Layer Checker/Validator?

New to Layers, need to troubleshoot

[mida68]

Hello, I did a search on layers but did not see anything regarding layer validation. I have a client that went wild with layers in DM. I've always used tables for positioning except some indeting and such. Now, clients are calling in with issues of overlapping text and neither my own client or I can see the problem from the front end.

Looking at the code, I'm not sure where to start, it's like a needle in a haystack trying to look at all the positioning numbers to find the issues.

Any advice?

Thanks
Shelley

[BlobFisk]

I have a client that went wild with layers in DM

DM?

The first thing to do is to validate both your HTML and your CSS. Then, test in as many browsers as possible.

Ask where exactly the problem is and try to narrow down the exact area of the problem.

After that - best of luck!

[SuzyUK]

if you mean DW then all I can say is start again! ;)

I recently had to "debug" a site that had been written with this, I've never used it myself but it certainly seems to have a unique way of building pages.. but perhaps it's the way the author uses it?

I get the impression that you can literally build the whole page like a DTP programme and move the "layers" around, but as for trying to correct it from the source code, I found it easier to rebuild the whole page from scratch.

It's hard to explain, but in the page I was working on a "list" of links had each link in a seperate "layer" that had been absolutely positioned so it fitted in with the background, but in the source code these links weren't even adjacent to each other and because of DW's "layer" numbering convention it was virtually impossible to reposition.

which is what I think you mean by:

Looking at the code, I'm not sure where to start, it's like a needle in a haystack trying to look at all the positioning numbers to find the issues.

---

When I had finished debugging, the stylesheet was reduced by 70%, so definitely my advice is to rebuild it.. you can keep the same design, but don't use DW unless you understand how to position the divs(layers) yourself..

Hello, I did a search on layers but did not see anything regarding layer validation.

That's because the term layers is not strictly correct, they are actually <div>'s and a validator won't stop you from overlapping <divs> as it is perfectly legal (from a validator point of view)to do so..

Suzy

[mida68]

THANKS! This is kind of what I thought but I've been hearing so much about layers (mostly on the SEO boards)that I thought someone must have developed a kind of validator by now.

I think that clients who own DreamWeaver (DW - sorry, not DM!)are going to be increasingly frustrated because the WYSIWYG layer "drawing" feature simply lets you draw square shapes all over the page to make positioning super-easy.

<sigh>

Guess, I'll recreate his pages using tables and templates so the format is locked down.

Thanks again!