Relative Positioning Issue in IE

[Neal]

Regarding the oft-discussed http://users.rcn.com/neal413 - after altering
the stylesheet to accommodate a fluid design model, encountering odd
behavior.

HTML consists of a relatively-positioned all div, containing a header div,
an innerwrap div (containing the content and navigation divs and a footer
div. These 3 major divs are all relatively positioned. I'd expect them to
fall naturally in order on the page. In Opera display is as expected.
Mozilla is not working on my comuter at the moment, will check that at
first opportunity.

However, in IE6 the nav division, which is absolutely positioned, appears
to be aligning to the content division, which is not a parent but a
preceding sibling (which is not positioned anyway). This seems exceedingly
odd to me.

An additional problem in the IE rendering is the left-float (class "copy")
in the footer.

Any idea why this is happening, and possible reworking of the problem,
would be humbly appreciated.

[Neal]

Re: Relative Positioning Issue in IE

On Sun, 08 Feb 2004 13:06:38 -0500, Neal <neal413@spamrc n.com> wrote:
[color=blue]
> Regarding the oft-discussed http://users.rcn.com/neal413 - after
> altering the stylesheet to accommodate a fluid design model,
> encountering odd behavior.
>
> HTML consists of a relatively-positioned all div, containing a header
> div, an innerwrap div (containing the content and navigation divs and a
> footer div. These 3 major divs are all relatively positioned. I'd expect
> them to fall naturally in order on the page. In Opera display is as
> expected. Mozilla is not working on my comuter at the moment, will check
> that at first opportunity.
>
> However, in IE6 the nav division, which is absolutely positioned,
> appears to be aligning to the content division, which is not a parent
> but a preceding sibling (which is not positioned anyway). This seems
> exceedingly odd to me.[/color]

I have solved the issues by removing the all div, and giving the innerwrap
div a 1px border matching the background color. Still, why does IE align
properly in this case only when a border is set? Is this a known bug? (Not
known to me at this time...)

I dare say the layout will currently please the fluid-layout camp...
though if anyone is running N/Moz Nav, I still cannot get it to run, so
feedback would be most welcome.

[Alan J. Flavell]

Re: Relative Positioning Issue in IE

On Sun, 8 Feb 2004, Neal wrote:
[color=blue]
> Regarding the oft-discussed http://users.rcn.com/neal413 - after altering
> the stylesheet to accommodate a fluid design model, encountering odd
> behavior.[/color]

I looked at your page again, and - without putting the internals under
the microscope - my impression is that it behaves much better across
browsing variations, without its appearance in the "mainstream "
viewing situation being impaired. Good stuff.

Looking at it in Mozilla, if I might make a suggestion, the main text
seems to go rather close to the right hand edge. IE looks broadly
similar. I think the appearance might be a tad better balanced with a
shade more right-hand margin or padding for the text.

Percentages are a useful unit to maintain balance across different
browser widths and without occupying too much real-estate in a narrow
browser window.

A last point: for very wide windows, I'd be inclined to specify a
max-width in em units for the text area, for the benefit of those
browsers which support it.

hope this helps.

[Neal]

Re: Relative Positioning Issue in IE

Thanks, Alan...

On Tue, 10 Feb 2004 10:46:18 +0000, Alan J. Flavell <flavell@ph.gla .ac.uk>
wrote:[color=blue]
> Looking at it in Mozilla, if I might make a suggestion, the main text
> seems to go rather close to the right hand edge. IE looks broadly
> similar. I think the appearance might be a tad better balanced with a
> shade more right-hand margin or padding for the text.[/color]

Hmm, I'm seeing no obvious right-edge difference between Opera and IE6 (or
5 for that matter). If anything, IE appears to give a tad more margin than
IE...
[color=blue]
> A last point: for very wide windows, I'd be inclined to specify a
> max-width in em units for the text area, for the benefit of those
> browsers which support it.[/color]

I can try that... but first, to get Mozilla back working...

[Alan J. Flavell]

Re: Relative Positioning Issue in IE

On Tue, 10 Feb 2004, Neal wrote:
[color=blue][color=green]
> > Looking at it in Mozilla, if I might make a suggestion, the main text
> > seems to go rather close to the right hand edge. IE looks broadly
> > similar. I think the appearance might be a tad better balanced with a
> > shade more right-hand margin or padding for the text.[/color]
>
> Hmm, I'm seeing no obvious right-edge difference between Opera and IE6 (or
> 5 for that matter).[/color]

I don't seem to have expressed myself effectively enough here... Let
me try again: I started on Mozilla - I had the impression that I'd
have wanted a tad more right-hand margin for a balanced look; I then
tried IE6 - and decided that I felt the same. And actually, now that
I try Opera 7, I can only confirm that impression. I'm seeing "no
obvious differences" - I just want to see a little bit more margin
at the right.

But no big deal - design choices are inevitably subjective.

[Neal]

Re: Relative Positioning Issue in IE

> I don't seem to have expressed myself effectively enough here... Let[color=blue]
> me try again: I started on Mozilla - I had the impression that I'd
> have wanted a tad more right-hand margin for a balanced look; I then
> tried IE6 - and decided that I felt the same. And actually, now that
> I try Opera 7, I can only confirm that impression. I'm seeing "no
> obvious differences" - I just want to see a little bit more margin
> at the right.[/color]

I gotcha. But I do agree, copuld use a little more breathing room, thanks.