Simple problem on this site - tables

Hi

Ive got a very simple problem on this site:
http://cms-stu-iis.gre.ac.uk/db810/arive/index.htm (dont click on the 'participants' link - it goes elsewhere)

You will notice that if you click on the various links at the left, the position of the links table keeps moving. This happens because whenever a new paragraph is started in the main body, it moves the left column of the table down as well. How can I solve this so my links box stays at the same place on every page.

Thanks.

404'd

havent managed to look at your page, but from the description it sounds like you just need to change the vertical alignment of the cell which is holding your links table to top. This will make sure your links always stay at the top no matter how much content you add to the other cell.

so

Is this the link we should be looking at?

http://cms-stu-iis.gre.ac.uk/db810/arrive/index.htm

if dm is right, I can see what you mean. First thing I noticed was that you are missing a table tag... But I doubt that is the problem. The top position of the nav bar is getting lower depending on the size of the page content.

I can't work out why though - it's this sort of error that made me leave tables for good.

Actually that table tag might make a difference... The td it is in has valign="top" so it could be the lack of table is messing it up? I don't know. You're actually missing quite a few closing tags in that area

I played around with the HTML from the home page. There was a good bit of extraneous code and nesting errors. For the menu on the left column, you might consider not using a generic DIV for right/left alignment of images, but use the TD or IMG attributes instead. The DIV's can cause some spacing problems when it gets squished in a table cell.

I think the first step would be to clean up your HTML so you can get all the errors fixed, then come back and address the spacing issue.

btw: I notice you're not using any spacing GIF's. When I did tabled layouts, these were essential.

Thanks a lot guys, I have sorted the problem out. Luckily my new flatmate that moved in is a really clever IT project manager and she showed me how it is done in notepad. Really put me to shame.

Thaks for your suggestions though,

I need to brush up on my html!

Bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, BAD!!! Spacers are useless. A little css makes spacers a complete waste of space.

lol i refrained from that gsv

Sorry, I couldn't restrain myself. I can't believe dM even recommended using such a sorry design hack! (no offense)

Bad practice is bad practice.

I don't do tabled layouts anymore. When I did, however, I used spacer.gif out the waaaazooo. I agree, they're bad, but for that type of layout system, especially when you're not writing for a specific DTD, they're essential.

That's my story, and I'm stickin to it.

I use tables for design on occasion, however, I've never found the need to use spacers. You can mix css and tables and get the same results. They're useful, not essential IMHO.

I agree