IE7 + CSS = Not good... any advice?

[EJTrowbridge]

I've just finished creating this website using Joomla as its content manager, and low and behold (surprise surprise), every browser displays it correctly except for IE7. I've spent the last hour researching IE 7 and CSS issues, and I can't seem to find out exactly what's wrong with this code.

I have a feeling it has something to do with my width tags being at 100% right now. Any suggestions? These guys are pestering me as to, "Why doesn't it work in IE7? We have to go live!"...

http://www.hilsmanforcongress.com

body {
background-image: url(templates/mp_comanche/images/bck.gif);
background-repeat: repeat-x;
background-position: center top;
margin-left: 0px;
margin-top: 0px;
margin-right: 0px;
margin-bottom: 0px;
color       : #666666;
font-family      : "Trebuchet MS", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;
font-size        : 10px;
}
	
p {  
font-size        : 11px;
} 

td {  
 font-size        : 11px;} 
 
tr {  
font-size        : 11px;} 

ul {  
font-size        : 11px;} 

a:link {  
font-size        : 10px;
color			 : #666666;
} 

a:visited {  
font-size        : 10px;
color			 : #666666;
}

a:hover {  
font-size        : 10px;
color			 : #900000;
}

hr {} /* horizontal line in your template*/
hr.separator {}
 
/* FORMS SETTINGS */ 
.button {
color            : #666666;
border           : 1px solid #999999;
background-color : #ffffff;
margin-top       : 0px;
font-size        : 9px;


}
.inputbox {
font-size: 9px;
text-align: left;
color: #333333;
background-image:url(../images/back_main.jpg);
border: 1px solid #999999;
}
.search {} /*formatting the <div> which holds search items: inputbox, search button...*/
 
 
/* NAVIGATION/MENU SETTINGS */
 
a.mainlevel{  
margin           : 0px;
padding-bottom   : 5px;
font-size        : 10px;
padding: 3px;
  } /* this styling is for the MAIN items in the menu */
  
a.mainlevel:link {  
color: #666666;
font-size        : 11px;
background-image: url(../images/menubck2.gif);
background-repeat: no-repeat;
font-weight      : normal;
width            : 100%; 
text-decoration  : none;
text-transform   : uppercase;
display          : block;
letter-spacing: 2px;
padding-bottom   : 5px;
}
  
a.mainlevel:visited {
color: #666666;
font-size        : 11px;
background-image: url(../images/menubck2.gif);
background-repeat: no-repeat;
font-weight      : normal;
width            : 100%; 
text-decoration  : none;
text-transform   : uppercase;
display          : block;
letter-spacing: 2px;
padding-bottom   : 5px;
}
a.mainlevel:hover {  
color: #666666;
font-size        : 11px;
background-image: url(../images/menubck3.gif);
background-repeat: no-repeat;
font-weight      : normal;
width            : 100%; 
text-decoration  : none;
text-transform   : uppercase;
display          : block;
letter-spacing: 2px;
padding-bottom   : 5px;
}
 
#active_menu.mainlevel { 
color: #900000;
} 
  /* this styling is for the menu item when it is active, even in main/sub position*/
 
ul#mainlevel-nav {
color: #666666;}
ul#mainlevel-nav li{
color: #666666;}
a.mainlevel-nav a:link {
color: #666666;}
a.mainlevel-nav a:visited{
color: #666666;}
a.mainlevel-nav a:hover {
color: #ffffff;}
 
a.sublevel{
padding-left: 20px;
} /* this styling is for menu items that HAS A PARENT */
a.sublevel:link {}
a.sublevel:visited {}
a.sublevel:hover {}
#active_menu.sublevel { 
color: #ffffff;
background-color: #900000;
} 
.pagenavbar {} /*Sets the style for the footer navigation ("<< Start < Prev Next > End >>") when they do not appear as hyperlinks (when only a few articles exist).*/
.pagenavbar:link {} /*Style for the footer navigation ("<< Start < Prev Next > End >>") when they become hyper links*/
.pagenavbar:visited {}
.pagenav {} /* as the name implies, this is for formatting texts for those "<< Start < Previous 1 Next > End >>" links */
a.pagenav:visited {}
a.pagenav:hover {}
a.readon:link {
padding-left: 10px;
background-image: url(../images/menubck5.gif);
background-repeat: no-repeat;
color: #666666;
} /*Style for the "Read More" link that is displayed for large content items*/
a.readon:hover {
padding-left: 10px;
background-image: url(../images/menubck5.gif);
background-repeat: no-repeat;
color: #900000;
}
a.readon:visited {
padding-left: 10px;
background-image: url(../images/menubck5.gif);
background-repeat: no-repeat;
}
 
.back_button {
text-align: right;
}

.pagenav_prev {} /*Style for the PRE button*/
.pagenav_next {} /*Style for the NEXT button*/
 
.latestnews ul {} /*Style for latest news list - by default, latest news is user1 module*/
.latestnews li {}
 
.mostread ul{} /*Style for most popular list - by default, most popular is user2 module*/
.mostread li{}
 
/* CONTENT PAGE SETTINGS */
a.category:link {}
a.category:hover {}
a.category:visited {}
 
.blogsection {} /* Formatting the links in Blog section */
.blog_more {} /*The "More" text in blog section*/
a.blogsection:link {} /* set the link format */
a.blogsection:visited {} /* same as above, but to set the visited link format */
a.blogsection:hover {} /* same as above, but for links with mouse pointer over it */
 
.componentheading {
font-size        : 12px;
font-weight      : bold;
width            : 100%;
height: 20px;
margin-bottom: 0px;
margin-top: 3px;  
color: #666666;
text-transform   : uppercase;
text-indent: 20px;
background-image: url(../images/menubck4.gif);
background-repeat: no-repeat;
letter-spacing: 3px;

}/* Title of the component being used to display the content.*/

.contentheading {	

} 

table.contentpaneopen {
width: 100%;
}

table.contentpaneopen td {
width: 100%;
padding:0px;
}

table.contentpane {
width: 100%;
margin: 0px;
padding: 0px;
}

td.contentheading {
font-size        : 12px;
font-weight      : bold;
width            : 100%;
height: 20px;
margin-bottom: 0px;
margin-top: 3px;  
color: #666666;
text-transform   : uppercase;
text-indent: 20px;
background-image: url(../images/menubck4.gif);
background-repeat: no-repeat;
letter-spacing: 3px;
}

 /* Title of the content, article, etc. being displayed.*/
.contentpane {} /* Table that holds all non-article information (components, category lists, contact forms, etc).*/
.contentpaneopen {} /* Table that holds the actual text for an article.*/
.contentpagetitle {} /*Title of articles*/
 
a.contentpagetitle:hover {} /*Title of articles when appeare as links */
a.contentpagetitle:link {}
a.contentpagetitle:visited {}
 
.contentdescription {} /* Formating the "DESCRIPTION" of sections, categories (News/Weblinks/Latest news...) */
table.contenttoc {
background-color: #cccccc;
border           : 1px solid #999999;
} /* Formating the table of the Tables of Contents for multiple pages content or article */
table.contenttoc td {
padding-left: 3px;
padding-right: 3px;
} /* same as above, used to format the td and able cells */
table.contenttoc th {
padding-left: 3px;
padding-right: 3px;
} /* same as above, used to format the th of "Tables of Content" ( normally Article Index)*/
table.contenttoc td.toclink {

} /* same as above, used to format toc link texts*/
a.toclink:link {

} /* same as above, used to format toc link text status*/
a.toclink:visited {} 
a.toclink:hover {} 
 
 
/* MAMBO SECTIONS LISTINGS */
.sectiontableheader {} /* This is for styling the section table headers on a SECTION's page.
  Example: table header of "Date", "Item Title", "Author" and "Hits"? */
.sectiontableentry1 {

} 
.sectiontableentry2 {
}
 
 
/* MAMBO MODULES FORMATTING */
table.moduletable {
width			   : 160px;
table-layout	   : auto;
padding		   : 3px;
margin-top:5px;
margin-left: 5px;
background-image: url(..images/dot2.gif);
background-repeat: no-repeat;
background-position: top;
font-size:11px;

} /* Formatting the module table */

table.moduletable th {
background-image:url(../images/menubck.gif);
font-size        : 10px;
font-weight      : normal;
width            : 170px;
color: #666666;
text-transform   : uppercase;
height: 20px;
padding-top: 3px;
text-align:center;
padding-left: 5px;
font-size:11px;

} /* Formatting the module header, and the module titles */
table.moduletable td {

} /* Formatting the table cells of the module table */
 
 
/* MISCELLANEOUS */
 
/* Dates , Authors*/
.createdate {
color: #999999;
font-size:10px;
} /* For styling the date the content/articles are created under contents title */
.modifydate {
color: #999999;
font-size:10px;
} /* Formating "Last updated on" text at the end of articles/contents */
.small {
color: #999999;
font-size:10px;
} /* Formating "Written by:...." text */
.smalldark {}/*Found in poll result page, for " Number of Voters".. text */
 
/* Polls */
.poll {} /* format the td of poll table */
.pollstableborder {} /* set the border properties of the polls voting table */
 
 
/* Weblinks */
.weblinks{} /* well.. to format the link's titles under the "Weblinks" 
  section on the frontend */
a.weblinks:hover {} /* same as above, but for link with mouseover */
 
/* Newsfeeds */
.newsfeedheading {} /* The newsfeed title. NOTE: This will not affect the newsfeed's news title! */
.newsfeeddate {} /* yeah.. the date on the newsfeed */
.fase4rdf {} /* this is the body text of the newsfeed */
 
/* Search page */
table.searchintro {} /* This is for formatting the box with "Search Keyword: test returned 4 matches" box
  that appears after you have entered a search value. It appears on the mainbody
  with the search results */
 
 
/* MAMBO TABBED FRONTEND ADMIN INTERFACE */
/* The CSS below efines how the frontend admin interface when logged in */
 
.ontab {}/* For styling of the "Tab" buttons when editing contents through the frontend as admin. 
This .ontab is the styling for the tab when it is active or after its "clicked" */
.offtab {} /* Same as above, used for styling of the "Tab" buttons when editing contents through the frontend. 
This the styling for the tab when it is NOT active or when it is NOT "clicked" */
.tabpadding {} /* this style is used set the size of the tab in the above */ 
.tabheading {} /* Not too sure what this is used for. Couldn't find anything related to it yet at the moment */
.pagetext {} /* this style is used to style the content of the editing form contents (where HTMLArea sits and all its forms + contents) in
the frontend Administration interface */

.pathway {
font-size        : 10px;
color            : #666666;
padding-left     : 8px;
padding-bottom: 0px;
VERTICAL-ALIGN: top;
}
a.pathway:link, a.pathway:visited {
color            : #666666;  
font-size        : 10px;
padding-left     : 0px;
}
a.pathway:hover {
font-size        : 10px;
padding-left     : 0px;
color: #000000;
}

.copyright {
font-size        : 10px;
padding-left     : 0px;
color: #333333;
}

[haruko764]

I'm not an expert on IE7, so I can't tell you exactly what its messing up this time - I don't even have IE installed at the moment. I can tell you what I always do for stuff like this - instead of trying to write code that applies to all browsers, I usually just put

<!--[if IE 7]>
<style type="text/css">
Here, write new CSS for the divs that are giving you problems and hack the crap out of it until they do what you want them to do.  Negative pixels, negative percent margins, try everything.  When you're coding for IE7, it doesn't have to be compliant, because neither is IE.
</style>
<![endIf]-->

[loydall]

Sorry to say this and I know this doesn't help but that's some ugly code you've got there.

You've got a whole load of css and then you use fixed widths with tables - you're going to run into trouble there - I wouldn't start blaming IE7. IE7 is actually better at correcrtly interpreting css than 6 was...

OK - What you need to do is move out of tables.. Look at the design of your page - there's not really that much going on there - you've got nested table after nested table..

If you'd like me to show you a simple solution to this I will but it will involve re-writing your pages which you might not have time for if you have deadlines....

[loydall]

Take a look at this: http://www.developdesign.co.uk/design/twocolumn.htm

No tables, really simple css, that's pretty much the layout you're after - a 2 column page fixed width.

[EJTrowbridge]

Glad to know it. I was trying to cut time by going with a template (this site is based on the content manager Joomla). Not all templates are created equal.

Thanks Loydall and Haruko.