Slice & Dice Rookie Question

[Bob_Ricci]

I have PS 7 and Fireworks 4. Both let me slice & dice and I can do that. But I don't know how to do it in a manner that allows the template to grow vertically as text is added in the cell (horizontally too, but I generally restrict the page to 800x600.)

Any suggestions or links to tutorials that cover this topic?

I'm sorry if this question has been asked and answered. I did a search and couldn't come up with any relevant matches.

[mivox]

Welcome to WebmasterWorld, Bob! I'm afraid I'm having a bit of trouble understanding how a table would NOT grow when more content is added... Unless you have "sidebar" graphics as part of the template, and have set that row in the table to an exact height, the table cell you add text to should automatically grow when you insert more text.

Could you describe what you're trying to do a little more clearly, so I can get a better idea of where the problem lies?

[Edouard_H]

I think I have an inkling of what you're trying to achieve and the probable solution is to use some of your images, where possible, as backgrounds in table cells so they will expand accordingly.

[Bob_Ricci]

We're all on the same page. I don't see images posted on this site, so I'll give a link and you can see what I'm talking about.

[nicewebsites.com...]

I've turned the outer table border on so that you can also see the cell placement. I have inserted an image as a BG image so that it will expand downward, but you can see my results. Normally when I create a template from scratch I create an outer table set to an absolute width and then use relative within an inner table.

I have the original template already sliced, but it's in FrontPage and Bobby don't like FP :) It won't even convert using a DW MX extension.

I'm very pleased to have found this site! I was doing a Google search for a solution and found you -- I hope to contribute what I can.

[mivox]

Well, I've got to say I don't see a simple answer with the way you're trying to put the page together. Just slicing a single huge image and re-assembling it into a web page isn't going to give you much flexibility as far as "stretching" in your layouts.

I would suggest looking at fundamentally different ways of putting the page together... Learn some basic CSS placement (we have a wonderful CSS forum here) that would allow you to build the header area, the sidebar navigation and the text area as three totally separate "objects" on the page. That way, the sidebar images/table aren't attached to the height of the text area at all.

In general, I would recommend trying to think of building web pages more as "arranging" separate page elements together, than making a single static image that you need to somehow "adapt" to web format... if that makes any sense.

[Edouard_H]

Welcome! Your URL will likely be pulled per the terms of service [webmasterworld.com], but you've found a great resource. Mivox is pointing you the right direction and where possible try slicing the images for use as backgrounds to the smallest dimensions (keep the width you need in this case and slide it to 1 pixel height) possible and they'll tile better.

[Bob_Ricci]

I'll give this some time and try it with CSS. I do use CSS most of the time, but not usually for positioning - more for text decoration and alignment.

Sorry about the URL. I didn't think that it was a violation of the TOS since I'm not promoting anything. But I would certainly understand if it were pulled. Kind of a Catch-22 -- post and image and violate, or post a URL to the image... :)

There are actually very small images set as BG's. I just can't get the link elements to stay at the top where they belong. I've used a trick before of nesting a table within a cell and inserting them in that way.

I want to expand my knowledge. Rather than sending work out, I want to know this part of it better.

Thank you all again.

[Bob_Ricci]

Converting the site to layers in DW MX and then back to tables solved the problem.

Thanks again!