On background gifs in Netscape...

Posted July 29, 2000 10:35 PM.

I've been inside all day, on one of the nicest days of the year, and why? Because I'm finally getting some redesigning done - getting some code together which isn't completely awful. Picture the scene - I've got a mock-up in Photoshop of what I want to achieve, I have worked out how I should go about achieving it, I set to work, and gradually (very gradually) it comes together. I'm quite proud of it - I'm using a rather clever table structure (or at least I think I am), when suddenly I decide to check it in Netscape.

Of course the structure is all completely in place, and working perfectly. Except that the cell background, which is fundamental to the design of the page, is suddenly replicated in every cell of the nested tables within it. I slap my head in horror. "Of course", I say, (scream?) " I had completely forgotten that Netscape 4.x cannot handle images as cell backgrounds very well. But if I make it a page background, it's going to make the page slow to download. Damn it! I wonder if anyone has any ideas as to how I can get around this problem without using a background image? Hmmm."

This story seemed more interesting when I started writing it.