How to Build a Basic CSS Layout

Designing without tables by using CSS layouts is fast becoming the new standard on the Web because of the benefits mentioned in my previous article. Web browsers used these days are now able to render web pages proficiently. In this article I will endeavor to create a basic 2 column CSS layout which you can use for future design projects.

Web Page: http://www.isitebuild.com/css/css-layout.html Style Sheet: http://www.isitebuild.com/css/stylesheet.htm

1. Divide your page into sections - the div id tags allows you to create distinct divisions on your web page. They are identified with a unique id. You can then add a style (css selector) that specifically applies to the div of that id. Remember to include the DOCTYPE (to render your page accurately in the browsers) and meta tags (enables search engines to spider your pages).

wrapper: is the div that wraps around all the other divs like a container for the page elements. header: defines the top banner of the page main: defines the main content of the page nav: defines the navigation of the page footer: defines the footer and sub-navigation of the page

2. Create the CSS code - the CSS code styles the page as a centered 2 column CSS layout with a navigation bar and a footer. The div#wrapper style creates the centered box which acts as a container for the rest of the page content. The width: 80% rule sets the width of the div. The background-color:#FFFFFF rule creates a white background for the div. The margin-top: 50px and margin-bottom: 50px rules create a space of 50 pixels for the top and bottom margins for the div itself.

The proper way to center a block-level element with CSS is to set margin-left: auto and margin-right: auto. This instructs the browser to automatically calculate equal margins for both sides, thus centering the div. The border: thin solid #000000 rule adds a border around the outer div. The rest of the CSS code styles the divs for the header, footer, nav, and main content.

The div#header and div#footer styles set margins and padding for those divs. In addition, div#header includes the text-align: center rule to center the header text, and div#footer includes the border-top: thin solid #000000 rule to create a border along the top edge of the div to replace the horizontal rule above the footer in the table-based layout.

The div#nav and div#main styles create the two columns in the middle of the centered box. In the div#nav style, the float: left rule pushes the div to the left side of its parent element (the wrapper div), and the width: 25% rule sets the div's width to 25 percent of the parent element. With the nav div floated to the left and limited to a set width, it leaves room for the main div to move up to the right of the nav div, thus creating the two-column effect. The div#main style includes the margin-left: 30% rule to keep the main text aligned in a neat column instead of spreading out below the nav column. The main div's left margin is set to a value slightly larger than the width of the nav div.

Style Sheet http://www.isitebuild.com/css/stylesheet.htm

If links are placed elsewhere on the page they will inherit the same properties as above..a blue link that hovers to red. What if you wish to create another set of links that are a different color and on passing your mouse over them they are underlined.

4. Create the bottom navigation - to include this in the section of the page, I use div#footer and code each link accordingly. To make the list go horizontally I use: display: inline;

Now that I have finished creating my style sheet I want to shorten the code on page by linking it to my external style sheet. Here's how:

4. Create an external style sheet - copy and paste all the css code (without these tags: ) into notepad and label it something like "style sheet". Place this style sheet between the head tags of your web page.

This will reduce the code on your page so it will load fast plus the search engines can more easily spider your web page.

4. Add content to your page - after you have got your page looking correctly, you can add more content to it. Adjustments can easily be made to any style on the page (or your whole site) by simply editing one style sheet.

5. Upload your files - be sure to upload your web pages and style sheet to the root directory of your server.

6. Validate your code - be sure to validate your xhtml code: http://validator.w3.org/ and css code: http://jigsaw.w3.org/css-validator/ and make corrections where necessary.

7. Check browser compatibility and screen resolution - check that your page renders well in the popular browsers (IE6, NN7, Firefox)

If you are beginning with CSS layouts, implement then slowly by making small changes to your pages i.e. creating a style sheet for your main headers and fonts only. As you become more familiar with CSS you may eventually build all your future sites with CSS layouts.

Resources:

Basic CSS layout
http://www.isitebuild.com/css/css-layout.html

CSS Style Sheet
http://www.isitebuild.com/css/stylesheet.htm

Benefits of CSS
http://www.isitebuild.com/css/index.htm

Herman Drost is the Certified Internet Webmaster (CIW) owner and author of http://www.iSiteBuild.com Affordable Web Site Design and Web Hosting. Subscribe to his "Marketing Tips" newsletter for more original articles. mailto:subscribe@isitebuild.com. You can read more of his in-depth articles at: http://www.isitebuild.com/articles

---

Demand More From Your Lead Tracking Software

An integral part of any quality CRM system is lead... Read More

Spyware - The Internet Devil Of Our Times!

Spyware and Adware infest over 90 percent of computers in... Read More

Benefits of Integrating Online Chat Software with CRM

Customer Relationship Management (CRM) is a strategy and processes used... Read More

Snort for Network IDS

What is Snort?Snort is an open source network intrusion detection... Read More

Lowering The Risks In Developing Do-It-Yourself Software Projects

Mike Dunville* had a decision to make. As the new... Read More

Defining OLAP Solutions and Data Warehouse design

This tutorial covers OLAP solutions used by Data warehouses and... Read More

Basic Tips and tricks for Windows XP

Running Applications in Compatibility Mode With Windows XP, you can... Read More

Microsoft CRM Customization Secrets ? Second Edition

This article is for advanced Microsoft CRM SDK C# developers.... Read More

Microsoft Great Plains Furniture & Fixtures ? Implementation & Customization Highlights

Microsoft Great Plains, former Great Plains Software Dynamics / eEnterprise... Read More

Windows Screensavers Explained

In this article you will find some background information about... Read More

Call Alert Notifications - Free Answering Machine Software for PCs

If you're online using a dialup Internet connection, you'll probably... Read More

6 Easy Steps for a Smoother CD/DVD Order

It's all about turn times in the eMedia industry! The... Read More

Huddle Up; Groupware on Three

It could just be me, but my experiences with document... Read More

Fast Car Knoppix

Small can be beautiful! Working with Knoppix for the past... Read More

Lotus Notes Domino and Microsoft CRM Integration

Well, even if the combination might look very unusual, we... Read More

Microsoft C# vs. VB.Net

Hi, Guys,I believe a lot of programmers are trying to... Read More

Navision Attain C/ODBC Crystal Report ? Customization Example

Microsoft Business Solutions Navision is main ERP application for European,... Read More

Cross-Platform Custom Software Development & Integration ? IT Strategy for Large Corporation

Microsoft Business Solutions products: Great Plains, MS CRM, Navision, Axapta,... Read More

Five Reasons for Using an O/R Mapping Tool

So, why should you use any O/R mapping tool? I... Read More

Configure Windows Indexing Service for Performance

The Windows Indexing Service provides you with the ability to... Read More

eCommerce development for Microsoft Great Plains: tools and highlights for programmer

Microsoft Business Solutions Great Plains, former Great Plains Software Dynamics... Read More

Navision Customization: C/SIDE, C/ODBC, C/FRONT, XBRL ? Development Options

Microsoft bought Navision, Denmark based software development company, along with... Read More

HelpDesk & Asset Management Software - Choosing The Right One

If you are to buy a HelpDesk & Asset Management... Read More

Google Brings the Earth to Your Desktop

Google Inc. has launched a new software package that allows... Read More

Microsoft Great Plains Distribution, Barcoding, Consignment ? overview for consultant

Microsoft Great Plains ? ERM from Microsoft Business Solutions and... Read More

Microsoft Great Plains Integration Manager: Using Continuum ? Overview for Developer

Microsoft Business Solutions Great Plains has I'd say end user... Read More

Screenplay and Script Writing Software

When it comes to screenplay software each screenwriter needs to... Read More

Microsoft Great Plains Implementation: Collection Management ? Overview For Consultant

Microsoft Business Solutions Great Plains is very good fit for... Read More

IT Strategy for Large Corporation: ERP/MRP/CRM, Unix/Linux/Windows, Microsoft/Java

Combining Microsoft Business Solutions Great Plains ERP with non-Microsoft Business... Read More

Microsoft CRM: Data Conversion ? Import from Act!

Best Software Act! is very popular CRM for small and... Read More

Microsoft Great Plains & CRM in Transportation & Logistics ? Overview

Microsoft Business Solutions Great Plains and MS CRM (client relation... Read More

Microsoft CRM Data Import FAQ

Microsoft CRM has built-in conversion tool, however you should probably... Read More

PHP On-The-Fly!

IntroductionPHP can be used for a lot of different things,... Read More