Member Avatar for BastardAle

I've been recently designing my own eBay listings using MS FrontPage and a free image hosting site. Here's my question/problem. I have three ads that are pretty much the same as far as format; different pics and descriptions but otherwise carbon copies of eachother.
One of these listings, when ran on IE, takes up the whole monitor. I wrote everything in a 4pt Arial font centered, I have a 19" monitor and when I preview it using IE, I have to maximize the window to full-screen-size AND close the favorates pane on the left to allow the whole page to be viewed without side scrolling.

Somehow the other two ads did not turn out this way, they seem to auto-adjust to accomidate the browser window. I've checked out the above mentioned ad on a 14or15" monitor and it's even worse! With everything maximized you're having to side scroll to read the end of every line the whole way down the page!!!

I'm not sure what I've done wrong or different from the other two ads, and I'm sure for someone who has FrontPage experience this is an easy fix, but I'm clueless! I've tried to set Margins in the Page Properties settings but that did not have the desired effect I needed.

Please let me know if there's any other info I can post to help you help me.

Thanks alot!!!

  • 3 Contributors
  • 6 Replies
  • 218 Views
  • 2 Days Discussion Span
  • Latest Post Latest Post by samaru

Dani AI

Generated

Most likely cause (as already pointed out): one or more images are wider than the available viewport and force the whole listing to expand. The fact that the page only fits after maximizing and closing the Favorites pane is a classic sign the content width exceeds the browser viewport. Even if FrontPage "centers" things, large inline images or fixed-width containers will still cause horizontal scrolling.

Quick diagnostic checklist:

  • Inspect the HTML for img tags and look for missing width attributes or very large pixel dimensions.
  • Check parent containers (divs or tables) for fixed pixel widths that may not shrink.
  • Temporarily remove or replace images to confirm they are the trigger.
  • Preview the page at narrower widths (or resize the browser window) to reproduce the problem before applying fixes.

Simple, resilient fixes (works when the host accepts style rules; if not, use inline styles or explicit width attributes):

/* add to page style or inline if needed */
.listing img {
  display: block;
  max-width: 100%;
  height: auto;
  margin-bottom: 8px;
}

This makes images act like block elements (stack vertically) and prevents them from growing past their container. If the hosting system strips CSS, set a conservative pixel width on the uploaded images (for example 400–600px) or add style="width:300px;height:auto;display:block;" directly on each image.

Best practices to avoid the issue going forward: resize photos before upload rather than relying on the browser to scale them; avoid mixing fixed pixel widths across nested containers; prefer percentage-based widths for layout; and use block-level image styling instead of inserting manual line-breaks. These steps keep FrontPage-generated markup from unexpectedly stretching the layout and make listings behave consistently across different monitors and browser panes.

Recommended Answers

All 6 Replies

Member Avatar for samaru

I know what you mean. It's not just FrontPage, this idiosyncrasy happens in a lot of authoring tools, Dreamweaver and GoLive included. It'll be easier if you post the source somewhere so we can look at it.

Member Avatar for Dani

Are you using any table elements?

Member Avatar for BastardAle

No, no table elements.
Here's the link to the eBay ad though if that helps.

Don't laugh when you get there. Just to warn you, I'm selling all my old GI Joes....
you'd be amazed what those things are going for these days.

If there's anything else you need please let me know.
If you'd like I can post just the raw HTML code???

...remember I'm still pretty new at this so I'm not to hip on all the web authoring nomenclature :)

Member Avatar for samaru

I used to have a million GI Joes. Actually more TMNT action figures, including the Turtle Van and Technodrome. My favorite figure was that of Osagi Yogimbo... but I digress... =)

I don't even have to look at your code. The images near the middle of the page are too big. The table, no matter how small the width is, stretches out as far as the images. I suggest you put <BR>s after each image so they'll be aligned vertically.

If you're still having trouble, I'll look at the code. Let me know.

Member Avatar for BastardAle

Thank you, that does make perfect sense! I never even tried to align them vertically, FrontPage did what it did all on it's own (like Microsoft does).

BTW, I too have a ton of TMNT!!!! Like TONS. The van, the inflateable blimp thingie, awe man, I'd have to bust out the box just to remember half the stuff. They just don't make toys like that anymore ya know??? I'm sure I could go on and on but instead I'll just say thanks for the help!

Member Avatar for samaru

No problem. But yea, I loved the TMNT. I think the hardest figures to come across by were Usagi Yojimbo (I messed up the spelling before), Bebop, and Slash.

Here's Usagi:

[img][/img]

Slash:
[img][/img]

Be a part of the DaniWeb community

We're a friendly, industry-focused community of developers, IT pros, digital marketers, and technology enthusiasts meeting, networking, learning, and sharing knowledge.