cell width

[jerrynyc]

I have a three column site composed of three cells with a table width of 100%. The left cell is a menu with links, the center is the main content and the right is a sidebar. I would like the left cell to size to fit the links and the right cell to be the same size as the left with the center taking up the remainer. Is it possible to do this?

[Purple Martin]

Yes it's possible. Set your menu link font size using ems. Now set the width of the left cell with ems as well - say 15em or whatever number is needed to accommodate the link text. Set the width of the right cell to the same. Don't specify any width for the middle cell: the browser will just work it out automatically.

The magic part is that when the user resizes their text (to "larger", "small" etc) the cells set with ems should resize as well.

[jerrynyc]

Thanks for the reply.

Do I simply count up the letters, spaces and padding as the number of ems?

[TheDoctor]

That's a good place to start, although it might not give you the correct size you want.

Have a look at what it gives you in your browser, then alter as necessary, until you get it looking perfect! ;)