netscape table just not working

Hello! Can someone please tell me why my webpage, based on a table, is not working in Netscape 4.72. It works fine in IE5. In Netscape the cell widths are wrong (even though in the HTML they're fine) which throws all the formatting out.

For example, I have created a background gif for each cell, which has matches the width of the gif. However, in Netscape, the cell width looks like it's been set at 100% (even though in the code I've set it at 79pi) and hence the image keeps getting repeated.

I hope this message is not too long and explains the problem clearly.

Thanks in advance for any help.

Checking the following points usually solve problems with Navigator:

1. Never leave a blank cell really blank: put a non-breaking space inside (code: &nbsp or even better, make a one pixel transparent gif and give it a size (width=) equal to that of the cell, leaving its height to 1 (height=1).

2. Always add a break, <br> after images inside cells. This helps a lot Navigator respect cell widths and page layouts. This applies for the tranparent gif mentioned above. But this does not apply for cell backgrounds though.

3. Be consistent through the table with width units: either use all % or all pts. Never mix.

4. This may be more delicate if you are new to html, but check for consistencies in the spanning of merged cells (colspan= and rowspan=). You might have added or removed a cell in one row and forgot to modify accordingly all other rows. This definitely misleads Navigator.

As a general rule, try fixing widths with one pixel transparent gifs you insert in each cell of a dedicated first row. The gifs cannot get smaller than the widths they are given so..

Ihari

Thanks Ihari for your response. The tips about a space after an image seem good and I'll try them out now.

I've been struggling with the code and have worked out just how unforgiving Netscape is. Here's hoping Netscape 6 is a little more flexible!

thanks again,
Sue