The left column
The idea here is to cut down on the number of elements used to achieve that "all the way to the bottom" columning that people often like. Hence the use of the body to deliver background image.
The right side's background colour is delivered by wrapping the right float in an absolutely positioned element. This wrapper is tied to the right side of the window in this arrangement and delivers the coloured background.
There are all sorts of ways to adapt this sort of thing to your requirements. Notice how the background image is used here for the left side (to avoid another wrapper) while the wrapper that is coloured on the right is merely given a background colour.
The fixed width of the side panels, naturally, will have the downside of all such widths in allowing the text to break out at big enlargements. But this is something many authors think worth paying for to get the benefits of the middle content not being too squashed. The middle still retains a good measure of fluidity.
The right column
The idea here is to cut down on the number of elements used to achieve that "all the way to the bottom" columning that people often like. Hence the use of the body to deliver background image.
The right side's background colour is delivered by wrapping the right float in an absolutely positioned element. This wrapper is tied to the right side of the window in this arrangement and delivers the coloured background.
There are all sorts of ways to adapt this sort of thing to your requirements. Notice how the background image is used here for the left side (to avoid another wrapper) while the wrapper that is coloured on the right is merely given a background colour.
The fixed width of the side panels, naturally, will have the downside of all such widths in allowing the text to break out at big enlargements. But this is something many authors think worth paying for to get the benefits of the middle content not being too squashed. The middle still retains a good measure of fluidity.
3 columns with fixed width sides
The idea here is to cut down on the number of elements used to achieve that "all the way to the bottom" columning that people often like. Hence the use of the body to deliver background image.
The right side's background colour is delivered by wrapping the right float in an absolutely positioned element. This wrapper is tied to the right side of the window in this arrangement and delivers the coloured background.
There are all sorts of ways to adapt this sort of thing to your requirements. Notice how the background image is used here for the left side (to avoid another wrapper) while the wrapper that is coloured on the right is merely given a background colour.
The fixed width of the side panels, naturally, will have the downside of all such widths in allowing the text to break out at big enlargements. But this is something many authors think worth paying for to get the benefits of the middle content not being too squashed. The middle still retains a good measure of fluidity.