Template Trouble - Run Away Header

[Mr Softy]

Im using a template and for some reason, on some pages the header is off. It lowers and leaves a big space on the top of the page. Not sure what the name of the problem is. I think it has something to do with too much text not sure but i can't shorten the text so thats not an option. Besides it would be a pain in the ass to always have to limit the text length. I guess it's text overload?.. I tried some css code to see if it would work but it didn't.

[horney]

It sounds as though the path to the banner is wrong or incomplete. The space is created for it by the image tag, but the image itself is not being called. e.g.

<img src="path/to/banner/image.png" width="486" height="60" alt="altwording"> where the path/to/banner/ part is wrong or the image.png is not spelt correctly.

[Mr Softy]

No i just tried what you said did not work, but this is a premade template it didn't come with a header banner actually. Whats at the top is a tablerow, it moves down like 2 inches on the pages with alot of text.

[horney]

You say it happens on some pages, so I assume it doesn't happen on others. If it's the same banner each time, called from the same place, that would indicate a path problem or, less likely, a permissions problem.

If it's not that, we'll need a far clearer description in order to help you.

Where is the text appearing? Is it the same text as you are using in the alt property for the image?

Bear in mind that the path to a page in one folder is not the same as the path to a file in another folder.

[Mr Softy]

The pages are all the same, except for the text, there is no images. I noticed the problem is only on pages with alot of text. So im almost sure thats why it's doing this. I will try to mess around with it some more.

[horney]

Ah. So it's a text banner? That's fine. How is it contained?

If the space any other text goes into is restricted and there is too much text to fill that space, and depending how the page has been written, that's a possibility.

But then, if I had a template like that, I'd scrap the template and use another one. Text should certainly not be forced upwards and misalign what went before it. Nor should anything else, for that matter.

Do you think you could post the code, or the URL so we can view the source code?

[Mr Softy]

ok cool i posted the templates up, i still can't figure it out. I suck at html & use a wysiwyg editor. Have a look at the source let me know if it is the textbox atribute. Your probably right it's probably set too small. I can't imagine what else it would be.

http://ginseng77.gigacities.net/CorrectTemplate.htm
http://ginseng77.gigacities.net/ScrewedUpTemplate.htm
http://ginseng77.gigacities.net/rawtemplate.htm

ok check those out

[horney]

You need to take a course in html as a very first priority. There are a few things which spring out and explaining them is not going to help you until you get a grasp of some basics, but here goes anyway.

Within that large block of text, up there at the start, you have a pair of div tags with nothing in them. My guess is they should probably be holding the whole lot. those div tags look like this:

<DIV></DIV>

The whole page is written in tables so I assume it is an old one. Much of your text is outside any table cells. Everything on that page should be inside cells. A cell has the tag <td> to start it and </td> to end it, although the author of your template has a mish mash of upper and lower case lettering for html tags.

The amount of text on the page is overflowing at the bottom in my browser. It is not breaking anything at the top. If you are going to design web pages, use a standards-compliant browser. Scrap IE until it comes time to test, then fix what it breaks.

There is mention of PHP in the first URL given. If the template is php driven, you really shouldn't be attempting to use it until you are at least capable of sorting out the html effectively, so yo can identify where any problems lie. In 2007 you shouldn't be using table-based layout anyway. Start as you mean to go on. Learn how to code for compliance and learn once, rather than absorbing a load of crap and have to go through a second learning curve.

As a starter, go to Web Monkey and click on the beginners tab to find the tutorials you need. You could also have a look in the webmaster tuorials at Cozy Academy, just click the link below.

OK, you have to start somewhere. Now you know that template isn't it.

[Mr Softy]

Ok i will scrap the template and either try to find a better one or just make my own. Tables Old? What would i use instead of tables? I thought tables are a main thing that eveyone uses. Im confused on that one. I will have a look at some templates i downloaded in the meantime to see if i can see an example of what you mean. Maybe just images and textboxes?

[horney]

I've given you some pointers for where to start learning. This is not the place for a discussion on the rudementaries of html, xhtml or web standards compliance. As an adult-specific webmasters discussion board, it is only fair on other users to assume at least that level of knowledge before posting here.

[Mr Softy]

ok i understand, i need to find a good book that covers all the basics. Thanks for your help