Eureka!

I have discovered my nemisis and it has been defeated!  My nemisis….the thing that has been making me crazy with my website is nothing but  a random setting on a computer.  For months I have been wringing my hands wondering what in the world I did (or didn’t do) to my web site to make it look like this……..

I have been working with this program for over two years and never had these issues until recently.  I have been questioning myself, and our departmental System Administrator (by the way Amy ~ thank you for allowing me to pick your “fully loaded html and other web goodies” brain), about what could cause this.  We were both befuddled and bewildered as to what was causing everything to be all catterwonky.   And so I have been on a quest to “fix” it……to make my once proud baby look good again……but no luck.  The problem was intensified by the fact that everything looked lovely on my laptop.  Every web designer, or wannabe like me, knows that you have to check more than one monitor……..and more than one browser……..and I do that.  The site doesn’t look quite right on my youngest daughter’s laptop but she is still using Internet Explorer 6……..so I have posted that the site is best viewed on 7…..just in case.   But when I looked on my new and improved computer I have at work, there it was………catterwonky…..but only on Explorer…..Firefox was fine ~ looked a little large, but otherwise fine. 

At work, I have a double monitor set up (before you get too exicted I discovered twice the viewing area = twice as much work) and they are huge 22″ monitors.  I was thinking perhaps it was the monitor settings.  So I changed them………no luck.  I had all but given up hope.  Do I post a notice on the web site stating if you have new and improved computers, forget about it ~ stuff just won’t look right.  🙂  No, that wasn’t going to work…….so off I went exploring other options to use instead of program I had everything on.  This was going to be no easy task because while I can build a decent site…..I’m not real computer language literate.  I was wading into the realm of html confusion and the water was getting deeper the further out I went.  I was ready to chuck it all without even looking back because if it didn’t look good, I didn’t want to continue.

Fast forward to Wednesday afternoon when the above mentioned System’s Administrator published a new site for our department.  I’m looking through it with envy…..why can’t mine look like it once did……when suddenly there it is…..a catterwonky page.  I immediately informed her, who is confounded because it all looks good on her laptop and her desktop.  Off she goes to explore why this is happening.  Long story short (yes, I know you are thinking too late!  🙂  )……it all came down to a click of a button.  Something as simple as adjusting the font dpi!!  I couldn’t believe it, but I tried it.  I made the adjustment and looked at her site, everything lovely.  And I held my breath and checked mine………

Yes, I did a dance of celebration ~ right there in the office!!  😀  We had to dig a little bit to find the setting….and I’m not sure if it is only a Vista related setting.  I’m just relieved that the fix was as simple as it was.  With this problem out of my way, I’m full steam ahead with the redesign.   Life is good!