Controlling layouts with CSS is a big subject these days as after dropping the table support, it is clear that the current capabilities of CSS is not enough to develop complex & flexible layouts with ease.
Until we get those new features, there are various solutions that are developed with jQuery to manipulate page layouts for faster & cross-browser results.
Here is a collection of 6 jQuery plugins to manage page layouts easily:
Masonry is like the flip side of CSS floats. Floats arrange elements horizontally then vertically, Masonry arranges them vertically then horizontally. And the result is no vertical gaps between elements of varying height.
The plugin is almost totally managed with CSS rules. It uses jQuery’s outerWidth() and innerWidth() methods to calculate the margins & paddings of elements.
This is a plugin to create desktop-like layouts. It can b used to create any UI look from simple headers or sidebars, to a complex application with toolbars, menus, help-panels, status bars, sub-forms & more.