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Positioning

Sent by Adam Kuehn on 31 January 2005 22:10


[EMAIL-REMOVED] wrote:

>I'm sorry, I think I miscommunicated. Of course, I agree that all 
>options have valuable contributions in particular
>circumstances. I was not suggesting that I want to find one upon 
>which to solely rely, abandoning all other positioning
>options.

That's good.  All have their uses, to be sure.

>However, by and large, the majority of websites websites follow the 
>same sort of layout. Usually they rely on two or three
>columns to organize information (separation of content from 
>navigation elements, or distinguishing between different types
>of content). I have played with both AP and floats to create this 
>sort of layout. In my own limited experience, neither
>positioning method seemed inherently superior.

If that is your judgement, I think you will find yourself in 
agreement with most designers.  There will be some advocates for one 
method over another, but really it is situational.  In a case where 
you need a fixed-width side column, AP may work perfectly well for 
you.  AP tends to work well when you have certainty as to position 
and dimension.  On the other hand, if you need something like a 
footer on variable-length content, floats often give you greater 
flexibility.  Many times, just plain old normal flow or relative 
positioning is the perfect choice.  Even tables can have their place.

Experiment, stay flexible, and learn from other sites.  Eventually 
you'll develop a sense of which schemes work best to solve which 
problems.

In short, I don't think you'll find a "best" method.

-- 

-Adam Kuehn
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