I'm using a software called web page-maker. I'm trying to have a white box with the content that is centered against a black background. But when I open a sidebar from the view menu, the white content part no longer is centered.
How can I make the content stay centered?
Here's the site: www.channelislandsvideo.com

My other site was made with dreamweaver doesn't do this. www.sorrentofilms.com.

I checked my site on two other computers, one of them a Mac and one a PC with a 4:3 screen (my PC uses a 16:9 screen).

On the Mac, the fonts all default to something other than the font I select (splash) and the screen isn't centered.

On the 4:3 PC the fonts also are wrong and the screen requires scrolling to see all of it.

Why are the proportions all off and why does the page look different on different computers?

I want to buy this software http://www.webpage-maker.com/ but if it can only build a satisfactory page on the computers it's constructed on, I'll have to find another program...

I can't help with the specifics of webpage-maker, but I think I can tell you what's going on with the code behind the scenes.

The site is using absolute positioning. Absolute positioning is saying always place this element Xpx from the top or bottom and Ypx from the left or right. It will only be centered for someone who has their browser open to the exact same size and resolution you had when you created it.

You'll have to center the page elements using something other than absolute positioning if you want it to be centered across computers. There are plenty of examples how on this forum, which you should be able to find with a little searching.

Also know that you can never code a web page to look exactly the same on every computer. Part of designing for the web is understanding that and creating designs that are more flexible.

As for the fonts it looks like you're using one that isn't common across all computers. In order for me to see the font you're using my computer has to have that font installed.

Chances are the other computers don't have the font installed.

The other computers could also be set to ignore your fonts and use one they've been set to use.

Originally Posted by vangogh

I can't help with the specifics of webpage-maker, but I think I can tell you what's going on with the code behind the scenes.

The site is using absolute positioning. Absolute positioning is saying always place this element Xpx from the top or bottom and Ypx from the left or right. It will only be centered for someone who has their browser open to the exact same size and resolution you had when you created it.

You'll have to center the page elements using something other than absolute positioning if you want it to be centered across computers. There are plenty of examples how on this forum, which you should be able to find with a little searching.

Also know that you can never code a web page to look exactly the same on every computer. Part of designing for the web is understanding that and creating designs that are more flexible.

.

Looks like I'm SOL. The web page maker software doesn't do relative positioning as far as I can tell. I don't know of what use absolute positioning is, seems pretty annoying to have web page display differently on every single computer on the planet.

Since you have used Dreamweaver and this site is in the beginning stages, you might want to redo it using Dreamweaver. I have never heard of web page-maker, but it's putting in very bad code here.

If you plan on developing more web sites, you might want to learn how to code them by hand.

Originally Posted by joder

Since you have used Dreamweaver and this site is in the beginning stages, you might want to redo it using Dreamweaver. I have never heard of web page-maker, but it's putting in very bad code here.

Dreamweaver is Greek to me. Are there any user friendly website building softwares that allow for relative positioning?

Brian I wouldn't use relative positioning for this either. The way I center a web page across the width of the browser is to structure the html as below

<body>
<div id="wrapper">
everything else for your page here
</div>
</body>

and then in the css I use

div#wrapper {width:760px; margin: 0 auto}

The width can be anything, but it has to be specified.

I'm guessing you don't have experience coding by hand, but I wanted to point out that you shouldn't need positioning of any kind.

The code above works to center the page horizontally. I don't try to center it vertically, but I think it can be done or at least approximated.

Originally Posted by vangogh

Brian I wouldn't use relative positioning for this either. The way I center a web page across the width of the browser is to structure the html as below

<body>
<div id="wrapper">
everything else for your page here
</div>
</body>

and then in the css I use

div#wrapper {width:760px; margin: 0 auto}

The width can be anything, but it has to be specified.

I'm guessing you don't have experience coding by hand, but I wanted to point out that you shouldn't need positioning of any kind.

The code above works to center the page horizontally. I don't try to center it vertically, but I think it can be done or at least approximated.

Hi, thanks! But you have no idea how mystifying all that is! But I found another software that seems to do the trick with regards to centering. Check it out!!!
www.channelislandsvideo.com

I've tested it on a mac and two pc's and it seems to stay centered!

Sorry I couldn't help more Brian. I'm glad you found a way to fix things, though. I checked the site and it's centered for me as well. By the way it looks like the code being used is what I described above.