Megan — Wed, 15 Dec 2004 20:38:54 +0000

They are supported in all the commonly used browsers now it's just that they are a little difficult to implement. You may have a different expereince with Dreamweaver but I find that their interface isn't the best for using layers. If you know how to do it by hand it can be extremely powerful and in fact a better way of doing things. However, this method isn't without it's own set of problems and it does take some expereince to figure out what those are.

Zombiebirdhouse — Wed, 15 Dec 2004 17:52:27 +0000

Thank you for the reply Megan. It's a moot point anyway as the client wants to lose the drop cap and welcome message. I'm also planning to lose the flash navigation in exchange for an expanding javascript menu.

I had originally wanted to place the contact and site map links on the bottom, but that got nixed too, making the top nav bar too big.

Is it preferable to convert the layers to tables? I am very excited about the potential of layers but I want visitors to be able to actually see what I've done and if they aren't supported except in the latest browser versions perhaps I need to wait on that. I have only the new version of Netscape.

Megan — Wed, 15 Dec 2004 15:30:01 +0000

Part of the problem here is that you're mixing layers with tables for layout (and flash for navigation ?!?!). As a newbie, it would probably be easiest for you to do everything wtih tables. Layers can be tricky, especially when considering different screen resolutions and older browsers.

Another possible way to fix this would be to make sure your horizontal navbar fits across the screen at all resolutions. Then you might not have the problem with some items bumping down to another line and causing the overlap.

What version of Netscape are you testing? Using any kind of CSS can be a problem in v. 4, but most so few people use that browser anymore it's usually not worth worrying about.

Megan — Wed, 15 Dec 2004 15:22:56 +0000

I'm going to bump this over to Web Page Authoring to see if you can get an answer there. Sorry we haven't been able to get back to you sooner!