Flexible items

Normally HTML items and graphic items have a fixed size and position on the page, and remain fixed if the user changes the size of the browser window.

Freeway provides two options to allow you to create flexible items that change relative to the size of the browser window.

Layer items

The recommended option if you are using the HTML 4.01 or XHTML export options is to define the item as a layer item, in which case it uses CSS-based layout to specify the size and position of the item. With layer items you can define any of the dimensions as a percentage relative to the browser window, instead of as an absolute value in pixels.

Non-layer items

Non-layer items use table-based layout to position the item on the page. You can make non-layer HTML items flexible horizontally, so they expand depending on the size of the browser window, and/or flexible vertically, so they adjust to accommodate the content.

To define an item as a layer item

Note that Fixed in Window may not give consistent results in different Web browsers

To make the dimensions of a layer item flexible

To specify the overflow behavior for layer HTML items

The Overflow pop-up menu provides four options for determining what happens when the content overflows the HTML item in the Web browser:

The options are explained in the following table:

Option Description
Visible The content is allowed to overflow and is visible below the item.
Hidden The content is truncated to the size of the item.
Scroll The item always displays a vertical scrollbar to allow the user to scroll the content into view.
Auto The item only displays a vertical scrollbar if the content overflows.

To make the width of a non-layer HTML item flexible

When the page is output, the HTML item will expand in proportion to the width of the browser window.

To make the height of a non-layer HTML item flexible

When the page is output, the height of the HTML item will adjust to fit the content within it.


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