Should I use the FLOAT tag here?

Question

Hello again-  Should I be using the FLOAT tag in cases where I have several vertically stacked DIVs that have the WIDTH set at 100%? Or am I just being silly in thinking I should?  Thanks in advance-

Answer 1

No.
float is something you use when you need text to flow around something. And if you're trying to do a column or an aside, you'd definitely not want it to float, unless it sits inside a larger <div> or element with text.
Here's an example:
.container {
          width: 960px;
          margin: 0 auto; /* the auto value on the sides, coupled with the width, centers the layout */
          background-image: url("../images/bkg.png");
          -webkit-box-shadow: 0 0 20px #111;
          box-shadow: 0 0 20px #111;
          padding: 1px;
.sidebar1 {
          float: left;
          width: 180px;
          padding-bottom: 10px;
          color: #fff;
.content {
          padding: 10px 0;
          width: 780px;
          float: left;
Here, you have a container and a sidebar and main content area. Both are floated left, in that they start at the left hand side of the container.
-Mark