Imitate Frames Using Sidebar Commands

~~Sidebar Fun~~

Okay, say you want a really nifty looking homepage. One that _looks_ like a frames page, but you don't have the time or the patience to learn frames. Or, maybe you are one of many people who hate getting "caught" in frames (I never have, but maybe I've just been lucky.~grin~)

The solution to your problem is to use sidebars!

The setup of sidebars is easier than the setup of frames, but I found the editing of sidebars to be quite trying at times.

Step One

Imagine your page on a computer screen consisting of a "left column" and a "right column." If you specify the proper width, height, and alignment of the sidebar table, you'll have the "left column" for computers. And, if you specify the correct width of your main content table, you'll have the "right column" for computers.

Here are a couple of new HTML tags you need to learn.

<<>SIDEBAR width=the width you want it>

<<>/SIDEBAR>

Here is the code for setting up the stationary sidebar:

Left side

<<>SIDEBAR WIDTH=the width you want it>

<<>TABLE ALIGN=left WIDTH=sidebar width HEIGHT=length of page in pixels BGCOLOR=the color of your choice>

<<>TR>

<<>TD VALIGN=top>

This is where you write what you want you sidebar to say

<<>/TD>

<<>/TR>

<<>/TABLE>

<<>/SIDEBAR>

Step Two

Here is the code for setting up the main content table:

Right side

<<>TABLE WIDTH=560-sidebar width HEIGHT=length of page in pixels BGCOLOR=the color you want>

<<>TR>

<<>TD VALIGN=top>

The contents of the Right side goes here!

<<>/TD>

<<>/TR>

<<>/TABLE>

Note: The values of the width and height has to be in pixels, not in percentages!

Another problem you will encounter, is that the background color of the sidebar (left side) will _not_ automatically extend the length of the page.

You need to use an educated guess as to how long the page will be (in pixels) when finished. Take a look at it and make any adjustments as you see fit.

This may take a couple of tries before you get it correct. ~grin~

If you want your main content table to appear without margins, add Webtv's exclusive vspace=0 and hspace=0 to your <<>body> tag.

One last note, if you are wondering how I put the three celled table with the frames school, sidebar school and Geocities at the top of my main (right) screen, I simple put the Table instructions for that before the Side bar Table instructions!

I hope this has been helpful to you. Please sign my guestbook before you leave and let me know what you think of my pages.

Thank you!

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