Oh no, yet another "tables to CSS" question!! Please advise

Hello,

A client requested a layout that has links in sections, displayed
something like http://www.kidsinaction.org.uk/table.html, which is a
mock-up, laid out with a table. Specifically, he wants the layout to
adapt to the browser window, which the table version does. If you change
the width of the window, the two sections move horizontally, so that
they always sit equally spaced out.

I would like to do a similar thing in CSS, but am not sure of the best
way. I imagine some wizard will show me this in about three lines of
code!!

Any help appreciated. TIA

--
Alan Silver
(anything added below this line is nothing to do with me)

On Wed, 26 Apr 2006 18:05:12 +0100, Alan Silver
<alan-silver (AT) nospam (DOT) thanx.invalid> wrote:

Hello,

A client requested a layout that has links in sections, displayed
something like http://www.kidsinaction.org.uk/table.html, which is a
mock-up, laid out with a table. Specifically, he wants the layout to
adapt to the browser window, which the table version does. If you change
the width of the window, the two sections move horizontally, so that
they always sit equally spaced out.

I would like to do a similar thing in CSS, but am not sure of the best
way. I imagine some wizard will show me this in about three lines of
code!!

float

In article <h4cv42t0ch87i6bmvf5utodir7oeke5evq (AT) 4ax (DOT) com>, Ken Loomis
<not_a_real_email (AT) address (DOT) com> writes
<snip>

I would like to do a similar thing in CSS, but am not sure of the best
way. I imagine some wizard will show me this in about three lines of
code!!

float

When I mentioned a three line solution, I was hoping for a *slightly*
more verbose answer than this one!!

I assumed it was to do with floats, but I'm not sure how you specify the
margins (presuming that's what is required) to get the effect I showed.

Any clues? Ta

--
Alan Silver
(anything added below this line is nothing to do with me)

Alan Silver <alan-silver (AT) nospam (DOT) thanx.invalid> wrote:

A client requested a layout that has links in sections, displayed
something like http://www.kidsinaction.org.uk/table.html,

Why is a client telling you how to layout a page? The proper arrangement
is that professional web authors know what works and what doesn't work
on the web, clients rarely have a clue. A client should submit the
content, the web author then decides how to best present that.

--
Spartanicus

In article
<8edv42lq034e4rukcdn39j9mf54kssfh5c (AT) news (DOT) spartanicus.utvinternet.ie>,
Spartanicus <invalid (AT) invalid (DOT) invalid> writes

Alan Silver <alan-silver (AT) nospam (DOT) thanx.invalid> wrote:

A client requested a layout that has links in sections, displayed
something like http://www.kidsinaction.org.uk/table.html,

Why is a client telling you how to layout a page? The proper arrangement
is that professional web authors know what works and what doesn't work
on the web, clients rarely have a clue. A client should submit the
content, the web author then decides how to best present that.

He's not *telling* me, he *asked* if I could do it that way. I don't see
why I should ignore the client's request, especially when it's a
sensible idea, and I don't know if it is reasonable or not from a
technical point of view (hence my question).

Anyway, this particular client is a long-standing one. It has taken me
quite a few years to educate him, but he now has a pretty good grasp of
what works on the web. He also take the attitude (as do I) that
presentation is primarily an end-user concern. Therefore, the overriding
issue in presentation is what makes the page attractive and
user-friendly. In this case, he feels (and I agree) that having the
sections laid out in this manner is clear and of benefit to the
end-user. I just want to know how it can be done in CSS.

Thanks for the reply, but I respectfully disagree with you. Not totally,
as there are many occasions when clients don't have a clue, but
generally. Even when they do suggest something awful, you still have to
listen to them and work out what is the best approach to take.

--
Alan Silver
(anything added below this line is nothing to do with me)

In article <Xns97B18A1D18BFChttpwwwneredbojiasco (AT) 208 (DOT) 49.80.251>,
Neredbojias <http@?.neredbojias.com/fliam.php?cat=alt.html.invalid>
writes

I would like to do a similar thing in CSS, but am not sure of the best
way. I imagine some wizard will show me this in about three lines of
code!!

Looks like a variation on the css 2-column layout (with center-aligned
text) would work. Tons of stuff written about that.

Do you know, it never even occurred to me that this was a simple 2-col
layout in miniature!! Amazing how you can miss the obvious sometimes
(regularly in my case).

Thanks for pointing that out.

--
Alan Silver
(anything added below this line is nothing to do with me)

On Wed, 26 Apr 2006 18:07:29 GMT Spartanicus <invalid (AT) invalid (DOT) invalid> wrote:

Why is a client telling you how to layout a page? The proper arrangement
is that professional web authors know what works and what doesn't work
on the web, clients rarely have a clue. A client should submit the
content, the web author then decides how to best present that.

Normally so. But you also have to keep the client happy. The web designer
needs to _interpret_ the clients desires for _this_ page in such a way that
it will also end up styled consistently and still be what the client would
want on other pages that would be created later (and hence use the very same
style). Not always an easy task. The client may say "I want this box to
always be highlighted" which happens to be the 2nd box and happens to have
the product price. Later on, a new page has the product description in the
2nd box and the price in the 1st box. Now which one should be highlighted?
Did the client always want the 2nd box highlighted or the price highlighted?
The designer needs to ask these questions.

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

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

On Wed, 26 Apr 2006 13:41:17 -0400 Ken Loomis <not_a_real_email (AT) address (DOT) com> wrote:

On Wed, 26 Apr 2006 18:05:12 +0100, Alan Silver
alan-silver (AT) nospam (DOT) thanx.invalid> wrote:

Hello,

A client requested a layout that has links in sections, displayed
something like http://www.kidsinaction.org.uk/table.html, which is a
mock-up, laid out with a table. Specifically, he wants the layout to
adapt to the browser window, which the table version does. If you change
the width of the window, the two sections move horizontally, so that
they always sit equally spaced out.

I would like to do a similar thing in CSS, but am not sure of the best
way. I imagine some wizard will show me this in about three lines of
code!!

float

That can only do a subset of what tables can do.

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

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