Three column

HTML & CSS
1

The following is a newbie’s code for my opening page/website. I am happy with it, but would like to be able to add another menu page on the right, balancing what I have now. Sort of a three column page, with menus on left and right.

I have tried copying the code for the left, and changing for the right but to no avail. I know much of my code is rudimentary, but I am trying very hard to learn. Your help over the past few weeks has helped in that regard.

Thanks in advance for any help you can offer…

<html>

<head>
<title>Stout Stuff</title>

<meta name=“description” content=“Stout Stuff” />

<meta name=“keywords” content=“Stout Stuff, detecting,
treasure hunting, relic hunting, civil war, hunting club, coinhunting, research, detecting tips,
metal detecting, club, research, treasure, detecting links” />

<meta content=“text/html; charset=windows-1252” http-equiv=“Content-Type” />

</head>

<body bgcolor=“#DEB887” text=“#000000” link=“black” vlink=“black” alink=“#0000ff” leftmargin=“0” topmargin=“0” bottommargin=“0”>

<div align=“justify”>

<table border=“2” cellpadding=“0” cellspacing=“30” width=“100%”>
<tr>
<td width=“18%” align=“left” valign=“top” bgcolor=“#efe7d6”>
<br>
<br>
<br>

<!-- start top of left section –><br />

<center>

<img src=“Images/IMG_7599.jpg” width=“116” height=“83” align=“MIDDLE” border=“0”/>
</center>
<div align=“center”>
<p><br />
</p>
</div>

<center><font color=“black” face=“verdana, arial” size=“4”>
<a href=“introduction.html”>Introduction</a></font></center>

<p>

<center><font color=“#005500” face=“verdana, arial” size=“4”>
<a href=“Aboutme.html”>About Me</a></font></center>
</p><p>

<center><font color=“#005500” face=“verdana, arial” size=“4”>
<a href=“Research.html”>Research</a></font></center>
</p><p>

<center><font color=“#005500” face=“verdana, arial” size=“4”>
<a href=“equipment.html”>Equipment</a></font></center>
</p><p>

<center><font color=“#005500” face=“verdana, arial” size=“4”>
<a href=“Coinhunting.html”>Coinhunting</a></font>
</center>
</p><p>

<center><font color=“#005500” face=“verdana, arial” size=“4”>
<a href=“Clubs.html”>Clubs</a></font>
</center>
</p><p>

<center><font color=“#005500” face=“verdana, arial” size=“4”>
<a href=“Photos.html”>Photos<a></font></center>
</p><p>

<center><font color=“#005500” face=“verdana, arial” size=“4”>
<a href=“Scattershooting.html”>Scattershooting</a></font></center>

</p><p>

<center><font color=“#005500” face=“verdana, arial” size=“4”>
<a href=“goodole.html”>Articles Archives</a></font></center>
</p><p>

<center><font color=“#005500” face=“verdana, arial” size=“4”>
<a href=“tips.html”>Useful Links</a></font></center>
</p><p>

</p><hr width=“90%” align=“center” />

<hr width=“90%” align=“center” />

<hr width=“90%” align=“center” />

<!-- End Bottom of Left Section –></td>

<td width=“1%” valign=“top” align=“left”</td>

<td width=“81%” valign=“top” align=“left”>

<!-- Start Top of Right Section –>

<a name=“top”></a>

<center>
<table width=“80%” border=“0”>
<tr>

</tr>
</table>
</center>
<br>
<br>

<br>
<center>
<img src=“Images/StoutStuff5.jpg” alt=“MTMDC” width=“828” height=“568” border=“2” />
</center>

<p> </p>

<p>

</p><blockquote>
</div>

2

The body and html was included, but left off this post…sorry.

3

A few quick observations:

You’re not using a doctype, but you’re writing with XHTML endings:

<meta name="description" content="Stout Stuff"[COLOR="Red"][B] />[/B][/COLOR]

This is the first thing I’d address. Here’s a list of modern doctypes. I’d suggest using the HTML 4.01 Strict doctype and NOT using the XHTML endings.

I’d also use the UTF-8 charset:

<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=utf-8">

Big, big caveat: You’re using outdated code throughout. You’re using table layouts and old-time HTML-based styling. You need to use CSS-based layouts and style choices.

That’s the bad news. The good news is, you’re in the right place to get help learning all this new stuff.

4

Thanks for the reply.

Why is trying to put up a website so difficult and why is it ever changing? With technology what it is, why can’t we deal with a “what you see, is what you get” outcome?

Just baffles me…

5

LOL, you’ve hit upon the crux of the biscuit.

I told someone that learning to design a Web site is like learning the Japanese game “Go:” an hour to “learn,” a lifetime to “master.” Maybe it takes a little longer than an hour to learn how to build a simple, functional basic Web page, but the basic parameters are simple enough. Once you have those down (or think you do), then you find out just how complex and mutable the whole thing really is.

We can’t do a computer-generated WSYIWYG creation process, no matter how much the “Build Your Site in Seconds and Make $$$!” sites would like you to believe you can. There is as much art as there is science, or craft, in building elegant, functional Web sites that suit both designer and client. That’s not something a computer can generate for you. It’s the aesthetic involved (look, feel, typographical presentation, color scheme, layout, site functions, you name it) that makes it necessary for humans to build sites and not machines.

Technology is constantly changing and giving us new capabilities and new challenges (what will Microsoft throw at us next in their new IE iteration?). Nothing is static, all is change. That’s what makes it fun as well as teeth-grindingly frustrating at times.

Anyone want to weigh in here?

6

I always recommend this article: http://articles.sitepoint.com/article/html-css-beginners-guide