This is, I guess, a continuation of that previous blog of mine, "Hoping for some help, or Grrrrrr." (See http://bigclosetr.us/topshelf/blog/29554/hoping-some-help-or... )

Originally, I planned to just respond to the comments, but when I found my response more than already several paragrahs long, I decided to post another one...

Thank you for the suggestion to use alternate themes. I actually did try that before, but the other themes available were not too helpful either - I think the other themes sort of solve the expanding columns issue, but they don't really allow for the appropriate formatting of the middle "content" column (the colorized areas bleed into the content, the posts' titles are on the outside of boxed areas, et cetera).

But, more importantly, the site was optimized to display its stuff with the default theme - sure you can use other themes, but it just won't look right (people can try the other themes and they'll see what I mean, esp. when they start reading the stories using the other themes). Consequently, the default theme is the theme I prefer: the background colors match, and the color template and default fonts used are just right, et cetera. Also, since becoming active in the site, I have used the default theme for all my stuff, and have tailored them to match the default theme's characteristics, graphics, background colors, font colors and all.

Besides, themes only work if I log on. If I go to the site as just a visitor, I would get the default theme. And I often do that (logging on as a visitor only) coz I move around a lot and end up using anonymous computers, or computers of friends. And what about a real first-time visitor? Besides - like I said, I prefer the default. Quelle problemo.

I suppose such aesthetics don't really matter if you just read the text of the posted stories or blogs. And since most of the stories and comments are not graphic-rich nor use unusual fonts, it would be okay to have a narrower middle column. However, when I read Andrea DiMaggio's latest (thanks for the mention Aunt Andrea), and each line of text only spanned five words... Which is ridiculous! It's probably how Dorothy felt when she found herself trapped in a house too small for her. I guess it was time to ask for help. Sure I can put width retainers in my own posts to prevent my own stuff from being squeezed out, but I don't really visit the site to read my own stuff.

I could be wrong, but I think the problem stems from the randomly-displayed ads. BC seems to have been set up to have ads at the top of the left and right columns just underneath the site's banner, where the menus are, and therefore keeping the middle column for content. Normally that would be ok (in fact, I have always thought BC's layout great), but since some of the ads now coming in aren't the nice square ads of ye olden days but are ginormous ads as wide as the site's banner, the left columns and right columns dynamically expand to accommodate their width, which consequently squeezes the middle column down I guess when I logged on, I was unlucky enough to have encountered two of those battleship-size ads on the left right columns, making the middle column squeeze down to the size of a dinghy...

I am not advocating removal of the ads, as I know that its partly the ads that keep the site up n runnin. I guess I was really hoping that someone would be able to tell me how to make the middle column a fixed size.

I suppose I can use the printer-friendly view...

Normally, I suppose such things wouldn't really bother me, but with the posting of more, ummm, graphic-rich posts (that includes many of my posts), the decreasing width of te middle colum

     
  
To see Bobbie's blogposts, click this link:   http://bigclosetr.us/topshelf/blog/bobbie-c  
To see Bobbie's stories in BCTS, click this link:   http://bigclosetr.us/topshelf/book/14775/roberta-j-cabot  
To see Bobbie's Family Girl Blogs, click this link: http://bigclosetr.us/topshelf/book/28818/family-girl-blogs
To see Bobbie's old Working Girl Blogs, click this link:   http://bigclosetr.us/topshelf/book/19261/working-girl-blogs