title: 960 gs, full width backgrounds
body: <p>I'm trying to implement a design I created in photoshop.  I want to use the 16 column 960 GS, but the problem is that I only want the content bound by the 960 width.</p>
  
  <p>I have backgrounds for 4 seperate areas.  Header, the content area, a top footer that is links, and the bottom footer with the copyright in it.</p>
  
  <p>The top half of the page works fine.  The backgrounds show, the text is in the right place.  The problem comes with the footer.  If the data in the content area expands beyond the minimum height for the content area, the links in the top footer are pushed down, but the backgrounds remain stationary. I suspect this is because the content is all floating and doesn't push the background divs when the content expands.</p>
  
  <p>How do I have a background that is full width while using 960 gs and make it so the footer slides down when the content expands?</p>
  
  <p>Here's the basic wrapper for my site.  I realize this may not work for what I want to do.</p>
  
  <pre><code>&lt;body&gt;
    &lt;div id="header"&gt;
      &lt;div class="container_16"&gt;
  
      &lt;/div&gt;
    &lt;/div&gt;
    &lt;div id="content"&gt;
      &lt;div class="container_16"&gt;
  
      &lt;/div&gt;
    &lt;/div&gt;
    &lt;div id="footer-top"&gt;
      &lt;div class="container_16"&gt;
  
      &lt;/div&gt;
    &lt;/div&gt;
    &lt;div id="copyright-footer"&gt;
      &lt;div class="container_16"&gt;
  
      &lt;/div&gt;
    &lt;/div&gt;
  &lt;/body&gt;
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>the 960 GS css is here: <a href="http://www.spry-soft.com/grids/grid.css?column_width=40&amp;column_amount=16&amp;gutter_width=20" rel="nofollow noreferrer">http://www.spry-soft.com/grids/grid.css?column_width=40&amp;column_amount=16&amp;gutter_width=20</a></p>
  
  <p>My CSS - I've ommited the elements that have to do with specific content, as this is just about getting the layout right:</p>
  
  <pre><code>html, body
  {
      height: 100%;
  }
  
  body
  {
      color: #f7f3e7;
      margin:0; 
      padding:0;
      background-color: #f7f3e7;
      line-height: 1.2em;
      font-size: 0.8em;
      font-family: Verdana, Arial, Sans-Serif;
  }
  
  #header
  { 
      height: 100px; 
      margin:0; 
      padding:0; 
      background: #666666 url(content/images/Home-Header-Bg.jpg) repeat-x; 
  }
  
  #content
  {
      min-height: 550px;
      /*min-height: 546px;*/
      margin:0; 
      padding:0; 
      background: #f7f3e7 url(content/images/Home-Content-Bg.jpg) repeat-x top;
  }
  
  #top-footer
  {
      font-size: .8em;
      min-height: 188px;
      margin:0; 
      padding: 6px 0 6px 0; 
      background: #a67c52 url(content/images/Top-Footer-Bg.jpg) repeat-x top;
  }
  
  #copyright-footer
  {
      height: 32px;
      vertical-align: middle;
      font-size: 0.8em;
      line-height: 32px;
      margin:0; 
      padding:0; 
      background: #976f46 url(content/images/Copyright-Footer-Bg.jpg) repeat-x;
  }
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>header, content, footer-top, and copyright-footer all have the background set and height or minimumheight.</p>
  
  <p>Really what I want is the header set at 100px tall.  The copyright footer is a set 42px tall.  The top footer is set at 200 px tall.  I want the bottom of the copyright footer to always rest on the bottom of the page if the content area is short enough that the footer wouldn't touch the bottom of the page.  If the content area expands, I want the footer to slide down.  I want the backgrounds for all sections to be 100% - that is, however wide the browser is, but I want my content bound by the 960 grid system.</p>
  
  <p>Any suggestions?</p>
  
  <p>EDIT: added the CSS as requested</p>