html table problem

[Kevin Justie]

Has anyone else experienced problems with Netscape sometimes ignoring cell
width settings in tables?

In redesigning my site, I'm using a two-column table on top of a sidebar
background.  The left column is set to 150 pixels to roughly correspond
with the sidebar; the right column does not have a specified width, and the
table width is 100%.  I have pages with a minimal amount of text, with a
lot of text, and with forms and nested tables (with unspecified widths).
In Explorer (v. 3, Mac and Win, v. 4 Mac), all these pages display
correctly -- with the left edge of the text aligned with the right edge of
the sidebar.  In Netscape v. 3 (Mac and Win), however, only the pages with
minimal text display correctly; the others have the text pushed as much as
1/2" to the left, on top of the sidebar.  Netscape v. 4 is a little better,
getting the pages with a lot of text correct, but those with tables or
forms are still wrong.

The following pages show what's happening (all display correctly in Explorer):

http://www.webrary.org/testsite/test/policymenu.html  (minimal text;
displays OK)
http://www.webrary.org/testsite/test/polill.html  (more text; text
overwrites sidebar)
http://www.webrary.org/testsite/test/poltables.html (tables (with
unspecified widths); non-table text overwrites sidebar)


All of the above use pixel width settings on the cells, but I've gotten
similar results using percentage widths. I've checked the HTML on the pages
and can find no glaring errors (but the pages are not yet final, so there
may be other minor errors, presumably not affecting this problem).  The
problem is not due to the different browser offsets, since it varies from
page to page within the same browser.

Any HTML suggestions or workarounds??

Thanks!



Kevin Justie
Head of Technical and Automated Services
Morton Grove Public Library, Morton Grove, IL
(847) 965-4220
kjustie at mgk.nslsilus.org
http://www.webrary.org/
Opinions expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect
official Library policy.

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