and you don't like my tie." - The Doctor

Steve Pugh <steve (AT) pugh (DOT) net> <http://steve.pugh.net/>

On Sat, 20 May 2006 18:24:06 +0100 Steve Pugh <steve (AT) pugh (DOT) net> wrote:

phil-news-nospam (AT) ipal (DOT) net wrote:

Here's an example I found on another site. I was visiting the site named
in the URL in this image, and got the registrar's site because the domain
had apparently expired. Look at the boxes along the top with text on how
to renew or how to backorder the domain. They run off the bottom and you
can't see all the text, now the link that's supposed to be inside.

The question I have: is there a right way to make these boxes show up with
a size that always fits the text, and without screwing up the relationships
of things on the page? What has this webmaster done wrong?

The capture of the page is in this PNG file:
http://phil.ipal.org/usenet/ciwas/2006-05-20/iyd-1.png

Okay, the site at
http://www.welistyourdomain.com/?host=andrewdupont.net is made up of
frames. The top frame is sized at 150 pixels tall and has scrolling
turned off.

So if the content is taller than 150 pixels (which it easily is if the
user uses a font size of their own choosing) any content that doesn't
fit inside that 150 pixels is hidden.

This is one of the many pitfalls of using frames, and also of assuming
a fixed font size that can be imposed on all users. Both ideas should
be be avoided for the majority of sites.

I'd agree, this should be avoided. But it's more than just a user choosing
her font size. I've seen different default fonts between browsers, even in
different versions of the same browser. Screen resolutions can also be a
big factor. Someone with 640x480 is going to want smaller fonts (and maybe
a smarter browser will default to that) and someone with 1920x1440 is going
to want larger fonts.

Any chance frame sizes can be specified in ems?

I don't want to make mistakes like that site. While I am unlikely to do
what they did, it would still be nice to know a proper way to do it. None
of what I see there actually _needs_ frames, so I think that was a bad
choice on their part. More likely a decent design would have some box
layout and size things ems or percentages, etc. And if frames, leave the
scroll bars on.

--
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Phil Howard KA9WGN | http://linuxhomepage.com/ http://ham.org/ |
(first name) at ipal.net | http://phil.ipal.org/ http://ka9wgn.ham.org/ |
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------