Member Avatar for no_content

Hi
Just switched from golive and was wondering if anyone could help me out with a problem I've got in dreamweaver CS3 as at the moment I'm finding it unbelievably frustrating!

Having layed out a large proportion of a page, I now have this problem where resizing a layout cell instantly resizes other seemingly unconected cells. As far as I can see, there should be no need for it to do this as all the cells should fit together nicely.

If anyone knows what I'm talking about and knows how to fix it, any advice would be much appreciated.

Thanks,
Rob

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  • Latest Post Latest Post by macneato

Dani AI

Generated

For quick diagnosis: open Code view and confirm whether Dreamweaver created a table-based structure (tags like <table> / <colgroup> / <td>) or a CSS DIV layout (nested <div>s or floats). The fix depends on which is actually being generated, so that check avoids guesswork.

If the layout uses tables, force a stable column geometry by setting a fixed table algorithm and explicit column widths rather than relying on auto sizing. Example:

table { table-layout: fixed; border-collapse: collapse; }
table td { width: 200px; }  /* adjust to the pixel widths you need */

If the layout is DIV/floats (Dreamweaver layout objects often output floated divs), give the outer wrapper a fixed width and assign explicit widths to the column containers; clear floats appropriately so changes in one column do not reflow siblings:

.wrapper { width: 960px; margin: 0 auto; overflow: hidden; }
.leftCol { float: left; width: 220px; }
.mainCol { margin-left: 240px; }  /* or float/right with explicit width */

Workflow and troubleshooting notes tied to earlier comments by and : check the document DOCTYPE so the browser uses standards mode; edit the generated stylesheet in the CSS Styles panel (avoid relying only on drag-resize in Design view); inspect any inline styles Dreamweaver inserts. Absolute-positioned (AP) elements will stop cascading changes but reduce fluidity—use them only when fixed placement is required. A screenshot or the generated HTML/CSS makes diagnosis easier if the behavior persists.

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Member Avatar for MidiMagic

"Once you open this can of worms, it takes a bigger can to recan them."

Browsers like to do this. They calculate how things fit based on columns and rows. And they do it whether you hard code your html or use pagebuilding software.

So you change the size of A. This makes more room for B, so it resizes. But now C, below it resizes too, changing the size of D. Cascade!

On top of that, Firefox and Internet Exploder have different rules on how they render margins, borders, and padding, which the pagebuilding software can't easily allow for.

This is one reason I don't like pagebuilding software. It's much easier to get stuff to locate right if you do it yourself with style sheets.

If I need iron control, I use the width style, as a percentage of the page or container width.

And I still find myself checking different browsers to see if my design falls apart whenever I change something. IE is the browser with the antsy-est behavior.

Member Avatar for macneato

Quite honestly no_content, only learnt about layout mode after reading this post (used to grid in Golive if I'm not mistaken). This is the way i see it, it's just a fancy way of doing tables (which you can do yourself, with a little bit of patience and nesting). Provide me with a print screen or sketch, maybe i could be of some help.

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