Trying to come up with a good approach before I start coding..

[invertedpanda]

First off, here is what I'm coding: http://www.the-engine.org/loaa.jpg

The basic idea is to create a horizontally liquid layout - the content area would be variable, but the rest would be fixed, filling the entire page.

Ordinarily, I would just specify a % width for the content box and have it absolutely positioned against the right side of the browser; however, I need it to also be fixed against the left side, too, because of the header image.

It has been a long time since I attempted it - could I just use my margins (with a z-index) to ensure that the content area maintains a specific distance from each side (for example, lets just say it needs to be 20px off of the left, and 450px from the right), while maintaining a variable width inside (not explicitly stating a width)? Last I knew, IE would probably have a fit with that (number one rule a few years ago was "always specify everything for IE" :)).

[toicontien]

Will the left and right columns ever have content?

[invertedpanda]

Will the left and right columns ever have content?

Possibly, but that can be handled easily by absolute positioning + zindex, regardless of what goes on with the rest of the layout

[invertedpanda]

Wow. It was as simple as I had hoped - IE, FF, and Opera all render it properly, with just a quick mockup.

For those who are interested, here is the code that I used for the content box (which is the only thing I was really worried about - anything else can easily be positioned using absolute positioning, no problem):


#mainbox {
background-color:#121212;
border-left:1px solid #727272;
border-right:1px solid #727272;
margin:0;
margin-left:100px;
margin-right:300px;
position:relative;
padding:4px;
padding-top:150px;
width:auto;
}