Friday, December 10, 2004

Pause for technical malfunction

I need some tech help. If you're using Microsoft's lovely Internet Explorer browser to view this site, you've no doubt noticed that the sidebar over on the right tends to "slip" waaaay down to the bottom of the page. If you use Firefox, the page displays as it should.

I know I did something to upset the vaunted Microsoft League of Blog Template Justice. I believe I added some doodad to the sidebar that somehow pushed the content beyond the margins and caused IE to hiccup. Before I summarily remove all the special stuff from the site and re-add each one to determine the culprit, I was hoping someone would have some wizard-like technical insight to share in a comment. Any thoughts on this most maddening of template-related glitches?

In a similar vein, I want to either reduce the text size on the site, or find a Blogger-compatible template that contains smaller text thoughout. Does anyone have any thoughts on:
  • How I might reduce the font size without wrecking the site?
  • Where I might find somewhat workable Blogger templates?
  • Where I might find some advice on how to tweak what I've got? I'm cognizant in HTML and all, but CSS and XML are relatively new to my existence.
Thanks in advance for your wise counsel. I'm done with the atypical tech talk. We now return to our regularly-scheduled programming.

9 comments:

Red said...

I am no expert but here are a few places I have found for a variety of things. you may have heard of them ...or not
Blogskins.com
Dynamicdrive.com
http://www.w3.org/MarkUp/Guide/Style.html has some CSS tips
What was the last thing you added before your side bar fell to the pits of blog hell? LOL

Anonymous said...

Wow. I didn't intend for this to be anonymous, but Blogger went to crap apparently.

I digress.

Not sure if you've fixed this problem or not.

I use Firefox and your site looks perfectly fine.

Jef said...

I like your pictures that tell a story about a particular moment that has stayed with you. I also like unusual portraits that don't look staged or pics of something in your environment that is unique. When I visited Ontario for the first time in October, I was surprised by how much Canada was like the U.S., but yet so different. I'm not sure if that makes sense.

Janet said...

The answer is simple. Everyone should be using Mozilla. There then. Problem solved.:)

Janet said...

The answer is simple. Everyone should be using Mozilla. There then. Problem solved.:)

DeAnn said...

I'm pretty sure it's that wide Google ad. There are different sized ads you can use, and I would suggest the tall skinny one if you're putting it in your sidebar. That's most likely what's causing your problem.

Spencer said...

I think the key to this puzzle is that your links fall to the end of your posts in the main page but not when you go into an individual post to read the comments. I've seen IE have a few problems with items that are too wide for the space provided. Instead of extending the margins of the table to accomodate, IE simply skips them down the page until they're not competing with other items for width.

A useful site I've found for HTML tips is http://www.htmlgoodies.com/. It doesn't have anything blog-specific but it has all the basics.

Kicking Bitch said...

Well, when I had a problem, Wheelson figured it out, so maybe he'll be able to weigh in pretty soon.
Believe me, you're not alone. I have done everything from completely lose my side-bar, to have it overlap my main column, so don't feel bad.
BTW, has anybody told you that in that picture in your profile you look like Jouquin Phoenix? That's a compliment, I think he's cute.
Excuse me, I've embarrassed myself.

carmilevy said...

Thanks, Wheelson. I so very much appreciate your detailed assessment. I'm going to do just that. Watch your inbox for furtive cries for help when I do!