Posts by autocrat

(No idea if this is the right place... couldn't really see anywhere suitable, sorry!)

It's been in a couple of different threads... and I'm going to bandy it around a couple of communities...

You can say what you like, the truth of the matter is that there are people and businesses who purposefully bought domains with the sole intention of extolling money from others - at ridiculous amounts.

If you've built more than a few sites, the chances are good that when you have looked up DNs, you have found at least a couple that are not actually doing anything - there is no real website... it's simply a stupid little directory, advert system or generic holding page.
Some of these things have been there for years.

Should this be permitted?

I've seen arguments supporting this type of thing (usually from people that themselves do it).
I've seen some wonderful analogies and justifications...

So I'll throw some fish into the same pond and see what happens.

It's the same as buying a patent.
Not true - Patents run out after a time.
Further, applying for the Patent is not the same as receiving the Patent.

It's the same as purchasing land.
Not true - in most countries, there are laws for development production. You are only able to retain the land if it is in use, even if it is arable land. If local developments …

May seem odd.... but why not use the Account control system - I'm assuming that you have something like CPanel or such - thet usually has a file manager.
Alternatively, there are scripts around to act as little "Libraries" for such things.

stymie is correct.
I really do not see why people seem to think there is any real differene between "static" and "Dynamic"... you are still putting content on the internet, still using code and tags and content etc.

Theo nly differene is you are not manually building each page - it does that automatically.

If anything, a Dynamic site should be easier, asyou can figure you're pattern, put in the tags... and then add the content.
The tags are built using your content every time... no editing each page for optimisation etc.

Just do what you would do normally.

Okay... so to clarify (so I know what site to look at)...

You want a Fluid Horizontal Navigation with links centering themselves.

If so... I will go fetch the relevant code.
Please note that all my sites are "expandable", meaning that when text size changes, so does the container ;)

EDIT.
This means that though things may originally be ona a single "level"... resizing the window or changing text size could lead to the links dropping to another "level" - (though I view this as better than sliding out of sight either side of the page etc.)

If I remember correctly, you want Inline not float.

You want to divs... one full width, acting as parent, the other as child.
you can center the child.
I think you can flaot the child too... but the List should be inline...

I think.

Let me know if that works... if not, I'll go look at some of my sites.

Thank you.

I guess I'm just being incrediably negative regarding all of this... but as there is little chooice, I guess I will jsut have to "suck it up" and deal with it ;)

Thank you for being both patient and informative.

Thank god for that!

I've made 2 topics and sent 3 emails... no official response at all from them... but maybe they do listen to people after all.

The Descript is moot... as they will apaprently take the first chunk of text they encounter instead if the Description is not there ???

Good point about the reciprocal needing two though ;)
Do you get -points for a shite site linking to yours though?

I'm more than a little confused...
throughout this thread it has been stated that neither KeyWords nor Description haev any affect for Search Engine Results.

If that is the case - why are they still recommended and why are they still used???

Additionally, stating the reciprocal links can be a bad ting - how the hell can you stop a site liking to you?
You may block the link (prevent traffic from that IP/URL etc.)... but you cannot actually revent people linking to you.

So please explain these things.

Apparently, having "-" in the URL is a very good thing, unlike having "_".

If you consider...
http://www.my-cat-and-mat-site.com/the-cat-sat/on-the-mat
http://www.mycatandmatsite.com/thecatsat/onthemat
http://www.mycatandmatsite.com/the_cat_sat/on_the_mat

Okay... basically the same information, but with/without - or _.

Now it appears that Google will look at Hyphenated words as indiviudal words.
Thus my-cat-and-mat-site can be read as...
my cat and mat site
... and thats about it.

It will read conjoined words as individual words, but will interpret the space/break that fits the search pattern.
Thus mycatandmatsite could be read as ...
my cat and mat site
my catan mats it
myca tan atsi
... more conotations - but that doesn't score any more points!

As for the page titles etc... the Underscore is a major pain. Though in a way it is fantastic if someone types in the title of the page... but if they only enter in partially matching terms, it seems that you will not get the same scoring.

Well, if you viewed the source of this page... you would see...

<meta name="keywords" content="How can i add info into Meta Description tag and Meta keyword tag?, programming forum, computer forum, programming help, computer help, tech support, technical support, web development, website promotion, internet marketing, seo" />

<meta name="description" content="How can i add info into Meta Description tag and Meta keyword tag? Search Engine Optimization" />

So, you basically want...

<head>
<meta name="keywords" content="" />
<meta name="description" content="" />
</head>

If it helps... look at http://www.daniweb.com/forums/post412858.html#post412858
As that has some additional ideas for SEO as well.

It the case of not having the time (did I not mention that? ;) )

? phpDesigner has a bug reporter?

Must be in one of the new versions... I'm still on 2005's (I've looked at the newer ones and can't stad them).

Still, in a way I guess it isn't the tools that makes people bad, it's the people themselves.
So I guess it doesn't matter what you use - it's jsut my pet peeve of monkeys and dreamweaver ;)

When your client says
" ...the menus don't work on her Mac. "

does she mean it doesn't show up, or that the top links do but not the popups, or that the popups appear but are displaced?

If the former, then it is most likely the JS.
If either of the remaining two options, then it could simply be the styling.

And yes, there are some notable differences on the Mac IE (which to be honest, is just about dead anyways , isn't it?).

Is there a reason for the JS only meu ... rather than using a JS/CSS hybrid, such as the Suckerfish menu (or one of the "son's")?
They may not be perfect, but at least you can navigate somewhat with JS disabled, and it works on most Browsers and OS's... and most important of all... it's accessible, even with JS disabled!

Well, it may be the menu code!

I know that is stating the obvious - but have you checked with the menu originator that it is compatible?
Does the client have JS eanbled?
Is the scripting using windows proprietry expressions?

Alternatively, contact the suppliers of the menu code.

Then again, you have a JS only menu, so you're boned no matter what!

(EDIT: It's your own code isn't it ?)

Nothing personal, but I would state not to follow ... martin5211 ... adviceo n DreamWeaver - I've found a huge number of people don't actually understand what they do because they use software that does most of the work.

If you are to learn, then YOU learn.
Hell, I still do a fair bit of coding in things like Notepad if I don't have a machine with phpDesigner on it!

By al means use DreamWeaver - but make sure you understand what you are doing :)

Ah, sod it - I hate being tight and wanting cash :)

Most advertising companies or online marketing companies havereally shoddy search-engine data, so finding them is a nightmare (go figure).

Look for companies such as Aurora, Doubleclick or Adtech.

I myself would look into my own Sponsorship and Advertising system - as that means you can control what adverts, where they go and how much you get etc.
Depending on what you site is built with/how good you are, you can handle such a thing yourself, (I use Xaraya and use the Articles module ;)).
Alternative, you can use something like adnews or what not to control your own campaigns, and that has instructions on how to include the advert display code.

Okay - two things I can do for you.
For free, I can suggest that you look into advertising providers or start a sponsorship/advertising program of your own.

For a service, I can provide details of several Advertising companies that could supply you with CPM advertising (pays by the thousand for page impressions/hits), which is more reliable than PPC (pay per click).
If you are UK based, I may even beable to recommend up to 3 reliable marketing companies for you.

Personally, I'd go through the CSS applying...
border: 2px solid red;

to each element to make sure that it is containing the children correctly.
At least that way you will be able to see what is where and just how much space it takes.

Additionally, you may be able to cheat by applying a white background to the UL ?

But before you do anything like the above,

VALIDATE!!!!

Please!

http://validator.w3.org/
paste in the URL and see the errors you get.
Start at the top and fix them working down, as you may find a single mistake at the start of your file can cause multiple issues further down... so fixing 1 issue could solve 10 others!

If you do not Validate the code, you are bound to encounter little issues.... usually because something isn't closed... thus styling won't be applied as it cannot calculate the "height" of something that does not end :)

Okay.... you have to becareful with the CSS.

You have both Float and display:inline applied to the right advert... why?
the display:inline could be used for an IE bug fix.... but no margins are applied to the flaoted element, so there is no real need?

Additionally, no widths are applied to the Div... only for the Image.
This can cause some rending issues in certain browsers as well.

So, if in doubt, try applying the exact Width to the Div.... but do be carefull of applying padding as well!
To be completely safe, if your image is 120 x 620, and th Div has padding of 30px 0 0 13px, then make the Div width 133px and height 650px...
see what that gives you.

I find it easier to use "base-blocks" with no paddings etc... ensure it all fits, then start altering widths/heights/margins/paddings, whilst checkig in different browsers - always makes it easier to ensure they render correctly!
(as a suggestion, you may want to check in 2 different version of MFF as well - they often display differently!)

Just a quick guess, but you may find it's the classes.

If I'm correct, you have multiples of these "image pop-ups", all with the same classes.
so if you think about it, you have multiple little boxes with popup layers, all basically overlapping each other.

The problem occurs for the Popups though...

You have applied a z-index to the Links (a:info) when inactive and when hovered over.... but not applied a z-index to the actual tooltip/popup!
Try adding z-index: 30; to a.info:hover span
see what that gets you.

Technically ... zmariow ... is correct, (so long as the Lists are not of Menu or Dir types).

The example of more than a single <h1> tag is not correct...
(you should only have a single <h1> ;) ).

Well, if you want to display the data, it has to go somewhere.

1) Email to you, you edit the page.
2) Save to file, page loads files.
3) save to DataBase, page loads DB.

I think those are your three main options.

So, 1 is out, leaving 2/3.
You could use a "scripting language" for this, and there are examples out there of how to do it...

You could have a script that everytime the form is filled in, it saves the data into a new file, and then the page loads up, reads all the files and inputs the values ito the page.

Or you could use a DB, then you can either use a real "DB Engine" such as mySQL, or a "Flat File DB" usig JS/PHP etc. (saves thestuff as entries in a file, then reads each entry as a record).

It does depend on the Host, though almsot all offer some form of DB (usually MySQL) and some scripting/language support (php/asp etc.).

There are plenty of little DB scripts out there... look to Hot Scripts etc. You will find examples, and even little tutorials for it.

Could you tell us which Iamge you refer to?
You also have Inline styling, which will always overide/take priority external styling.

" First character of each word in Uppercase "
is not Sentence case, it would be Title case.

In CSS, you would want to use ":capitalize".
Note: it uses a "z" not an "s".

...

p
{
text-transform: capitalize;
}

I think that would give you...
" Text That Looks Something Like This. "

?
Royal -? Lineage

Well, as I said, give it a go and let me know :)

I found that and had a look.... if I have to attempt this,then I will - but I was kind of hoping I could hire someone to assist.

I can provide a copy of the XML that would be Posted, and I can supply the $vars I would want it turned into.

Okay.

Firstly, don't panic... you've jsut stumbled upon the major drawback of CSS over Table designs.

It is not particualrly a fault of CSS, more a fault of Browsers not really supporting things consistently.

But there are methods to fix it.

Firstly, if you have seperat DIVs, they will not "share" the height of the page, in most cases they will stretch to accomodate their own content, and stop at that point.

To fix it, we will use a bit of smoke and mirrors.
You can use a "wrapping" div to contain your 3 columns, an apply any background colours/images to that/those.

So, if you can, think of Divs as Glass Boxes.
We have the option of either putting a box within a box, or putting a box infront/behind.

So, you have 3 columns... and probably three distinct colours/bgs - one for each.
So we will want a set of 3 nested (inside each other) wrappers to hold the Background.

So have...

<div id="column1bg">
<div id="column2bg">
<div id="column3bg">


<div class="clear">&nbsp;</div>


</div>
</div>
</div>

We will "pad" each of those on a single side, the same amount of padding as we intend for our column widths - col1=200px, col2=whateverisleft, col3=150px.

#column1bg
{
margin: 0;
padding: 0 0 0 200px;
background-color: blue;
}


#column2bg
{
margin: 0;
padding: 0 150px 0 0;
background-color: green;
}


#column3bg
{
margin: 0;
padding: 0;
background-color: pink;
}


.clear
{
margin: 0;
padding: 0;
font-size: 1px;
line-height: 1px;
}

Well, for a start, if you want a "fluid" page for things like height.... you can't use position:absolute!
You are tellign the browsers to stick something "THERE", so no matter what happens, it will not move.

Additionally, you may find it easier if you stop using height: as well.

In IE, it will treat height: as min-height:.
Where as proper Browsers will treat height: as an explicit isntruction, and will not stretch!
Instead content will break out of it.

So, try it more "organicly"... simply place the divs in the order you want for the column, and let the content sort itself out regarding height.

Trust me...

<div id="rightcolumn">
<div id="box1">
</div>
<div id="box2">
</div>
<div id="box3">
</div>
<div id="box4">
</div>
</div>

Will give you the right-hand column, with 4 blocks for content... as each one fills in, it will automatically stretch to contain the content.
Better yet, it will also push those below it further down!

Overstyling is a common occurence, and it takes a bit to realise some of the "default logic" that is inherant in CSS.

So keep it simply, make a new page, and simply put coloured boxes in the order you want.

I t should do what you want automatically!

Okay - there is no otherway to phrase this ...

Help!

I am not a programmer, never claimed as such... but I do use a php based CMS, which I adore - Xaraya.

So I am building a site for a client, and it's gotten to be a rather ugly beast of a site with new bits being asked for etc.

Then, to top it all off - the company who supply the News and several other items to the site inform me it is not done through an RSS Feed, but done with a POST.

Never encountered any such thing, (not being a programmer!).

So, I need a way to receive this post.

It comes in a single $var, as far as I can tell, called $xml.
within that are various items and what I assume as arrays.

There things such as <title>this is it</title>, which I assume woud be $title.
Then there are things like <this.item id="thisitem12" name="varioustexthere" />

Now, I reckon I can do somethings in php, such as testing if the $xml var is there, if so foreaching through things and pulling them apart.

What I do not know how to do is catch this thing, pull it apart and then put it into a DB/table.

Please, any advice, support, links etc. will be greatly appreciated.

Alternatively, anyone who uses Xaraya who can do tis will be paid!!!

please …

single -> unique

good luck :)

Well, I gave you one list all... but some others to include as...

Useful sources...
http://pmob.co.uk
www.456bereastreet.com
http://bitesizestandards.com

Examples of differing CSS for thesame Markup
www.csszengarden.com

A good source of possibles...
http://www.w3.org/Style/CSS/learning

Plus the basics, from the origins...
http://www.w3schools.com/css/css_examples.asp

Personally, I strongly recommend trauling through the W3 site and copying out their tables for CSS - I made a word document of around 9 pages when I first started so that I could have an on hand reference ....
....then I went and made a little document with "Tips & Tricks" and everytime I found a useful method, or notes on how to overcome a problem, I would try it, and when I got it workig and think I understood it, would write it up and print it out.... I got around 16 Tips & Tricks within 3 weeks - and I printed them out too.

If you play around, you may find different ways to do things - the darn thing about CSS is alot of thefixes or techniques are reliant upon what is already in place... so sometimes a clever bit ofcodewon't work for you due to previous properties.

So, once you hae a technique or method you like that seems to work on multiple browsers.... make a note of it in a word doc etc.... and keep it (date it too :) ).

Okay,

- Revision 1 - better placement of footer -

<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3c.org/TR/1999/REC-html401-19991224/loose.dtd">
<!-- saved from url=(0021)http://test.eezs.com/ -->

<html>

<head>
<title>test</title>
<meta http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1">
<link href="test_files/main.css" type=text/css rel=stylesheet>
<meta content="MSHTML 6.00.2900.3157" name=GENERATOR>
</head>

<body>

<div id="pagewrap">
<!-- Header Section -->
<div id=header>
<img height=100 src="test_files/head.gif" />
</div>

<!-- Main Section -->

<div id="container">

<div id="content">

<div id="leftcol">
<ul>
<li>
<a href="#" title="whatever">Link</a>
</li>
<li>
<a href="#" title="whatever">Link</a>
</li>
<li>
<a href="#" title="whatever">Link</a>
</li>
<li>
<a href="#" title="whatever">Link</a>
</li>
</ul>

<ul>
<li>
<a href="#" title="whatever">Link</a>
</li>
<li>
<a href="#" title="whatever">Link</a>
</li>
<li>
<a href="#" title="whatever">Link</a>
</li>
<li>
<a href="#" title="whatever">Link</a>
</li>
</ul>
</div> <!-- leftcol -->

<p>
Test content goes here.
</p>
<p>
Test content goes here.
</p><p>
Test content goes here.
</p><p>
Test content goes here.
</p><p>
Test content goes here.
</p><p>
Test content goes here.
</p><p>
Test content goes here.
</p><p>
Test content goes here.
</p><p>
Test content goes here.
</p>

</div> <!-- content -->

<div class="clear">&nbsp</div>
</div> <!-- …

regarding "height"

CSS "inherits", and "cascades".
If you have two items, outer and inner... and apply height 50% to each, thenthe outer will be50% of the screen, the inner wil be 50% of the outer.

If you only apply height 50% to the inner, and no height (or auto) to the outer, then it should not do anything, as it has no parent-height to refer to (if that makes sesnse - it has to way to tell how tall it should be!)

As far as I know, it isn't really possible.
There are waysto make it look that way (e.g. altering the BG image as I mentioned earlier?)... but otherwise no.

By putting in two positions like that, and in that order, it will take the last one only - that being :absolute.

Also, if I apply absolute to the leftcol, it just positions itself to the top left of the screen ?!?

To be honest, after much looking around, MidiMagic's method is the only way to make it look like a bigger checkbox/radial.

The only alternative is to style the labels and make them "clickable" and moe "visible", enabling people to click the label.
I have tested having <label for="n">Name <input /> </label>... it seems to validate and work in IE6 and Mozilla 1.5/2 for Win... which means you can style the label to be bigger, and it will encompas the input as well.

But it will not make the inputs bigger, nor make them appear bigger.
Not possible in non-ie browsers (one of the few of their "quirks" that is a good feature!).

I'd go with MidiMagic if I was you :)

... Dsiembab ...
ROFLMFAO :D

Still - It took me more than 6 Months straight learning from HTML and sodding Tables to XHTML and pure CSS - and the bugs drove me mad...
so if I see someone who is not lazy and willing to make the shift up on learnig, then I will do alittle to give them a leg up.

I put a few questions on here, webdev... even sitepoint (which I personally do not recomend).
Only fair a return the favour...

And havig an example like that to refer to is always a big help!

... ashneet ...

Not a problem - you seem willing to learn - so I'm willing to help, plus you ever asked me to do it,
"ask for, don't get; don't ask, don't want"
- one of my Mothers many odd and completely insensical sayings :) )

Let us know if it helps/works etc.

As for the Bugs, a lot of trial and error and research and swearing profusely because peolpe describe bugs differently :)
I myself am not keen, but will use a Hack if I have to, and to be honest, I'd rather use IE only hacks and a little invalid css than either ignore the most prominent browser and uset clients, or use umpteen style sheets (makes it nigh on impossible to alter later on!).

Okay - I've only done those that needed doing to get the layout correct.

Please pay attention...

1) You have a habbit of the last bit of CSS for each ID not having a closing ; - which means MozFFwill have issues!

2) You should make things in "lowercase" whenapply them... so not FONT-SIZE, but font-size!

3) In "most" cases, instead of using Padding-top/padding-right/padding-bottom/padding-left... try just padding: 0 0 0 0;!

4) Similarly - try to follow the order of Top-Right-Bottom-Left... even when doing a line each!

5) Also note that "0" does not ahave a measurement unit... so it is 0, not 0px :)

6) For somethings, making similar entries are not needed - such as you ahving no difference between Lik and Lik:visited... so you can put them together (see CSS).

Still.... you are making the effort, and the above should help.
Keep it up, you've already made some headway, and some of the commetns should help you get over the more annoyig bugs!

<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3c.org/TR/1999/REC-html401-19991224/loose.dtd">
<!-- saved from url=(0021)http://test.eezs.com/ -->


<html>


<head>
<title>test</title>
<meta http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1">
<link href="test_files/main.css" type=text/css rel=stylesheet>
<meta content="MSHTML 6.00.2900.3157" name=GENERATOR>
</head>



<body>


<!-- Header Section -->
<div id=header>
<img height=100 src="test_files/head.gif" />
</div>


<!-- Main Section -->


<div id="container">


<div id="content">


<div id="leftcol">
<ul>
<li>
<a href="#" title="whatever">Link</a>
</li>
<li>
<a href="#" title="whatever">Link</a>
</li>
<li>
<a href="#" title="whatever">Link</a>
</li>
<li>
<a href="#" title="whatever">Link</a>
</li>
</ul>


<ul>
<li>
<a href="#" title="whatever">Link</a>
</li>
<li>
<a href="#" title="whatever">Link</a>
</li>
<li>
<a href="#" title="whatever">Link</a>
</li>
<li>
<a href="#" title="whatever">Link</a>
</li>
</ul>
</div>  <!-- leftcol -->


<p>
Test content goes here.
</p>


</div>  <!-- content -->


<div id="contentfooter">
Content Footer content
</div>  <!--contentfooter-->


<div class="clear">&nbsp</div>
</div>  <!-- container -->



<!-- Footer Section -->


<div id="pagefooter">
Page Footer content
</div>  <!--pagefooter-->



<!-- text below generated by server. PLEASE REMOVE -->
<!-- Counter/Statistics data collection code -->


<script language="JavaScript" src="test_files/geov2_001.js"></SCRIPT>


<script language="javascript">geovisit();</SCRIPT>
<noscript>
<IMG height=1 alt=setstats src="test_files/visit.gif" width=1 border=0>
</noscript>


</body>


</html>


/* You didn't include    HTML */
html
{
margin: 0;
padding: 0;
height: 100%;
/* Font-size set in PX will not Resize in IE! */
/* Instead, you could go for   text-size: 75%; */
font-size: 11px;
/*   helvetica goes before arial, as arial is the more common modern font */
font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;
}


body
{
MARGIN: 0;
padding: 0;
height: 100%;
background-color: #abcdef;
}



#header
{
height: 100px;
background-color: #abcdef;
text-align: left;
float: left;
width: 100%;
}



#container
{
margin: …

hmmm, must have forgotte html coding...
I thought things like <img> had to be either..
<img> </img> or <img /> ???

Still... here we go....

Arg - Validate man, Validate :)

http://validator.w3.org

That will show you a whole bunch of issues with the code...

Still, as you are willing to make the effort - so will I.

Keep an eye on her, I will paste you some code :)

...MidiMagic...
I think you "overead" into what he seems to want - a simple two column layout with Header and Footer... nothing complicated nor impossible with that.

...ashneet...
What you are asking for is possible... but it is fair easier, simplier and more reliable to "cheat".
Due to certain Browsers not following the guidelines, and others doing their own thing... things like "equal height columns" across all browsers are a pain.
So isntead,there are a couple of techniques... but "faux columns" is the most reliable.
This is basically makig a container that has a bg image, then two divs inside the container.
An alternative is to use the Ruthsarian layout... kind of Equal columns with some extras (though more complicated!).

So... simple version (try this one first!)

<div id="container">
<div id="content">
<div id="leftcol">
</div>
</div>
</div>

#container
{
float: left;
clear: both;
#zoom:1; /*IE Bug Fix */
}

#contents
{
margin-left: 200px;
}

#leftcol
{
margin: 0 -1px 0 -200px;
width: 200px;
float: left;
position: relative; /* IE Bug Fix */
#display: inline; /* IE Bug Fix */
}

Give that a go.
If you have a fixed width design, it is a simple case of applying the BG to the Container.
If it is fluid... then make 2 …

okay...

Pleasedefine what you want the page to do.
I am assuming that Header at the top, then contents/nav and footer below the content/nav section.

so, are the content and nav to be seperate from each other, or is it to look like a single entity, and the white bg is to allways reach down and touch the footer?

If that is the case, try applying the background0image/styling the the container div, not the content div.

Taht said, if your Nav and Cotent are seperate from each other, and you are not clearing after the end and before the Cotent ends, then they will break out of the container in Mozilla.

As for tables isntead of Divs... it is a preferance, but with only a little effort, you can achieve exactlt the same result, but it will be a little more sensible to screen-readers.

It happens... no matter how long you've been doing it!

the trick is to look for stupid mistakes first!
you'd be amazed how many do a minor change... then send ages wonderig why it doesn't work...
so Validate as you go!
Every little thing you alter, pass to a validator, as it willhelp catch any mistakes, and save you ages of screaming, shouting and rippig out hair!

http://validator.w3.org (I think)

Ermmm seems to be working in IE6 and MFF1.5 on Win XP SP2

Well... part of the problem may be using tables.... you may want to look into DIVS etc instead!

That aside... it will depend on whether you have applied a height to the HTML, Body and the TABLE of 100%.

Hmmm, you also haev a big issue with resizing text in MozFF.

Okay... as it stands you have a Container.
Inside the Container, you have 2 independant Columns, (meaing they are not nested).

As they are not nested they have no relation to each other (so no matter the size of the Left, the right will not stretch, and vice versa).

Instead... you either want to re-order things a little...

<div id="container">
<div id="content">
<div id="leftcol">
</div>
</div>
</div>

#container
{
float: left;
clear: both;
#zoom:1; /*IE Bug Fix */
}

#contents
{
margin-left: 200px;
}

#leftcol
{
margin: 0 -1px 0 -200px;
width: 200px;
float: left;
position: relative; /* IE Bug Fix */
#display: inline; /* IE Bug Fix */
}

All of this means that basically, you hae a parent block... containg a child and grandchild.
The child is pushed from the left exactly the same distance as the width of the grandchild.
the grandchild is then pulled to the left, almost completely leaving the child, bar 1px.

You use the float: on both Parent and Grandchild interact.
(NOTE: You may want to apply Float to the Parent as well (so you float container, content and leftcol).

Also, helps if you test in other browsers as build!
…

At a look... I'd guess either you have used "height:" or are using "float:" and not clearing it.